ConflictBarometer_2015
ConflictBarometer_2015
ConflictBarometer_2015
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SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA<br />
signed by both parties on 12/12/13, the government and<br />
M23 agreed on an amnesty and a demobilization program for<br />
its fighters without clarifying the terms and details of those<br />
processes.<br />
Throughout the year, the former rebels and the government<br />
continued to quarrel over the terms of the agreement and its<br />
implementation. On February 2, Rwanda and the DR Congo<br />
agreed on a plan for the repatriation of the remaining ex-<br />
M23 fighters on Rwandan territory to the DR Congo. Former<br />
M23 leader Jean Marie Runiga demanded on April 21 that no<br />
ex-M23 member should be sent back from Rwanda to the DR<br />
Congo before terms for the repatriation were set. On April 25,<br />
he further threatened that ex-M23 could easily regroup. Five<br />
days later, the government granted amnesty to 375 former<br />
M23 fighters. While the amnesty included acts of war, it did<br />
not include crimes against humanity and war crimes.<br />
On June 20 and 21, ex-M23 fighters and other demobilized<br />
fighters mutinied at the demobilization camp in Kota Koli,<br />
Equateur province, in the context of a deteriorating food<br />
situation in the camp. The ex-fighters looted a nearby town<br />
and committed acts of sexual violence.<br />
On September 2, a trial against former M23 leader Bosco<br />
Ntanganda started at the International Criminal Court in<br />
The Hague, Netherlands, where he was charged with crimes<br />
against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed between<br />
2002 and 2003. In early November, ex-M23 political<br />
leader Bertrand Bisimwa addressed the International Conference<br />
on the Great Lakes Region expressing concerns about a<br />
possible failure of the Nairobi Agreement.<br />
jhe<br />
DR CONGO (ITURI MILITIAS)<br />
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 1999<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
FRPI vs. government<br />
subnational predominance,<br />
sources<br />
The limited war over subnational predominance and resources<br />
in Ituri district, Orientale province, between the<br />
Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri (FRPI) and the government,<br />
supported by MONUSCO, continued. Violence between<br />
armed groups belonging to the two rival ethnic groups Hema<br />
and Lendu had started in 2002 in the context of Ugandan and<br />
Rwandan occupation. In 2007, the main Hema group Union of<br />
Congolese Patriots (UPC) integrated into the Armed Forces of<br />
the DR Congo (FARDC). Since then, the predominantly Lendu<br />
armed group FRPI directed its fight against the government.<br />
Comprising between 400 and 600 fighters, FRPI only operated<br />
in Irumu territory. The group permanently controlled<br />
several gold mining sites and frequently pillaged diggers.<br />
Between November 2014 and January <strong>2015</strong>, the militants<br />
and the government negotiated over an amnesty for all FRPI<br />
fighters, the integration into FARDC with retention of ranks<br />
for officers, and the provision of food and logistical support<br />
by FARDC. After negotiations had failed, FARDC arrested FRPI<br />
leader Justin Banaloki alias Cobra Matata for war crimes including<br />
crimes against humanity on January 2. Subsequently,<br />
FRPI appointed Adirodu Mbadhu their new leader. On January<br />
15, a FRPI attack against military bases in Avebawas countered<br />
by FARDC and MONUSCO. A total of 22 militants and<br />
seven soldiers were killed, while one peacekeeper and six<br />
soldiers were wounded. In March, the military and MONUSCO<br />
captured 34 rebels.<br />
Between May 23 and June 3, FRPI and the government again<br />
held negotiations in Aveba, with the aim of the group's integration<br />
into FARDC. According to the UN, the 505 FRPI<br />
members present at the venue comprised around 180 armed<br />
fighters and five ''leading officers''. After talks had ended<br />
without results on June 3, FARDC and MONUSCO launched<br />
operations against the group which continued until the end<br />
of the year. Both sides employed heavy weapons. While<br />
the rebels used rocket launchers, the UN force supported<br />
the army with MI-24 attack helicopters. For instance, on July<br />
11, two MONUSCO helicopters destroyed a FRPI base near<br />
Aveba. On October 6, FARDC troops killed ''Major'' Abdul,<br />
naval officer of FRPI. MONUSCO reported that at least 49<br />
FRPI fighters and four soldiers were killed between June and<br />
December. Additionally, 153 militants surrendered or were<br />
arrested. Throughout the year, FRPI frequently raided villages,<br />
engaging in sexual violence against civilians and pillaging of<br />
livestock and other goods.<br />
The group also turned against local chiefs to retaliate supposed<br />
collaboration with FARDC. On February 4, FRPI militants<br />
attacked the villages of Kyiereta and Bikima, injuring two men,<br />
raping one woman, and stealing approx. 300 heads of cattle.<br />
The next day, FRPI fighters kidnapped several Hema girls and<br />
stole cattle in Mitifo village. On April 8, 40 militants armed<br />
with AK-47 and rocket launchers injured several people when<br />
they raided Kakado village, looting around 100 houses. Many<br />
villagers fled. On November 26, a mining site south of Bunia<br />
town was attacked by FRPI. The militants pillaged large quantities<br />
of gold and domestic goods. On December 3, around<br />
15 alleged FRPI militants attacked Kaya village, killing one<br />
civilian and injuring two.<br />
On December 18, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The<br />
Hague, Netherlands, transferred former FRPI leader Germain<br />
Katanga and former UPC leader Thomas Lubanga to a prison<br />
in the capital Kinshasa. In 2014, the ICC had sentenced<br />
Katanga to twelve years of imprisonment on counts of crimes<br />
against humanity connected to the killing of at least 200<br />
people in Irumu in February 2003. In 2012, Lubanga had<br />
been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in the Ituri<br />
conflict between 2002 and 2003. jli, soq<br />
DR CONGO (MAYI-MAYI ET AL.)<br />
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 2003<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
re-<br />
Mayi-Mayi groups vs. Nyatura groups<br />
vs. Raia Mutomboki groups vs. APCLS<br />
vs. FDLR vs. government<br />
subnational predominance, re-<br />
sources<br />
The conflict over subnational predominance and resources<br />
between local and foreign armed groups and between local<br />
armed groups and the government, supported by MONUSCO,<br />
continued as a limited war. Most of the local militias were<br />
either labelled ''Mayi-Mayi'' or ''Raia Mutomboki'' (RM) and<br />
originally claimed to protect a population against perceived<br />
foreigners, most notably the Democratic Forces for the Liberation<br />
of Rwanda (FDLR) [→ DR Congo, Rwanda (FDLR)]. The<br />
militias ranged from larger groups to smaller localized units<br />
and were usually named after their commanders. In <strong>2015</strong>,<br />
they continued to operate in the eastern provinces of North<br />
and South Kivu, Orientale, Maniema, and Katanga. The groups<br />
repeatedly clashed with the Armed Forces of the DR Congo<br />
(FARDC) and other militias, but also targeted civilians. At least<br />
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