Full report - International Alert

More documents

Recommendations

Info

20 • Women’s Bodies as a Battleground: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls During the War in the Democratic Republic of Congo2.4.1.3 The Forces Armées Burundaises (FAB)The Burundian army was present in the Fizi and Baraka regions before it officially withdrew fromSouth Kivu in September 2002. Its presence in DRC was dictated by Burundi’s concern to protect itsborders from infiltration by the various rebel movements opposed to the government in Bujumbura,in particular the Forces de Défence pour la Démocratie (FDD) and the Forces Nationales de Libération(FNL). It was in this context that the Burundian army allied itself with the Rwandan army to fightagainst the FDD.2.4.1.4 The Maï Maï militiasFor many Congolese, the idea of Maï Maï is linked to a state of mind: the determination to take up armsagainst the presence and domination of foreigners on Congolese soil. The Maï Maï are regarded by a largeproportion of the population as groups of resistance fighters opposing the occupation, 27 and some Maï Maïcommanders do present themselves as symbols of Congolese resistance. In South Kivu, a large part of civilsociety, of the Catholic church and of the rural population back the Maï Maï struggle against the Rwandanoccupation. The men at the head of the Maï Maï movement are almost always leaders of ethnic groups andtheir partisans are recruited mainly from their respective communities. This explains why one of their mainobjectives is to protect and defend the communities they come from. One of the cornerstones of the Maï Maïmovements is, in a reflection of the ‘Simba’ 28 of the ‘muléliste’ rebellion of the 1960s, the use of magicalreligiouspractices which basically consist of initiation and immunisation rites, and specific prohibitions.These practices have the dual function of protecting the combatants on the battlefield and enhancingdiscipline and the internal cohesion of the group.Four Maï Maï movements are particularly active in South Kivu: the FAP 29 from Fizi, the FAP from Uvira,the Union des Forces pour la Libération du Congo from Walungo – more commonly known as Mudundu40 – and the Division Spéciale Maï Maï from Kalehe. 30 These movements are made up mainly of peasantsand young men who are unemployed and uneducated victims of social exclusion, living in extremelyprecarious conditions. For these men, therefore, to be involved in the rebellion is not only a means offighting the occupying foreigner, but also and above all a “strategy for survival and self-defence againsta political and social order which is predatory in its conduct”. 31These movements are by their nature highly diversified and very unstable. Many of them were set upspontaneously around a leadership which had no previous political experience. The ups and downs, therisks inherent in fighting, the internal conflicts, the constant splits and regrouping that these movementsexperience mean that their structures and their methods are constantly called into question. 32 This resultsin a lack of cohesion within the groups and in opportunism on the part of many Maï Maï fighters who,while presenting themselves as symbols of the resistance, kill, pillage, rape, seize local people’s property,and engage in the illegal exploitation of resources.The structural weakness of the Maï Maï militias also partly explains the volatile nature of the allianceswhich they forge with various other armed groups. The Maï Maï ran joint operations with the FDD andthe Forces Démocratiques de la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), who seemed to be their natural allies,against the RCD and the Rwandan and Burundian armies. However, in October 1999, the Maï Maï ofFizi formed an alliance with the Banyamulenge militias to attack positions of the FDD rebels at Nunduand at Bibokoboko. 33 Likewise, the Mudundu 40 group, based at Ngweshe, joined the RPA’s militarycampaign against factions of the Armée de Libération du Rwanda (ALiR). In exchange, Mudundu 4027.Lubala Mugisho, E., ‘L’émergence d’un phénomène résistant au Sud-Kivu (1996-2000)’ in L’Afrique des Grands Lacs, Annuaire1999-2000 eds. Marysse, S., and Reyntjens, F., Centre d’Etudes de la Région des Grands Lacs, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2000,pp.188-223.28.‘Lions’ in Kiswahili: the name given to the ‘muléliste’ combatants.29.FAP: Forces d’Auto-Défense Populaires.30.Lubala Mugisho, E., op. cit., p.208.31.Vlassenroot, K., op. cit.32.Lubala Mugisho, E., op. cit.33.Ibid.
