MILITARISED BODIES AND SPIRITS OF RESISTANCE Armed Governmentalities and the Formation of Militarised Subjectivities in South Kivu/DR Congo: The case of the Maï-Maï group of General Padiri Master Dissertation by: Kasper Hoffmann Supervisor: Peter Triantafillou International Development Studies Roskilde University May 2007 Acknowledgements Even though I figure as the only author of this dissertation this work would never have been possible without the help of several people with first hand experience of working, living and researching in the Kivus. In this respect I would like to thank Professor Koen Vlassenroot, who has put me in contact with key people and whose writings directly inspired me to embark on the analysis of the Maï-Maï resistance. I would also like to thank Hans Romkema whose years of experience in the Kivus I have benefited greatly from in various way. Another person who made it all possible is Hélène Morvan. Not only has shared her experiences as a researcher in the region with me by answering my many questions she also acted as an advocate for my research in the Kivus before my own arrival. Her aid has been invaluable. Without the help of Koen, Hans and Hélène it is certain that the research would never have taken place. I would also like to thank Roger Bupiri, my trusted guide and translator, whose savvy and courage has gotten me through countless frustrating and potentially unpleasant situations. I am most grateful to my host organisation in Bukavu the Centre d’études et de formation sur la Gestion et la prévention des Conflits dans la région de grands lacs (CEGEC). CEGEC’s Director Professor Séverin Mugangu Matabaro helped me immeasurably by passing on to me his impressive knowledge of the Congolese conflict and especially the Kivutian context. He also made every effort possible in order to facilitate my research and make sure that I returned home safely. Likewise, I am most grateful and appreciative of the way I was welcomed by CEGEC’s staff. I was accepted as on equal terms and their support, experience, knowledge and tireless zest for discussion inspired me throughout. My colleagues at CEGEC helped me to understand better the context within which I was trying to navigate. I would especially like to thank Elly Habibu Fariala, Vincent Mukwege, Gabriel Kamundala Byemba, Dieudonné Bahati Zagabe and Arnold Nyaluma, who at various times, worked for and with me as translators, interviewers, research assistants, drivers, co-writers and transcribers. I would also like to thank Namegabe Murhabazi, the director of the Congolese NGO Bureau pour le Volontariat au Service de l’Enfance et de la Santé (BVES) who allowed me to come and go as I pleased at BVES’ transit centre for demobilized child-soldiers. I would also like to thank the staff at BVES who acted as translators during my interviews with demobilized child-soldiers. Within the Maï-Maï movement, I would like to thank General Padiri Bulenda for allowing me to carry out a study of his Maï-Maï group. I would also like to thank Mudagi, Fidèle, Kupana and Etienne for the considerable effort they put into amassing data for me. I would also like to thank them for their patience and both their willingness to answer my questions and their passionate interest in our discussions. In Bukavu I had the great pleasure of sharing a house with Professor Phillipe Devillé whose company had a most reassuring and soothing effect. This was, frankly, greatly needed because of the considerable pressure and anxiety that haunted me at times during the fieldwork. 1 At RUC I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Peter Triantafillou who has encouraged me throughout the writing process and who has commented thoroughly and productively on my sometimes rather long drafts. In addition, his expertise of the approach that I have chosen has helped me to tighten up my analytical focus in many areas. I would like to thank Lars Buur, Simon Turner, Stefano Ponte, Peter Gibbon and Louise Andersen for giving me the opportunity to work and use the facilities at DIIS. Thank you so much to friends and family who have had to put up with my near total absence from their lives since the beginning of the fieldwork in 2005, yet have nevertheless been counted on to support me when it was needed. There is nothing I can say or do to justify that. I would especially like to thank my aunt and uncle, Hanne and Ib, who graciously allowed me to live at their place and at their expense when I found myself without a place to live after the fieldwork. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my former supervisor at IDS, Afonso Moreira who persuaded me to stick with the subject even when the prospects for carrying out such a fieldwork were most bleak. He has never wavered in his support and has kept challenging me to be as good as possible even after he was, sadly, let go from IDS right at the moment when I returned from my fieldwork. I shall always be thankful his persistency in guiding me. I can only feel sorry for the future students at IDS who will not benefit from his dedication, experience and sheer brilliance. I am most grateful to the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala who supported my research financially. 2 Acronyms ADF Alliance of Democratic Forces AFDL Alliance des Forces démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo ALiR Armée de Libération du Rwanda APR Armée Patriotique Rwandaise CAFI Coordination des Affaires Intérieures CEGEC Centre d’études et de formation sur la Gestion et la prévention des Conflits dans la région de grands lacs CMS Comités des Mamans Sociales CS Comités de Soutien CSC Comités de Sécurité Civile DDR Demilitarisation, Demobilisation and Reintegration EMP Etat-major politico-militaire ex-FAR ex- Forces Armées Rwandaises FAC Forces Armées Congolaises FAC/OPS-EST Forces Armées Congolaises Opérations Est FARDC Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo FDD Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie FDLR Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda FNL Forces Nationales de Libération FPR Front Patriotique Rwandais FUNA Former Uganda National Army HDR Human Development Report LRA Lords Resistance Army MAI-MAI Mouvement d’Autodéfense pour l’intégrité et le maintien de l’Autorité Indépendante MCRA/Mai-Mai Mouvement des Mai-Mai Congolais pour la Révolution à l’Africaine MLC Mouvement de Libération du Congo MMM Mouvement Maï-Maï MONUC Mission des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo NALU National Army for the Liberation of Uganda PANAM Partie Nationale Maï-Maï PDM Dynamique de Patriotes Maï-Maï PRM Patriotes Résistantes Maï-Maï RCD-Goma Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-Goma RCD-K Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-Kisangani S/RES Security Resolution UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESC United Nations Economic and Social Council UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNITA União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola UNRFII Uganda National Rescue Front II UNSC United Nations Security Council WNBF West Bank Nile Front 3 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................5 The Congolese Conflict..............................................................................................................5 Analysing the Rationalities of National Liberation .....................................................................7 Problem Formulation and Structure of this Dissertation...........................................................11 2. REGIMES OF PRACTICE........................................................................................................14 GENEALOGY .................................................................................................................................15 Genealogy, Truth and Subjectivity ...........................................................................................15 Genealogy and the Problem of Rationality...............................................................................18 Genealogy and Regimes of Practice.........................................................................................21 Genealogy, Ethics and Resistance............................................................................................23 GOVERNMENTALITY .....................................................................................................................24 Biopower.................................................................................................................................25 The Dark Side of Bio-politics...................................................................................................26 Governmentality, Sovereignty and Depoliticisation ..................................................................28 THE MATERIAL AND RESEARCH STRATEGY ...................................................................................29 The Material of Human Security..............................................................................................30 The Fieldwork Material...........................................................................................................31 3. FOR A SAFER WORLD............................................................................................................36 Desecuritising the Maï-Maï .....................................................................................................36 DEFENDING GLOBAL SOCIETY ......................................................................................................38