Une nouvelle spirale de violences

A new spiral of violence

East Congolese

“Violence committed against civilians, including in medical facilities, may constitute war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law.” According to MONUSCO. An attack, attributed to the armed group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), is part of a series of violence which is devastating North Kivu and neighboring Ituri, in eastern DRC. Of Ugandan origin and affiliated with the Islamic State, the ADF has been increasing killings for months, targeting even “religious and funeral personnel”, according to the mission. In the last three months alone, more than 300 civilians have been killed in this region, which is subject to recurring abuses. A total of 89 civilians were killed, including at least 20 women and an unknown number of children, according to information collected by the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among the victims are also patients who came to give birth, shot dead in the Byambwe maternity ward, 60 kilometers west of Lubero, where 17 people lost their lives.
This massacre occurs while the east of the country has been subject to a major offensive by the March 23 Movement (M23) since the start of the year. Claiming to defend the interests of the Congolese Tutsi minority and supported, according to the UN, by the Rwandan army, the rebel group conquered large parts of North Kivu and neighboring South Kivu, even going so far as to seize Goma and Bukavu, the main cities of the two provinces.
The bodies were discovered in villages at the end of tracks that go into the hills of Lubero territory, North Kivu. Between November 13 and 19, four pavilions of a health center burned, houses were reduced to ashes and entire families were caught in the turmoil.
After the signing, on June 27 in Washington, of a ceasefire agreement between the DRC and Rwanda, then, on July 19 in Doha, of a declaration of principles between Kinshasa and the M23, the head of UN peace operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, welcomed on Monday the establishment of “guiding principles for peace” between the government of the country and the armed group. “I encourage the parties to continue negotiations in good faith in order to translate these commitments into concrete progress on the ground,” he wrote in a message published on X, while thanking Qatar, the United States and the African Union for their mediation efforts.
While the M23 rebellion continues to upset the regional balance, ADF attacks are penetrating deeper into rural areas, hitting communities already weakened by mass displacement, food insecurity and the collapse of public services. In several villages in the territory of Lubero, Mabiango, Tunarudi, Sambalysa, Thucha, Butsili, the attackers looted medical equipment, burned homes and destroyed what remained of means of subsistence.
MONUSCO affirms that it will continue its efforts in the sectors where it remains deployed. The force’s intervention brigade recently conducted Operation Nyondo, aimed at reducing ADF incursions in the Komanda region of Ituri. In parallel, the brigade and the Congolese armed forces are carrying out Operation Safisha in North Kivu, along the Beni–Kasindi axis and between Beni and Eringeti, while Operation Mid-Night Guard aims to secure the large population centers in the area during the night. But these efforts come up against the multiplication of fronts and the depth of areas controlled by armed groups. The Congolese authorities must launch “independent and credible investigations” to identify those responsible for the massacres and bring them to justice. Bruno Lemarquis also recalled the position of the Secretary General of the United Nations, urging “all local and foreign armed groups to lay down their arms unconditionally”. In this mineral-rich Congolese region, plagued by armed violence for decades, peace cannot come too soon.
Samir Sabek