paper 50 From Resource War to ‘Violent Peace’ Transition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) From Resource War to ‘Violent Peace’ Transition in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by Björn Aust and Willem Jaspers Published by ©BICC, Bonn 2006 Bonn International Center for Conversion Director: Peter J. Croll An der Elisabethkirche 25 D-53113 Bonn Germany Phone: +49-228-911960 Fax: +49-228-241215 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.bicc.de Cover Photo: Willem Jaspers From Resource War to ‘Violent Peace’ Table of contents Summary 4 List of Acronyms 6 Introduction 8 War and war economy in the DRC (1998–2002) 10 Post-war economy and transition in the DRC 12 Aim and structure of the paper 14 1. The Congolese peace process 16 1.1 Power shifts and developments leading to the peace agreement 17 Prologue: Africa’s ‘First World War’ and its war economy 18 Power shifts and the spoils of (formal) peace 24 1.2 Political transition: Structural challenges and spoiler problems 29 Humanitarian Situation and International Assistance 30 ‘Spoiler problems’ and political stalemate in the TNG 34 Systemic Corruption and its Impact on Transition 40 1.3 ‘Violent peace’ and security-related liabilities to transition 56 MONUC and its contribution to peace in the DRC 57 Security-related developments in different parts of the DRC since 2002 60 1.4 Fragility of security sector reform 70 Power struggles between institutions and parallel command structures 76 2. A Tale of two cities: Goma and Bukavu as case studies of the transition in North and South Kivu 78 2.1 A background to conflict dimensions, the war and political power 79 RCD control of the Kivus 83 Losing control after the war’s end 88 2.2 Goma: Rising from its ashes 90 Goma during the war and its importance for the war economy 91 Current situation in Goma 94 Stuck between a rock and a hard place? Why the stakes are so high for RCD-Goma 98 2.3 Continued vacuum or emerging stability? The case of Bukavu 102 1 Björn Aust and Willem Jaspers War and post-war economy 103 The end of RCD hegemony 106 Problems and Possibilities 109 Conclusion: Challenges and opportunities to overcome ‘violent peace’ 112 War and post-war economy 113 Outbreak of peace 116 Remaining insecurity 120 ‘Breaking the conflict trap’: Towards sustainable peace in the eastern DRC? 121 Policy recommendations 126 References 132 Boxes and tables Box 1: The expert panel on the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 21 Box 2: A short history of corruption in Congo/Zaire 42 Box 3: Contracts between private businesses and Congolese parastatals: Kickstarting private sector activities or ‘squandering DRC’s crown jewels’? 50 Box 4: DDR and SSR according to the demobilization and integration plan 74 Box 5: Conflicts in the Kivu provinces 81 Box 6: Alternatives for development: ‘The road to Walikale’ 101 Table 1: Mineral trading companies dealing in coltan in Goma in 2000 and 2003 96 Appendices Appendix 1: Timetable of the Congolese war and the transition process 147 Appendix 2: Natural Resources 149 Acknowledgements 151 Information about the authors 151 2 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Bangassou SUDAN Uban Juba Bangui gi Zongo DEMOCRATICYaoundé Gbadolite Bondo Faradje U REPUBLIC OF THE Libenge Businga ele Kib Gemena Aketi Buta Isiro Watsa ali CONGO gala Gulu on Lisala Bumba PROVINCE Mungbere Impfondo Imese M Ituri National capital o ORIENTALE UGANDA ng Lake i o pori ruwimi Bunia Lake District capital Ouesso u C Lo Basoko A Albert g Kyoga n Bafwasende City, town a nga Basankusu Banalia b lo u Lu Beni Major airport O EQUATEUR Yangambi Kisangani Kampala Jinja Libreville Bolomba Butembo Kasese International boundary Ekoli S District boundary CONGO Boende NORD- T Ubundu L s u Lake Liranga Mbandaka h Peneluta N ua L a Edward Main road pa o l L m a KIVU o a b Lubutu Lake L m I Secondary road u e m a i l Ikela i la a Goma Victoria Railroad ka U Punia ( l A Inongo C in Lake RWANDA d o i Kivu Kigali Bolobo n g 0 100 200 300 km Lac T Butare Kutu o Bukavu Mai-Ndombe ) KASAI Kindu 0 100 200 mi L SUD- N Bandundu ukenie Lodja Uvira Bujumbura K Kole Kilembwe asa KIVU K i ORIENTAL Kibombo U BURUNDI Brazzaville w San Makobola il Ilebo k Kinshasa u u MANIEMA r Bena O KASAI u SA Bulungu Mamba Kasongo HA Kenge Mweka Lusambo Pointe-Noire INS Kigoma K Tabora BAS-CONGO M Cabinda Kikwit OCCIDENTAL Lubao Kongolo L Mbanza- a (ANGOLA) Boma Matadi uga k Ngungu k e BANDUNDU Kalemie UNITED Kananga Mbuji-Mayi Kabalo Lu Tshikapa L REPUBLIC u ATLANTIC Kabinda a K l Mpala OF K a a s b T w a A a a OCEAN a i Moba n TANZANIA N'zeto n Manono g g Mwene-Ditu o a Rukwa Kahemba B Kabamba n L y Sumbawanga KATANGA uv i ua Moliro k Kapanga Pweto a M Kamina Luanda L Mbeya u U l u Lake ANGOLA a Mweru Katanga T DEMOCRATIC Saurimo REPUBLIC OF THE Plateau I CONGO Dilolo Kolwezi M Kasenga ZAMBIA L a M k e Likasi Lake e z A be Bangweulu M am Lubumbashi Z L a Luena l Solwezi Kipushi a A Lobito w The boundaries and names