MONUC gets tough on foreign armed groups

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) has taken a more aggressive stance in its fourth year of helping the country disarm, demobilise and repatriate foreign armed groups operating mainly from the east of the vast nation. "We have launched several MONUC-FARDC [Congolese army] military operations since mid-December 2005 to flush out these groups," Alpha Sow, the head of MONUC in South Kivu Province, said. "So far, we are maintaining the carrot-and-stick approach. Those who want to repatriate voluntarily, we encourage, and we take stern measures against those who don't." He added: "We have had [operation] Falcon Sweep, Iron Fist and others conducted by MONUC's South Kivu Brigade in coordination with FARDC, with the ultimate aim of transferring the responsibility of civilian protection to the Congolese army." The FLDR, as well as the Allied Democratic Forces/National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF/NALU), which is mostly active in North Kivu Province, have been blamed over the years for continued violence in parts of eastern Congo. The FDLR mostly comprises Rwandan Hutus and has a political wing in Europe, but its military force is based in eastern Congo. It was formed around 2000 by elements of a Rwandan militia group known as "Interahamwe" and those of the former Rwandan army, Forces armees Rwandaise, known as ex-FAR. These people fled into eastern DRC from Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, for which their leaders have largely been blamed. The liaison officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Bukavu, Claude Mululu, said the FDLR problem in the Kivus had led to many attacks against civilian villages. "There have been rapes, deaths, looting, etc," he said. "And this has resulted in civilians being displaced." He said the zones of Walungu, Equatoria Forest and Kahuzi Biega Park - just 50 km out of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province - were affected by this insecurity. "The FDLR hide in the forest and take civilians hostage and commit other exactions. The civilians then flee to centres," Mululu said. The number of FDLR in the Kivus fluctuates. An estimated 10,000 are in North Kivu, and between 3,000 and 3,500 are in South Kivu. "Sometimes this figure goes up to 5,000," Sow said. A peculiar feature of the FDLR cadre is that most are between 18 and 25 years of age. According to some demobilised FDLR men who were awaiting repatriation in Goma, there are few FDLR over age 35, meaning that most of the FDLR fighters were quite young during the genocide in Rwanda. "We left Rwanda with our parents; some of us were students," Lucky Bawa (not his real name), said at a MONUC camp in Goma, where he and several others awaited repatriation. "After fighting in the bush for many years, we have realised that we need to go back to our families. I hope to go back to school." He said the FDLR remained organised and armed. "We got our arms from the Congolese armed groups like the Mayi-Mayi or RCD [Rassemblement Congolais pour la démocratie] because we are stronger than them and we have been fighting for so long," Bawa said. "Our leaders are very strict. If they caught me after I tried to flee to MONUC, they would kill me," he added. "So you have to be sure that you will not be caught before you decide to desert. It is very difficult to do this. It involves days - sometimes weeks and months - of planning." Repatriation Since the initiation of the disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement (DDRRR) programme for all foreign, armed groups in the DRC began in 2002, some 13,000 combatants and their dependants have returned voluntarily to their countries, mostly to Rwanda, but also to Burundi and Uganda, Sow said. MONUC, whose primary role in this government-led initiative is to implement the disarmament and demobilisation components of the programme, has adopted a more aggressive approach because the voluntary method resulted in low repatriation figures. FDLR leader Ignace Murwanashyaka signed an agreement with the Congolese government on 31 March 2005 in Rome to stop fighting and leave the DRC, but convincing his troops to repatriate has not been easy. "Murwanashyaka came in April, May and June [2005] to the eastern DRC to talk to his troops and to convince them to repatriate, but the reality on the ground was different," Sow said. "There are hardcore FDLR who prevent others from leaving, saying their security in Rwanda has not been guaranteed." The government of DRC later agreed with the leader of a splinter FDLR faction led by a Col Amani to repatriate his group, Sow said. However, the government and MONUC only managed to repatriate about 500 of this group - one-third of whom were combatants, and the rest their dependants. "After this, we felt that the voluntary repatriation phase had reached its limits. The FDLR troops on the ground were not playing the same ballgame as their leaders who signed the Rome agreement. Now, these FDLR elements are to be found in five or six locations in South Kivu, where they continue committing atrocities against the civilians. "For instance, [in late 2005] in Mamba, Kanyola and Ihyembe, about 100 civilians were killed brutally with machetes, and some - including women and children - were burned in their houses. These events shocked the population and the international community. Subsequently, in conjunction with MONUC, FARDC [the Congolese army] has launched several military operations to try to rid the province of these armed groups," Sow said. Marked improvement in security As a result of these military operations, the situation has improved in some of these areas. "For instance, during the referendum on the constitution in December 2005, we had 669 voter-registration centres all over South Kivu, and they operated effectively, recording a total of 1,699,000 voters. This was surprising. It is thanks to the MONUC brigade that we reached all the areas, through use of helicopters, and enabled people to register," Sow said.

