Monthly Report: December 2017
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MONTHLY REPORT: DECEMBER 2017 December 2017 began with a spectacular attack against a United Nations operating base in Beni, resulting in the death of 17 peacekeepers. It was emblematic of fighting in Beni territory, where the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and other armed groups have increasingly targeted UN and government installation, including the private residence of President Joseph Kabila in Musienene. Other major centers of violence included the hills around Baraka (Fizi territory), where Mai-Mai Ebu Ela clashes with the FARDC and a series of raids by the Raia Mutomboki Hamakombo in Bunyakiri (Kalehe territory). The end of the year culminated in a series of 52 violent deaths (↓10% from October 2017) protests against the government in many of the urban centers of the country, including in the 24 people abducted and 84 kidnapped (↓74%) Kivus. The Collective of Lay Catholics organized 66 clashes between belligerents (↑17%) the largest demonstrations the country had seen since September 2016. While protests in the Kivus were not as large as in Kinshasa, they still lead to the arrests and beating of several dozen people in Beni, Butembo, Kasindi, Goma, and Bukavu. Political violence around Beni and Butembo The attack on a Tanzanian peacekeeping camp near the Semuliki River on the Mbau-Kamango road on Thursday, December 7, 2017, was the deadliest ever for MONUSCO. While the investigations are ongoing, we know that the attackers employed surprising firepower and sophistication against the poorly guarded camp, and that the UN was slow to react. The attack was widely attributed to the ADF, who indeed have camps close by, and reportedly prompted the cross-border shelling of ADF positions by the Ugandan army on December 22. The attack was part of a pattern of attacks on UN and government in the area. On October 7, alleged ADF had attacked traders on the same Mbau-Kamango road road, killing 26. Two days later, the ADF attacked the nearby MONUSCO base in Mamundioma, killing two peacekeepers. Toward the end of the year, the FARDC was gearing up for a new offensive against the ADF, with new units arriving in Beni. The area around the trade hubs of Beni and Butembo has become the focus of some of the most aggressive attacks against the government in recent history. Whereas elsewhere armed groups largely focus on controlling the countryside, here they have attacked the prisons in Beni and Butembo––in June and November, respectively––and significant assaults took place against the government and UN troops in both of those cities in June 2017 and December 2016. In a perhaps related incident, the private residence of President Joseph Kabila was attacked and burned down by unidentified gunmen on Christmas Eve. The attack came as politicians attempted to demobilize local Mai-Mai groups in the areas––the most recent foray is being led by the parliamentarian Venant Tshipasa after the failure of the similar mission by the agriculture minister, Kisaka Yereyere. It is still unclear how all of these attacks are linked, if at all. Mass protests on New Year’s Eve One year following the signing of an agreement between the opposition and the government to delay national elections and forge a power-sharing body, protests took place in many cities of the country. The protests in Kinshasa were led by lay Catholics, often with support from parish priests. While much smaller in size, and often led by youth groups and civil society, the protests in the Kivus elicited similarly heavy-handed repression by the police, who rounded up even small groups of youths and beat them with sticks. Other clusters of violence The crisis in the Kivus is characterized by extreme fragmentation, making it difficult to summarize what it a broad diversity of actors and motives. Nonetheless, the following areas continued to be flashpoints: • Bunyakiri: The area of South Kivu is rife with Raia Mutomboki groups, many of whom have taken advantage of the numerous demobilized soldiers in this area, as well as chieftaincy disputes and the lucrative trade in cassiterite, coltan, and gold in the area. The Raia Mutomboki Hamakombo have been particularly active; in a typical attack, they raided Eronga villageon December 13, shooting and wounding a man and a boy before raping a woman and a 12-year-old girl • Masisi: One of the most important militia commanders in Masisi, Kasongo Kalamo, was killed on December 20 in fighting with the CNRD Rwandan rebels. This incident was part of violent tit-for-tat attacks, which often include abuses against civilians, between various Hutu armed groups in Masisi and Rutshuru territories. • Baraka: Out of the 176,000 people displaced in South Kivu in 2017, 103,000 came from Fizi territory. Here, a variety of armed groups have grown in strength, coalescing in the Coalition nationale du people pour la souveraineté du Congo (CNPSC). One of the members of this coalition, the Mai-Mai Ebu Ela, clashed at least four times with the FARDC around the lakeside town of Baraka. In one such incident, they killed five FARDC soldiers in A’amba, looting a stock of weapons and ammunition. Counterattacking, the FARDC fired an RPG that burned down four houses. .