RIFT VALLEY INSTITUTE | USALAMA PROJECT UNDERSTANDING CONGOLESE ARMED GROUPS NORTH KIVU THE BACKGROUND TO CONFLICT IN NORTH KIVU PROVINCE OF EASTERN CONGO rift valley institute | usalama project North Kivu The background to conflict in North Kivu province of eastern Congo jason stearns Published in 2012 by the Rift Valley Institute 1 St Luke’s Mews, London W11 1Df, United Kingdom. PO Box 30710 GPO, 0100 Nairobi, Kenya. tHe usalama project The Rift Valley Institute’s Usalama Project documents armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project is supported by Humanity United and Open Square and undertaken in collaboration with the Catholic University of Bukavu. tHe rift VALLEY institute (RVI) The Rift Valley Institute (www.riftvalley.net) works in Eastern and Central Africa to bring local knowledge to bear on social, political and economic development. tHe AUTHor Jason Stearns, author of Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa, was formerly the Coordinator of the UN Group of Experts on the DRC. He is Director of the RVI Usalama Project. RVI executive Director: John Ryle RVI programme Director: Christopher Kidner RVI usalama project Director: Jason Stearns RVI great lakes project officer: Michel Thill RVI report eDitor: Fergus Nicoll report Design: Lindsay Nash maps: Jillian Luff printing: Intype Libra Ltd., 3/4 Elm Grove Industrial Estate, London sW19 4He isBn 978-1-907431-06-7 cover: Displaced people in Kiwanja, North Kivu, wait for World Food Programme aid (2008). Photograph by Marcus Bleasdale. This photograph does not represent any of the groups or individuals featured in this report. rigHts: Copyright © The Rift Valley Institute 2012 Cover image © Marcus Bleasdale 2008 Text and maps published under Creative Commons license Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/nc-nd/3.0. Available for free download at www.riftvalley.net SOUTH SUDAN O DEMOCRATIC G N O REPUBLIC C HAUT- N OF THE CONGO UELE ARU Aru ANGOLA C E V I N MAHAGI MahagiMahagi R O P L E DJUGU TA Djugu N Lake E ITURI I Albert R MAMBASA BuniaBun O Irumu Mambasa KasenyeKasenyi L IRUMU e n d a Oicha UGANDA i TSHOPO k li u KamangoKamango m Beni Se Kampala L in BENIBENI d i Butembo LUBERO Ma ero Lubero iko Lub Lake International Maiko Edward boundary National Park NORTH KIVU ViruVirunganga KIVU Province ru ilat u NationalNational B i h s t t Park ITURI u u District (Orientale) R R RutshuruRutshuru WALIKALE UVIRA Territory L RUTSHURURUTSHURU Bunagana ub MasisiMasisi ongo Kigali National capital Walikale MASISI NYNYIRAGONGOIRAGONGO Goma Goma Chief town – MANIEMA Lake provincial KKivuivu Kigali Chief town – Kahuzi-Biega Kalehe BBugarulaugarula Bunia National Park district KALEHE IDJIDJWIWI RWANDA KKABAREABARE Uvira Chief town – KaKabarebare Bukavu territorial Walungu National park Shabunda WALUNGU Ru zi Selected road SOUTH KIVU zi or track Mwenga SHABUNDA UVIRA la Selected river Eli MWENGA Bujumbura Uvira Lake BURUNDI DDEMOCRATICEMOCRATIC 0 km 100 REPUBLICREPUBLIC FIZI Copyright 2012 OF THE CONGOCONGO Fizi ma © Rift Valley Institute ua L Lake www.riftvalley.net Kabambare Boundaries and names shown Tanganyika do not imply endorsement by MANIEMA TANZANIA www.riftvalley.net RVI or any other body MAPgrax 2012 Map 1. The eastern DRC, showing areas covered by the Usalama Project L BENIBENI in d N i M ososa Butembo DEMOCDEMOCRAD RATIC i k i LUBERO l u m e S R EPUBLIEPUroBLICC Lube Maiko Lubero National Park T a OF n y a Lake Edward L i n THE d i C ONGO Virunga National A Bilati Park IshasIshashaha D u r u h N s t NORTH KIVU u R BurambaBuramba A G Bisie G RUTSHURRUTSHURU U U RutshuruRutshurru Tongo Kitchanga JomJombabab Nyabiondo Mokoto Bunagana WALIKALE Lubongo Tshanzu MASISI Runyoni Masisi Tebero Walikale Katale Ntoto Kabati Musanze Mushaki Kibabi NYIRAIRAGGONGOONNGOGO Bibatamaa SSaakakkee Kibumbaibu Ngungu RWWAW AANNDADAD A GomaGoGoomama International LaLakeke boundary KIVU Province Nyabibwe KiKivuvu UVIRA Territory Kahuzi-Biega KALEHE Chief town – National Park BugaBugarulaarulau Goma provincial Kalehe Kibuye Bunia Chief town – IDIDJIDJWIDDJWJWJWI district Uvira Chief town – territorial SSOUTHOUTH KIKIVUVU SOUTHERN Musanze Chief town – neighbouring SHABSHABUNDUNDA country KKaabarbare Sake Other town KABARE Bukavu WESTERNWESTERN or village R National park u z i z Copyright 2012 WaW lungllunguunguunu gu i SOUTHERNSelected road © Rift Valley Institute or track www.riftvalley.net WAWAALLLUUNGUUUNGUNNGNGUGU Selected river Boundaries and names shown do not imply endorsement by 0km 5500 Lake www.riftvalley.net the RVI or any other body Map 2. North Kivu, showing territories of the Petit Nord Contents Preface: The Usalama Project 6 Summary 7 1. Introduction 9 2. Precursors of conflict 11 The colonial transformation of Congolese society 13 Rwandan immigration and colonial land policy 15 3. Post-independence identity, land, and violence 21 Forays into democracy and violence 21 Mobutu, citizenship, and land-law 23 The beginning of mass violence (1990–1996) 26 The AFDL and the First Congo War (1996–1997) 