Map of South Kivu.

"You have to remember that this voter registration was made possible in a province that is 65,000 sq km - it is the size of Burundi and Rwanda combined - and the FDLR is spread all over as far as Shabunda Territory," he said. "The result of the referendum is that a majority of voters said ‘yes’ to the draft constitution. Since then, President [Joseph] Kabila has made two visits to Bukavu." Together with the Congolese army, MONUC launched an operation code-named "South Sentinel" on 22 February in areas where FDLR attacks against civilians had occurred: a 100 km radius of around Bukavu, mostly around the Walungu Territory, a forest stronghold of the FDLR. "At the same time, we are coordinating with MONUC and FARDC in North Kivu so that these FDLR elements do not run there only to return later," Sow said. Since the launch of South Sentinel, there had been 17 casualties - 15 among the FDLR and two from FARDC. MONUC was also investigating a report that a group of FDLR in the Rusizi Plains was willing to repatriate. "When we establish the reports, then we will act," Sow said. "One of the objectives of the repatriation programme was to facilitate the departure of the moderate FDLR elements - mostly those who were aged 18 and under during the genocide. We believe the moderates are the majority, but they are being prevented from repatriating by the hardcore FDLR." The local population has generally welcomed efforts by the Congolese army and MONUC to clear the Kivus of these armed groups but there have been reservations about the approach to some of the military operations. A politician-businessman in North Kivu, Victor Ngezayo, said MONUC's tendency to announce some of these operations in advance meant that the targeted groups had time to flee. MONUC's humanitarian affairs officer in Bukavu, Joseph Inganji, said the Congolese army could be as much a problem as the FDLR. "Both pillage, rape, tax and generally harass civilians," he said. "This leads to population movements. In some of these areas where the FDLR are active, the situation is not improving. But in the south of the province - Walungu Territory - the situation is improving because of MONUC's presence." Patrick Hoenig, a fellow of the UN Dialogue with the Global South who is currently with MONUC, said: "In fact, the FDLR are like jellyfish. Whenever you squeeze them at this point, they pop up elsewhere. Walungu has become relatively secure, and the FDLR have fled towards the province of Maniema." Background on FDLR In 1994, after the genocide in Rwanda, some Rwandans crossed into Goma and Bukavu in the DRC. In 1996, during what is referred to as the "Kabila War" - to oust President Mobutu Sese Seko, which was supported by Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda - the Rwandan refugee camps were attacked, and the refugees fled into the forest while others returned home. "The reason these camps were attacked, so Rwanda claimed, was that among these refugees were some elements of Interahamwe and ex-FAR soldiers who were planning to attack Rwanda," Inganji said. "When these elements fled the camps, they grouped together in the bush to establish the FDLR. What they have been doing since then is living off the local Congolese population." During the late 1990s' rebellion to topple DRC President Laurent Desire Kabila - the FDLR fought on the government side against the Rassemblement Congolais pour la démocratie (RCD) rebel movement, the RCD-Goma. At this time, Rwanda was supporting RCD-Goma. When it was established in 2003, the DRC transitional government resolved that the FDLR had to leave eastern DRC. "When the FDLR troops heard this, they ran away from Kamina [in Katanga Province, where they had been deployed] and took to the bush," Inganji said. "In fleeing, they raided the armoury there and stole all the weapons. They then came to forested eastern Congo. Here, they live on the population: They harvest people's farms; they take the local people hostage; they take over mines; and force or enslave the Congolese to work for them in the mines. "It is to be remembered that the FDLR and Mayi-Mayi fought together with the Congolese army in its fight against Rwandan-backed RCD-Goma [in the 1990s]. That is why it is hard to send FARDC to catch FDLR: They were initially allies against the RCD-Goma," he said. The Congolese authorities have realised that the best way to deal with the FDLR is with troop rotation, to ensure that FARDC soldiers who in the past fought alongside the FDLR do not have to face their acquaintances-turned-enemies. MONUC has helped with the logistics of troop rotation through integrating the former Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) rebel movement, Mayi-Mayi and old Congolese army soldiers. Inganji said that because the FDLR continued to commit atrocities against civilians, MONUC went to Walungu to secure the situation. The mission did a considerable amount of advocacy work to convince the DRC army that civilian protection is their responsibility. "Later FARDC opened fronts in Mwenga, Burinyi, Kilungutwe, Tubimbi, etc," he said. DDRRR in North Kivu