21 • Women’s Bodies as a Battleground: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls During the War in the Democratic Republic of Congodemanded that the Rwandan army withdrew from its region. The RCD on several occasions tried,unsuccessfully, to forge an alliance with the Maï Maï leader Padiri, in order to conduct joint operationsagainst the ALiR. 34 These alliances generally served to make the military and political situation on theground extremely complex and volatile.2.4.1.5 The Burundian Hutu militias: Forces de Défenses de la Démocratie (FDD) andForces Nationales de Libération (FNL)The FDD and FNL used eastern DRC as a home base from which to attack Burundi. The FDD madealliances with Maï Maï, Babembe and Bafulero groups of combatants. They also carried out particularlybloody attacks on the Haut Plateaux of Itombwe, where a large Banyamulenge community lives. The FNLalso benefited from the military support of Maï Maï groups. The ceasefire agreements signed betweenBurundi’s transitional government and the two rival branches of the CNDD-FDD 35 in November andDecember 2002 respectively, provided for the withdrawal of the FDD militias from Congolese territory.The FNL, for their part, remain active in South Kivu. 362.4.1.6 The Banyamulenge militiaUnder the leadership of Major Masunzu, a former RCD army major, these militias fought for months onthe Haut Plateaux of Minembwe against the forces of their old ally, the RCD. Masunzu’s troops werejoined in this fighting by Bafulero, Babembe and Bavira Maï Maï combatants.2.4.1.7 The Rwandan Hutu militiaThe Rwandan Hutu rebels present on Congolese territory have, since 2000, been grouped together in apolitico-military formation called Forces Démocratiques de la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), whichnumbers between 15,000 and 20,000 men. This rebel force is made up of three main groups: the ex-FARand Interahamwe who took part in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994; the ex-FAR who did not take partin the genocide; and new, post-genocide recruits, who constitute the majority of the troops. 37Since 1994, Congolese territory has been used as a home base for Rwandan Hutu militias in their waragainst the regime in Kigali. After the Hutu refugee camps in the east of the DRC were dismantled in1996, almost 20,000 militiamen and soldiers of the former Forces Armées Rwandaises (FAR) formed theArmée de Libération du Rwanda (ALiR) and, starting from Kivu, infiltrated the north-west of Rwanda.Here, for two years they led an insurrection, which was eventually crushed by the RPA in mid-1998. 38The Rwandan Hutu militias, better known in the region under the label of Interahamwe, were allied forseveral years with the Burundian FDD rebels. However, this alliance came to an end when the FDD laiddown their arms after signing a ceasefire agreement with the Burundian government. The Hutu militiashave committed widespread acts of violence in eastern DRC. In the course of the research for this study,they were identified as the armed group most actively engaged in acts of sexual violence and assaultsagainst women in South Kivu.34Vlassenroot, K., op. cit.35In December 2002, President Buyoya of Burundi signed a ceasefire agreement with the Conseil National pour la Défense de laDémocratie, CNDD-FDD, which was the most important rebel movement in Burundi, led by Pierre Nkurunziza. In Novemberof the same year, ceasefire agreements had already been concluded between the transitional government of Burundi and the rivalCNDD-FDD group led by Jean Bosco Ndayikengurukiye. The two rebel movements joined the transitional government.36The PALIPEHUTU-FNL, the oldest rebel movement in Burundi and the second most important after the CNDD-FDD, underthe leadership of Agathon Rwaza refused to sign the ceasefire agreement and to join the transitional government. The lessimportant rival faction of the PALIPEHUTU-FNL, led by Alain Mugabarabona, did join the government.37<strong>International</strong> Crisis Group, Les rebelles hutu rwandais au Congo. Pour une nouvelle approche du désarmement et de laréintégration, Africa Report No. 63, Nairobi/Brussels, 23 May 2003.38Ibid.
Page 1 and 2: Women’s Bodiesas a Battleground:S
Page 3 and 4: Women’s Bodies as a Battleground:
Page 5 and 6: 3• Women’s Bodies as a Battlegr
Page 13 and 14: 11 • Women’s Bodies as a Battle
Page 21: 19 • Women’s Bodies as a Battle
Page 73 and 74:
71 • Women’s Bodies as a Battle
Page 76:
Réseau des Femmes pour un Dévelop
show all

Full report - International Alert

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?