29 The RCD and the Second Congo War (1998–2003) 32 4. Transitional government and beyond (2003–present) 35 The rise of Laurent Nkunda and Eugène Serufuli 36 The Goma Conference and Amani Leo 39 5. Conclusions and policy considerations 42 Glossary of words and acronyms 44 Bibliography 46 Map 1. The eastern DRC, showing areas covered by the 3 Usalama Project Map 2. North Kivu, showing territories of the Petit Nord 4 Preface: The Usalama Project The Rift Valley Institute’s Usalama Project (‘peace’ or ‘security’ in Swahili) is a response to on-going violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The protracted suffering of the inhabitants of this region in the past two decades has resulted in the expenditure of billions of dollars on conflict resolu- tion. Yet the Congolese armed groups at the heart of the conflict are still poorly understood by the international organisations that operate in the DRC—and even by the Congolese government itself. The Usalama Project examines the roots of violence, with the aim of providing a better understanding of all armed groups, including the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC, Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo). The Usalama research programme is guided by a series of questions. What is the history of these armed groups? Who supports and controls them? What are the relations of particular groups to the state, to neighbouring states, to business interests and to the Congolese armed forces? Why have some groups been so difficult to demobilize, while others have disappeared? Are there patterns to be discerned in the ways that groups proliferate, negotiate with the state, and then vanish again? The project takes a primarily qualitative approach. It analyses historical sources–and the small amount of quantitative data available–and traces the origins of armed groups through interviews with politicians, businessmen, representatives of civil society and members of armed groups. The Project involves extended fieldwork by both international and Congolese researchers. The outcomes include reports on specific armed groups and wider geographical areas of conflict, and a series of seminars and workshops in the DRC. Many of the interviews for this report were conducted on condition of anonymity. Where confidentiality was requested, identifying inform ation in the report is limited to a number with a location and a date, e.g. Usalama Project Interviewee #105, Goma, 28 August 2012. In the course of the research, accounts of significant and potentially disputed events were confirmed by multiple sources with first-hand knowledge of the events under discussion. 6 Summary The continuing violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) can be bewildering in its complexity: in the profusion of armed factions, the plethora of acronyms, and the multitude of grievances that trigger outbreaks of conflict—be they political, financial, or ethnic; local, national, or cross-border. The province of North Kivu has been the epicentre of war in the DRC. It has generated a multitude of armed groups, with over two dozen emerging over the past two decades. It was here that the precursors to the Congo wars began with ethnic violence in 1993, and it is here that the most formidable challenges to stability in the country persist today. The present report sketches the historical backdrop to these conflicts, describing their social, political, and economic dynamics. It focuses on the southern part of North Kivu—in particular the territories of Masisi, Rutshuru, and Walikale—where the Congolese government currently faces the most substantial challenge to its authority. The armed groups that have emerged in North Kivu have features in common, but there is no comprehensive theory that explains them all. They draw on three sources of instability: local, regional, and national. The Congolese state is decrepit and partial to private interests. It has neither the rule of law to guarantee property rights nor the force of law to suppress armed rivals. This weakness reinforces the belief that the only way of protecting property and individual freedoms is through armed force. Such violence has exacerbated tensions between local communities, in particular a rift between so-called indigenous groups—those commu- nities whose presence is most entrenched—and the Hutu and Tutsi populations, many of whom arrived as immigrants during the colonial and post-colonial periods. Most of the fighting today draws directly on this cleavage, hardened by two decades of killings on both sides. Finally, local elites, especially in Kigali and Goma, have developed a 7 8 nortH kivu stake in armed groups, which they believe maintain their interests— either directly, by providing protection to businesses and their personal security, or indirectly, by bolstering their influence and giving them political leverage. This potent blend of ethnic discrimination, state weakness and elite interest has rendered the conflict, in the eyes of many outside observers, intractable.