Tens of thousands flee 'extreme violence' in Congo
0 views
Skip to first unread message
-Pastor-Dale-Morgan-
unread,
May 31, 2012, 3:42:19 PM5/31/12
Reply to author
Sign in to reply to author
Forward
Sign in to forward
Delete
You do not have permission to delete messages in this group
Copy link
Report message
Show original message
Either email addresses are anonymous for this group or you need the view member email addresses permission to view the original message
to Bible-Pro...@googlegroups.com
Perilous Times
Tens of thousands flee 'extreme violence' in Congo
Aid workers say more than 100,000 people in North Kivu have fled
mass executions, mutilations and rapes by armed militias
Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk, Thursday 31 May 2012 07.34 BST
The number of displaced people in DRC is believed to be 2 million
– its highest level in three years. Photograph: Phil
Moore/AFP/Getty Images
Villagers and townspeople in eastern Democratic Republic of the
Congo are facing "extreme violence", with mass executions,
abductions, mutilations and rapes being committed almost daily,
according to aid workers in Goma, the capital of North Kivu
province.
Fighting between the government army, the FARDC, and a group of
mutineers led by a fugitive UN war crimes indictee, Bosco
Ntaganda, has escalated since April. Militias including the
notorious FDLR, a Rwandan rebel group based in Congo, have joined
the fray in a multi-fronted battle for territory, money and power.
But the violence has received relatively little international
attention.
"The crisis in Congo is the worst it has been for years. The
activity of armed groups has exploded, with militias making the
most of the chaos to prey on the local population," said Samuel
Dixon, Oxfam's policy adviser in Goma. "Large areas of Kivu are
under the control of armed groups – some villages are being
terrorised from all sides, with up to five groups battling for
power.
"Local people are bearing the brunt of extreme violence, facing
the risk of massacre, rape, retaliation, abduction, mutilation,
forced labour or extortion. In less than two months, more than
100,000 people in North Kivu have been forced to flee," Dixon
said.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the violence had sent tens of
thousands of refugees spilling over the border into Rwanda and
Uganda, while many more people were internally displaced.
UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming, said UN agencies and the Red
Cross would soon begin to distribute relief supplies. "Some of the
displaced report cases of extortion, forced labour, forced
recruitment of minors and beatings by armed men," Fleming said.
Aid workers said heightened instability was making it difficult to
establish the extent of the violence and to get supplies to those
most in need, who had often taken refuge in remote, inaccessible
areas.
"The mutiny in North Kivu is part of a broader picture of
insecurity caused by multiple armed groups and by elements of the
Congolese forces. Since the FARDC has been fighting the mutiny,
other armed groups active in eastern Congo have moved into areas
left vacant by the army," an internal NGO field report seen by the
Guardian stated.
The report went on: "In South Kivu in early May, 30 people were
killed in Lumenje zone by the FDLR … During the night of 13 May,
at least another 40 civilians lost their lives and 35 were injured
following a brutal FDLR attack on Kamananga."
"In Mambas territory, a mai mai [militia] group reportedly raped
over 70 women in the second week of May and armed clashes around
Itembo allegedly led to the death of 17 civilians."
The total number of internally displaced people in Congo is
believed to be 2 million, its highest level in three years.
The latest upheavals follow warnings, first reported in the
Guardian on 16 March, that the army's offensive against the FDLR,
launched in February, could destabilise the Kivus and have
disastrous consequences. Controversially, the UN supported the
offensive, arguing that it was the best way to end chronic
instability in the region. The army's plan went awry last month
after President Joseph Kabila of Congo called for the arrest of
Bosco Ntaganda.