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A POPULATION-BASED LIVING SURVEY ON ATTITUDES ABOUT PEACE, JUSTICE, AND WITH FEAR SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION IN EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AUGUST 2008 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER PAYSON CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR University of California, Berkeley INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE Tulane University AUGUST 2008 A POPULATION-BASED LIVING SURVEY ON ATTITUDES ABOUT PEACE, JUSTICE, AND WITH FEAR SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION IN EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO PATRICK VINCK PHUONG PHAM SULIMAN BALDO RACHEL SHIGEKANE HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY This survey was conducted by the Berkeley-Tulane Initiative on Vulnerable Populations, a joint project of University of California, Berkeley’s Human Rights Center and Tulane University’s Payson Center for International Development, and the New York–based International Center for Transitional Justice. The BERKELEY-TULANE INITIatiVE ON VULNERABLE POPULatiONS conducts research in countries experiencing serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Using empirical research meth- ods to give voice to survivors of mass violence, the Initiative aims to ensure that the needs of survivors are recognized and acted on by governments, UN agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. The Initiative helps improve the capacity of local organizations to collect and analyze data about vulnerable populations so that their human rights can be protected. The HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER investigates war crimes and serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. The PAYSON CENTER is an interdisciplinary center created to promote sustainable human development among vulnerable populations through innovative and interdisciplinary education, research, and programs. The InternatiONAL CENTER FOR TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE is an international human rights organiza- tion that assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved. It operates in about 30 countries around the world, bringing to bear technical expertise and comparative experiences on tran- sitional justice issues to partners including civil society, truth commissions or tribunals, governments, the United Nations or regional organizations, and interested individuals. ICTJ currently has offices in Bogota, Brussels, Cape Town, Geneva, Kinshasa, Monrovia, and New York, as well as presences in Beirut and Jakarta. Research and production of Living with Fear were made possible by grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Humanity United, Swedish International Development Coopera- tion Agency, the European Commission, and the BBC World Service Trust.* The information provided and views expressed in this publication can in no way be taken to represent the official opinion of the funding agencies. * The BBC World Service Trust uses media to promote development and human rights around the world. As the BBC’s independent charity, it relies on the BBC’s reputation, resources and expertise to implement its donor-funded projects. The Trust works in over 43 countries worldwide. As of May 31, 2008, it is working in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, former Soviet Union and Europe, using media creatively in the fields of health, livelihoods, governance, human rights and post- disaster rehabilitation. CONTENTS Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................6 Background: The Congo Conflicts .............................................................................................................10 Survey Methodology ....................................................................................................................................15 Research Design ..........................................................................................................................................15 Research Instruments ................................................................................................................................16 Statistical Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 17 Limitations .............................................................................................................................................. 17 Findings from Eastern DRC and Discussion .......................................................................................19 Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Distribution of the Respondents ....................................... 20 Priorities and Security ............................................................................................................................ 23 Priorities ............................................................................................................................................. 23 Security ............................................................................................................................................... 25 Perception of the Congo Wars and Exposure to Violence ...................................................................27 Perceptions of Origins of the Conflicts .................................................................................................28 Affected Populations ..........................................................................................................................28 Displacement .................................................................................................................................... 29 Land Issues ..........................................................................................................................................31 Exposure to Violence ......................................................................................................................... 32 Peace, Unity, and Reintegration ........................................................................................................36 Peace ...................................................................................................................................................36 Unity ................................................................................................................................................... 37 Reintegration ......................................................................................................................................39 Accountability and Transitional Justice Mechanisms .................................................................... 40 Accountability ................................................................................................................................... 40 Justice .................................................................................................................................................44 The International Criminal Court ....................................................................................................47 Truth-Seeking .....................................................................................................................................48 Reparations and Memorialization ....................................................................................................50 Media and Access to Information ......................................................................................................... 52 Comparative Survey Results From Kinshasa and Kisangani ................................................................... 54 Conclusions and Recommendations .........................................................................................................59 Summary Findings .................................................................................................................................59 Survey Results from Eastern DRC ....................................................................................................59 Survey Results from Kinshasa and Kisangani .................................................................................63 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................ 64 Authors and Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 66 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Two years after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held its first elections since independence, the country is at a crossroads. Among the key challenges facing the DRC today is the question of how the country will address the massive human rights atrocities of its recent past to establish a foundation for peace and security, the rule of law, and respect for human rights to prevail in the future. The 2006 elections capped an era of international armed conflict and massive violence in the DRC that began with Laurent Desire Kabila’s 1996 –1997 campaign to liberate Congo from decades of repressive rule under Mobutu Sese Seko. The advent of an elected government