shown and the designations used i W on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance Sakania by the United Nations. I Ndola Map No. 4007 Rev. 8 UNITED NATIONS Department of Peacekeeping Operations January 2004 Cartographic Section Björn Aust and Willem Jaspers Summary The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that raged from 1998 until 2002 has been decisively influenced by its war economy. Based on the exploitation of the abundant natural resources of the country, the war economy provided huge spoils to war elites and also resulted in a deep restructuring of Congolese society. Ever since the formal end of the war in December 2002, the situation in the DRC remains fragile: political transition is threatened by endemic violence in the eastern provinces and instability across the country, economic recovery is hampered by large-scale corruption, and the living conditions of the Congolese people are disastrous in vast parts of the country. Although war economies have attracted significant attention in the last decade, their impact on complex and fragile post-conflict situations is still not sufficiently researched. This also applies to the DRC. Accordingly, questions and controversies over the ‘right remedies’ for promoting political, economic and social recovery in the DRC persist among political practitioners and experts. The first section of the paper provides an assessment of the current state of the ‘peace’ process: Political and security-related developments of the past years are analyzed with a special focus on continuities and changes of politico-economic structures and networks of its former war economy. This analysis provides the framework for two case studies that focus on the developments in two cities and their surroundings in North and South Kivu, Goma and Bukavu. The case studies give a more in-depth-analysis of the political and economic structures in these regions during and after the war and evaluate the role of important military, political and economic actors—both Congolese and foreign—in the transition process. In this section, the study combines findings from desk- based research and findings the authors gathered on a field trip to the DRC in June 2005. The outcome of the study underlines the fragility of the peace process. Despite some changes of the economic and political structures former war elites—military, political and economic—still remain influential. They defend their positions and benefits of the war era and try to ‘transfer’ them to the changed situation. In addition, various actors still possess a spoiling potential. It is important to note that many of the structural problems widely associated with the war and its war economy, that is the (violent) exploitation of the country’s riches, even predated the wars of the 1990s. But these structural factors underwent substantial changes 4 From Resource War to ‘Violent Peace’ and have been exacerbated when (informal) power- and trading networks adapted to the war. Even if a return to full-scale war seems unlikely at the moment, they constitute a considerable obstacle on the way to a sustainable peace. Since 2002, the ‘international community’ has shown its potential as a vital external supporter of peace and development in the DRC, even though its actions were regularly insufficient, often inconsistent and sometimes even counter-productive. The paper concludes with a set of policy recommendations. 5 Björn Aust and Willem Jaspers List of Acronyms AAA Agro Action Allemande ADF Allied Democratic Forces AFDL Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre AMF American Mineral Fields ANC Armée Nationale Congolaise AU African Union CEI Commission Electorale Indépendante CENADEP Centre National d’Appui et à la Participation Populaire CIAT Comité International d’Accompagnement de la Transition Comiex Compagnie Mixte d’Import-Export CONADER Commission Nationale de Démobilisation et de Réinsertation DDR Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration DRC Democratic Republic of Congo ECHO European Community Humanitarian Organization EU European Union FAA Fuerzas Armadas Angolanas FAC Forces Armées du Congo (ex-)FAR (ex-)Forces Armées Rwandaises FARDC Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo FAZ Forces Armées Zairoises FDLR Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Ruanda FEC Fédération des Entreprises Congolaises FNI Front National des Intégrationnistes Gécamines Générale des Carrières et des Mines GSSP Groupe Spécial de la Sécurité Présidentielle ICD Intercongolese Dialogue ICG International Crisis Group ICJ International Court of Justice IDI International Diamond Industry IDP Internally Displaced Persons IEMF Interim Emergency Multinational Force IFI International Financial Institution IIA Ituri Interim Administration IMF International Monetary Fund IPIS International Peace Information Service 6 From Resource War to ‘Violent Peace’ IRIN Integrated Regional Information Network KCC Kamoto Copper Company Ltd.