ConflictBarometer_2015

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
to withdraw from strategic positions in North Kivu.
In South Kivu, one FDLR rebel was killed by FARDC forces
in Walungu town, on July 5. The UN reported that military
operations forced FDLR to retreat from their positions
in the highlands of Uvira and Mwenga, congregating in the
Itombwe and Hewa Bora forests in southern Mwenga. However,
the group allegedly returned to some positions towards
the end of the year. In early January, FARDC arrested
FDLR leader Jacques Mukashama alias Bwanyama in Kalusu,
Kalemie, Katanga province. He allegedly headed a faction
that carried out attacks against vehicles and undertook pillages
in the mountainous border area with Fizi territory.
Throughout the year, FDLR killed at least 49 civilians, executing
some of them for alleged collaboration with FARDC. The
group also carried out kidnappings, lootings, illegal taxation
and committed acts of sexual violence. On March 12, FDLR
fighters killed five civilians during raids on villages in the
south of Lubero territory. On April 15, FDLR kidnapped at
least 30 civilians in Rwindi, Rutshuru, near Virunga National
Park. FDLR forces attacked a refugee camp close to Kalembe,
Masisi, on October 26, killing one civilian. On December
4, FDLR looted another camp in Nyanzale, Rutshuru. Four
days later, the group abducted and later killed six people in
Kalevya, Lubero.
In total, the Rwandan government arrested 17 people, accusing
them of collaboration with FDLR. In March and May,
eight people were sentenced to life imprisonment by the
High Court in Musanze. Five were acquitted on all charges. In
August, Head of MONUSCO Martin Kobler announced the end
of UN financial aid for the demobilization camps in DR Congo
as of October 1 and demanded the return of the ex-fighters
and their families to Rwanda. On September 24, Rwandan
Defense Minister James Kabarebe met with his Congolese
counterpart Aimé Ngoy Mukena for the first time since June
2012 to discuss security matters. The two ministers agreed
to eliminate FDLR and to cooperate in the repatriation of
FDLR fighter to Rwanda. However, many demobilized FDLR
fighters refused to return and repeatedly linked demobilization
to participation in a joint government in Rwanda. The
Rwandan government refused to enter talks with the rebels.
On September 28, a court in Stuttgart, Germany, sentenced
former FDLR leaders Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni
to 13 and eight years in prison, respectively. The two
were convicted of being ringleaders of a terrorist organization
and Murwanashyaka was found guilty of war crimes in
the DR Congo. The trial had started in 2011 after the two had
been arrested by German police in 2009. The government in
Rwanda welcomed the decision. emh
DR CONGO, UGANDA (ADF)
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 1995
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
ADF vs. DR Congo, Uganda
subnational predominance,
sources
The conflict over subnational predominance and resources
between the predominantly Ugandan armed group Allied
re-
Democratic Forces (ADF) and the governments of the DR
Congo and Uganda, supported by MONUSCO, de-escalated
to a limited war.
ADF continued to operate in DR Congo's northern Beni territory,
North Kivu province, and southern Irumu territory,
Orientale Province, close to the border with Uganda. ADF
continued to forcibly recruit civilians and extort money as
well as other goods. In previous years, the group maintained
cross-border economic and logistic networks, especially taxi
business, illegal logging, and gold mining. According to
the UN Group of Experts, due to military offensives by the
Armed Forces of the DR Congo (FARDC) and MONUSCO, the
estimated strength of 800 to 1,500 ADF combatants in early
2014 was reduced to a number of 100 to 260 fighters by the
end of 2015.
According to the UN, the rebels abandoned most of their
bases with the remaining fighters organizing in small decentralized
groups. Tanzanian authorities arrested ADF leader
Jamil Mukulu in April and extradited him to Uganda in July.
Furthermore, high-ranking ADF leader Kasada Karume was
allegedly killed during an encounter with FARDC near Bango,
Beni, on April 22. The police also arrested several FARDC
officers for the killing of civilians in operations against ADF
and for the alleged support and provision of intelligence to
the group.
Throughout the year, FARDC seized several bases in Beni,
including former FARDC positions under control of the rebels
such as Mutara, Mbau, and Mayongose. Furthermore, the
Congolese military took control of the ADF bases Baruku,
Mavume, Pilote, and Issa in Beni. On April 18, FARDC freed
seven ADF hostages near Oicha, Beni. Suspected ADF fighters
killed two peacekeepers and kidnapped another two
near Kikiki, Beni, on May 5. On October 26 and 27, the
group attacked several FARDC positions near the villages
of Makembi, Jericho, and Nadwi, Beni. Eleven soldiers and
19 militants were killed. FARDC and MONUSCO carried out
an attack against ADF south of Eringeti town in the border
area between Irumu and Beni on October 30. Three FARDC
personnel were killed and another three soldiers and three
peacekeepers were wounded. An ADF raid on November
29 against a military base in Makembi near Eringeti left at
least seven ADF combatants, seven civilians, four soldiers,
and one peacekeeper dead. During the attack, ADF torched
43 residential houses, several shops, one police station, and
partially burned down Eringeti Hospital. As a consequence,
at least 14,000 people fled to Irumu. On December 1,
MONUSCO used attack helicopters to fight ADF in several
villages near Beni town, destroying multiple buildings. By
the end of the year, clashes between ADF, on the one hand,
and military and MONUSCO, on the other, had left at least 75
rebels, 28 soldiers, three peacekeepers, and several civilians
dead.
Alleged ADF fighters, mostly armed with machetes, continued
to carry out attacks against civilians in Beni, killing at
least 200, abducting over 20, and looting dozens of villages.
However, the UN claimed that some of the killings
attributed to ADF were in fact carried out by other militias.
Violence against civilians peaked in mid-May when alleged
ADF members killed at least 67 people in different locations,
employing machetes and axes. At least 15,000 were forced to
flee. Throughout May, hundreds of civilians, including many
students, in Beni town and other locations in the territory
protested against insecurity due to ADF violence. At least
one civilian was shot and wounded by the police. bbr, mko
75