Gernot Sauer, Political Affairs Officer and acting head of MONUC in North Kivu Province.

In North Kivu, the acting head of MONUC in Goma, Gernot Sauer, said although the province had been calm since the beginning of 2006, insurgency by dissident Congolese soldiers in Rutshuru Territory remained a threat. He also said the insecurity caused by the FDLR had to be dealt with by the Congolese army. "MONUC's support to FARDC is to bring security to North Kivu," he said. "In the end of October 2005, the FARDC and MONUC launched an operation to clear the Virunga Park of all irregular armed groups - the FDLR and the Mayi-Mayi militias. The operation was successful in that FARDC destroyed some of their bases and forced them to leave the area, but it has not brought sustainable change. It was the first positive step in that FARDC started an operation against these illegal armed groups to tell them that they are not wanted in the country." The Congolese army, with MONUC's support, launched another operation, in December 2005, in the Lubero-Beni territories against the Ugandan ADF-NALU. "Their known bases were destroyed," Sauer said. "In both operations, there is the expected result that this could trigger mass repatriation - but this has not materialised. You have to remember that the area is huge - mostly inaccessible - and so these people move to other areas. But it shows something is being done." As a result of the military operations and relative calm in North Kivu, Gernot said, voter registration had taken place in 98 percent or 99 percent of the polling stations. "We are hopeful that the elections will not be hindered by these foreign armed groups," he added. Under the DDRRR programme, the Rwandan government is responsible for the resettlement and reintegration of their nationals once they have returned to their country. Immediately following their disarmament, former combatants spend some days in a MONUC camp before being transported home to Rwanda. They then spend 45 days in another camp in Rwanda, where they undergo vocational training to help them rejoin civilian life.

Miranda Ramon, chief of information operations in MONUC's DDRRR unit in Goma, North Kivu.

The chief of information operations in MONUC's DDRRR unit in Goma, Miranda Ramon, said 4,000 or 5,000 FDLR and Interahamwe had been disarmed in the province since the programme began in 2002. Along with these fighters, 30,000 to 40,000 of their dependants had also been repatriated. There are still 8,000 to 10,000 FDLR/Interahamwe combatants remaining in North Kivu, Ramon said. Since December 2005, about 25 people - including both ex-combatants and their dependants - had been repatriated to Rwanda. DDRRR for ADF-NALU elements in North Kivu had started only recently, with 15 to 20 people having been repatriated to Uganda so far. According to Ramon, only 500 or so of the remaining thousands of FDLR members in North Kivu were directly involved in the genocide. "These 500 are fighting for what they consider their 'democratic representation' in Rwanda," he said. "On the other hand, Rwanda is ready to accept the return of the FDLR cadres, but not the leaders."