Masisi Territory, a New Epicenter of Violence

MASISI TERRITORY, A NEW EPICENTER OF VIOLENCE

MONTHLY REPORT N°28

In February 2020, armed actors killed 57 civilians in Masisi territory. This is a record for this territory since the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) started tracking such data. This number even surpasses that of Beni territory for the same period, something unprecedented since September 2019.

The explosion of violence against civilians that has impacted Masisi territory in February is linked to the escalation of the war between the Nduma Defense of Congo-Rénové (NDC-R) and several rival militia such as the Nyatura and the People’s Alliance for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS). This conflict, which usually also affects Walikale, Lubero and Rutshuru territories, has focused on Masisi territory. Also, the recent integration of militia members, including the Nyatura living with their families within the ranks of the NDC-R, appears to have made these civilians more exposed to the fighting. The DRC army (FARDC) remained largely passive during such clashes: it was only involved in one incident.

Number of civilians killed as recorded by KST in Beni and Masisi territories since June 2017

During the same time period, the number of civilians killed in Beni territory fell slightly, partly due to the massacres committed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) moving to the neighboring province of Ituri. Additionally, the FARDC seem to have changed strategy in the face of the ADF, by forging alliances with local armed groups and by redeploying part of their forces in the northwest of the territory, which was particularly impacted by the previous month’s massacres.

Violence also continued in the highlands of Fizi, Mwenga, and Uvira, with 21 killings in these three territories – a very small decrease compared with January (26). This number remains considerably high.

However, following record levels of violence in January 2020 (210 deaths), the number of violent civilian deaths has dropped overall in the Kivus: armed actors killed at least 153 civilians in February. This remains significantly higher than the average of 88 deaths per month recorded by KST since tracking started in June 2017.

Beni: Relative Decline in Violence

The number of civilians killed fell considerably in Beni territory with 39 victims, compared to 94 the previous month.

However, part of that decrease in numbers is misleading as some of the massacres took place close to Beni territory in the neighboring province of Ituri, outside the area covered by KST. According to local media, the ADF killed over 50 civilians in this territory between mid-January and the end of February (in French).

Moreover, in Beni, the level of violence remains significantly higher than the average recorded prior to November 2019, which was 24 civilians killed per month. The vast majority of massacres are still attributed to the ADF, who are alleged to have killed 33 out of 39 victims.

However, several other theories may explain this relative decline in numbers. The redeployment of part of the FARDC (in particular the 2102nd Battalion) to Mangina in the

2 northwest of the territory seems to have prevented some massacres. It is in this area that m ost of the killings were logged in the previous month.

Also, in their fight against the ADF, the FARDC supported several armed groups present in the area by supplying arms and food, including the Mai-Mai Uhuru and the Union des patriotes pour la libération du Congo (UPLC). Two sources from these groups confirmed this to KST, which was able to verify the existence of new equipment normally used by the FARDC in one of their bases during a visit. On February 6, the Mai-Mai Uhuru attacked the ADF in Muloya, in the northwest of the territory.

Butembo - Lubero: Health Facilities Targeted

Following a particularly calm month of January in Butembo (no violence against civilians were recorded by KST in January), insecurity once again impacted the town with 8 incidents causing the deaths of nine people, including two civilians.

Health facilities were specifically targeted when they were attacked on three occasions, each time with the aim of appropriating resources, by looting and kidnapping. The perpetrators remain unidentified. The insecurity of health workers, which had increased dramatically during the response to the Ebola virus (in French), has therefore remained unchanged despite the decreasing epidemic.

Violence, on the other hand, fell somewhat in Lubero territory: the number of incidents recorded dropped from 16 to 9. This could partly be explained by an increase in the number of surrenders among armed groups present in the territory (particularly from the Mai-Mai Kabido, Mazembe and NDC-R), as seen in Kirumba.

Rutshuru: the NDC-R Pulls Back

The intensity of conflicts decreased substantially in Rutshuru territory with 33 incidents, compared with 48 the previous month. The number of civilian deaths in particular fell sharply, from 53 to ten.

Part of the reason for this is that the NDC-R, a major actor in the conflicts and perpetrator of many abuses against civilians in January, withdrew from some of its positions, apparently to focus on Masisi territory (see below). It abandoned its positions in Gashavu, Mashango, Kinjugu, Mimba, Mutanda, Shonyi, Kavumu, Kinyamugezi, Kibwe, Muko, Kazuba, Karambi, Kyahemba, Bukumba, Rubeha, Buhambira, and Kanyangohe.

