vivo international Public Disclosure Authorized Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Kivu Provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo: Insights from Former Public Disclosure Authorized Combatants SEPTEMBER 2013 Prof. Dr. Thomas Elbert Dr. Maggie Schauer Dr. Harald Hinkel Heike Riedke Dr. Anna Maedl Nina Winkler M.Sc. & M.A. Katharin Hermenau, M.Sc. Dr. Philip Lancaster Tobias Hecker, M.Sc. Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 All rights reserved First published October 2013 www.logica-wb.net This report disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage discussion and exchange of ideas on gender and conflict related issues in Sub-Saharan Africa and is not a formal publication of the World Bank. The report carries the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. This report is edited by the Learning on Gender and Conflict in Africa (LOGiCA) Program of the World Bank within the Fragile States, Conflict and Social Development Department. This report has not undergone the review accorded to official World Bank publications. The findings, interpretations and conclusions herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, its Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. To request further information please contact [email protected] LOGiCA. This is report is also available on the LOGiCA website: www.logica-wb.net. Cover and layout design: Duina Reyes-Bakovic Photos credits: Harald Hinkel and United Nations photo library TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................................... iii Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5 2. Background ................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Conceptual Background .........................................................................................................................6 2.2 Context and Problem Statement ............................................................................................................8 2.3 Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Eastern DRC .......................................................................16 3. Study Design ............................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Study Objective ....................................................................................................................................21 3.2 Interview Format and instruments .......................................................................................................21 3.3 Sampling .............................................................................................................................................21 3.4 Study Limitations..................................................................................................................................22 4. Study Participants’ Profile ........................................................................................................................... 23 4.1 Age and Origin .....................................................................................................................................23 4.2 Armed Groups and Forces ....................................................................................................................23 4.3 Education .............................................................................................................................................23 4.4 Child Soldiers .......................................................................................................................................24 4.5 Rank and Combat Experiences .............................................................................................................24 5. Reasons for Joining the First Armed Group ................................................................................................. 26 6. Substance Use and Abuse ........................................................................................................................... 29 7. Traumatic Experiences and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder .......................................................................... 32 8. Perpetrator Experiences and Self-Reported Violence .................................................................................. 36 9. Appetitive Aggression in Ex-combatants ..................................................................................................... 40 10. Ordered Violence against Civilians (Leadership Level) .............................................................................. 42 11. Reported Opinions on Motives for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in DRC ........................................ 46 12. Reported Reasons for the Most Brutal Forms of Rape ............................................................................... 52 13. Sexual Violence Directed Against the Enemy’s Group ............................................................................... 57 14. Strategic and Tactical Aspects of Sexual Violence....................................................................................... 60 14.1 Sexual Violence to Gain Political Attention (Strategic) .......................................................................60 14.2 Sexual Violence as an Instrument of Control (Strategic and Tactical) ................................................61 14.3 Terror to Facilitate Lootings (Tactical) .................................................................................................61 15. Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 63 16. Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 65 References ...................................................................................................................................................... 67 i Annexes .......................................................................................................................................................... 73 ANNEX 1. Brief discussion of ethnicity and tribal affiliations in respect to concepts of identity ....................... 75 1. Controversial Terminology .....................................................................................................................75 2. The Role of Ethnic Tensions in Attacks on Civilians .................................................................................76 ANNEX 2. Profile of Armed Groups .................................................................................................................. 78 I. Groups participating in the Goma Conference of 2008 ...........................................................................78 II. Groups Created after the Goma Conference (“groupes réfractaires”) .....................................................84 III. Miscellaneous groups and bandits referred to by participants in the study .........................................86 IV. Foreign Armed Groups ..........................................................................................................................86 ANNEX 3. Elements of Modus Operandi Related to Looting and Cannibalism ................................................ 89 1. Stealing Food from Civilians ...................................................................................................................89 2. Cannibalism ...........................................................................................................................................89 ANNEX 4. Example of Ordered Mass Rape ....................................................................................................... 90 ANNEX 5. Special Army Integration Attempts in DRC, an example from CNDP ................................................ 92 Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Kivu Provinces of the DRC: ii Insights from Former Combatants EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of malfunctioning in populations that have suffered war Background and conflict (Schauer and Schauer, 2010), but are still The Kivu regions have a long history of occupations by largely neglected by humanitarian and development aid. colonial and other external armed forces, and intertribal Sexual violence has particularly dramatic consequences fighting. Following the Rwandan genocide in 1994, at for survivors’ psychosocial, intellectual, and economic least one million people fled to Eastern Zaire (today’s functioning, and impairs social and economic