On the other hand, the Congolese army’s lack of discipline continued. After ambushing an army vehicle transporting soldiers’ wages to Rwaza, on February 20, causing seven FARDC deaths and leading to the loss of 100,000 USD, members of the 3416th Regiment killed four civilians and looted homes in indiscriminate retaliation (see “Who’s Stealing the FARDC’s money?”). FARDC soldiers also committed a kidnapping on February 8 in the village of Ruvumu.

Masisi: a Devastating Month for Civilians

The month of February was extraordinarily deadly for civilians in Masisi territory; 57 people w ere killed by armed actors, which is three times the number for January 2020.

This is due to an escalation of the conflict between the NDC-R and its main rivals in Masisi, namely the APCLS, often in collaboration with the Nyatura militia, including the Alliance des patriotes pour la restauration de la démocratie au Congo (APRDC). The APRDC attempted to take back NDC-R positions. The latter is seen as an invading armed group (it hails from

3 the neighboring territory of Walikale). The NDC-R’s leader, Guidon Shimiray, notably spent most of the month of February in Masisi territory to deal with these attacks. These offensives were ultimately unsuccessful, but the fighting was extremely costly in terms of civilian lives.

Many of the victims were executed after being accused by the various warring parties of collaborating with the enemy.

Others were collateral victims of the clashes, as was the case of the death of 14 civilians on February 3 during an attack by the Nyatura Jean-Marie against an NDC-R position in Kitso. Most of the civilians killed were family members of NDC-R fighters.

This type of phenomenon appears to have been fostered by NDC-R’s new recruitment policy that began in recent months. Several militias, mostly Nyatura, have been integrated into Guidon Shimiray’s group without leaving their villages. During the attack on their positions, their families (who remained with them), paid a particularly high price.

Walikale: Abductions and Local Protests

Walikale town saw significant tensions following the abduction of Obedi Kamala, the territorial coordinator of the Bureau of Studies and Support for the Development of the Territory of Walikale (Bedewa), on February 15. This organization is very close to the provincial opposition politician, Prince Kihangi, who is the co-founder and former general secretary of Bedewa.

Before his abduction, Obedi had accused the territorial administrator, Joseph Sukisa Ndayambaje, of threatening him. His disappearance therefore caused tensions to run high and a wave of mistrust in local authorities among the population. Several houses belonging to Sukisa were set on fire.

O bedi was finally released on February 18. He was unable to identify his captors.

Bukavu: Criminality on the Rise

Insecurity considerably worsened in the provincial capital of South Kivu, where six civilians were killed in February, compared with one the previous month. All the victims were killed by unidentified actors. This insecurity specifically impacted the working-class neighborhoods of Nkafu and Ndendere.

Violence reached its height at the end of the month. On February 26, four women from the Bafuliru community were abducted by the Gumino when they were on their way to the market in the village of Bialere, near Minembwe. Two days later, four civilians from the Banyamulenge community were killed in the neighboring village of Kalongi, during a Mai-Mai Ebu Ela Mtetezi incursion. On the same day, two women and two girls from the Banyindu and Bafuliru communities were killed near the Bijombo Internally Displaced Persons camp where they lived. A survivor named the Gumino group as the perpetrator of this massacre. Lastly, on February 29, two cowherds from the Banyamulenge community were killed while trying to protect their cattle in Kahwela, near Minembwe.

According to several local civil society sources, a hundred or so Banyamulenge youth are reported to have returned from Kenya and Uganda via Burundi to strengthen the militia forces from their community. Some of them claim that they were trained by Burundian armed forces.

Also, the creation of a new coalition, called the Union des congolais pour la libération (UCL), combining the Mai-Mai Kidjangala, Buhirwa, and Mwenyemali groups as well as Rwandan 4 rebels, was announced on February 6. One of the groups (the Mai-Mai Buhirwa) kidnapped an official employed by the Italian NGO, AVSI, on February 23.

This incident, as well as the kidnapping of three officials employed by the NGO MSF Holland, are a reminder that insecurity remains at a critical level for humanitarian workers in the area, even if all these NGO workers were eventually released. Furthermore, kidnappings continued unabated in the Ruzizi Plain with five such cases.

However, the FARDC rarely intervened in conflicts in the south of South Kivu. The Congolese army was only involved in one incident (when one of its bases was attacked).

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The Kivu Security Tracker (KST) is a joint project of the Congo Research Group, based at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, and Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch provides training and other support to KST researchers but does not independently verify all incidents reported on the KST and does not necessarily support all the views expressed by the KST.