• About
  • Disclaimer
  • Helpful Info on Writing Theses/Research
  • Resources

a1000shadesofhurt

a1000shadesofhurt

Tag Archives: internally displaced people

Tens of thousands flee ‘extreme violence’ in Congo

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by a1000shadesofhurt in War Crimes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Child Soldiers, Congo, Genocide, internally displaced people, massacre, mutilation, rape, Rwanda, Torture, war

Tens of thousands flee ‘extreme violence’ in Congo

Villagers and townspeople in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are facing “extreme violence” with atrocities including mass executions, abductions, mutilations and rapes being committed almost daily, according to aid workers in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

Fighting between the government army, the FARDC, and a group of mutineers led by a fugitive UN war crimes indictee, Bosco Ntaganda, has escalated since April. Armed militias including the notorious FDLR, a Rwandan rebel group based in Congo, have joined the fray in a multi-fronted battle for territory, money and power. But the violence has received relatively little international attention so far.

“The crisis in Congo is the worst it has been for years. The activity of armed groups has exploded, with militias making the most of the chaos to prey on the local population,” Samuel Dixon, Oxfam’s policy adviser in Goma, said on Wednesday. “Large areas of [North and South] Kivu are under the control of different armed groups – some villages are being terrorised from all sides, with up to five groups battling for power.

“Local people are bearing the brunt of extreme violence, facing the risk of massacre, rape, retaliation, abduction, mutilation, forced labour or extortion … In less than two months, more than 100,000 people in North Kivu have been forced to flee,” Dixon said.

Expressing alarm at the deteriorating situation, the UN refugee agency said the violence had sent tens of thousands of refugees spilling over the border into Rwanda and Uganda, while many more people were internally displaced.

Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the UNHCR, said UN agencies and the Red Cross would soon begin to distribute relief supplies. “Some of the displaced report cases of extortion, forced labour, forced recruitment of minors and beatings by armed men,” Fleming said.

Aid workers said heightened instability was making it difficult to establish the true extent of the violence and to get supplies to those most in need, who had often taken refuge in remote, inaccessible areas.

“The mutiny in North Kivu is part of a broader picture of insecurity caused by multiple armed groups and by elements of the Congolese forces. Since the FARDC has been fighting the mutiny, other armed groups active in eastern Congo have opportunistically moved into areas left vacant by the army,” an internal NGO field report seen by the Guardian stated.

“In South Kivu in early May 2012, 30 people were killed in Lumenje zone by the FDLR … During the night of 13 May, at least another 40 civilians lost their lives and 35 were injured following a brutal FDLR attack on Kamananga. This incident took place only 2kms from a Monusco base [Monusco is the name of the UN’s 20,000-strong stabilisation force in Congo].”

The report went on: “A letter left by the FDLR at the scene warned of a series of revenge attacks if the opposing group, the Raia [militia], did not stop attacking them. In the last two massacres the FDLR mutilated the dead to discourage further actions against them …

“In Mambas territory, a mai mai [militia] group reportedly raped over 70 women in the second week of May and armed clashes around Itembo allegedly led to the death of 17 civilians.”

Overall, the total number of internally displaced people in Congo is believed to be at its highest level in three years: up from 1.7 million to 2 million.

The latest upheavals follow warnings, first reported in the Guardian on 16 March, that the army’s offensive against the FDLR, launched in February, could destabilise the Kivus and have disastrous consequences. Controversially, the UN supported the offensive, arguing it was the best way to end chronic instability in the region.

The army’s plan went awry last month after President Joseph Kabila of Congo called for the arrest of Bosco Ntaganda, an ex-rebel general whose forces were supposedly integrated into the FARDC in 2009.

Ntaganda is wanted by the international criminal court for alleged war crimes, including the recruitment of child soldiers, but had appeared to be enjoying to official protection. His response to Kabila’s call for his arrest was to lead a mutiny of former officers and hundreds of their men, who have formed a new rebel group called M23.

“Civilian safety has to be the number one priority for the UN and the government army,” Dixon said. “Military action against rebels must not put local people at further risk. It is unacceptable that such widespread violence in Congo goes unstopped and under-reported. More must be done to tackle the political and underlying drivers of the conflict.”

Recent Posts

  • Gargoyles, tarantulas, bloodied children: Research begins into mystery syndrome where people see visions of horror
  • Prosopagnosia
  • How mental distress can cause physical pain

Top Posts & Pages

  • Gargoyles, tarantulas, bloodied children: Research begins into mystery syndrome where people see visions of horror
  • Prosopagnosia
  • How mental distress can cause physical pain

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

  • February 2022
  • August 2020
  • May 2017
  • February 2017
  • August 2016
  • April 2016
  • November 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011

Categories

  • Adoption
  • Autism
  • Body Image
  • Brain Injury
  • Bullying
  • Cancer
  • Carers
  • Depression
  • Eating Disorders
  • Gender Identity
  • Hoarding
  • Indigenous Communities/Nomads
  • Military
  • Miscarriage
  • Neuroscience/Neuropsychology/Neurology
  • Older Adults
  • Postnatal Depression
  • prosopagnosia
  • Psychiatry
  • PTSD
  • Refugees and Asylum Seekers
  • Relationships
  • Self-Harm
  • Sexual Harassment, Rape and Sexual Violence
  • Suicide
  • Trafficking
  • Uncategorized
  • Visual Impairment
  • War Crimes
  • Young People

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blogroll

  • Freedom From Torture Each day, staff and volunteers work with survivors of torture in centres in Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Newcastle – and soon a presence in Yorkshire and Humberside – to help them begin to rebuild their lives. Sharing this expertise wit
  • GET Self Help Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Self-Help Resources
  • Glasgow STEPS The STEPS team offer a range of services to people with common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. We are part of South East Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership, an NHS service. We offer help to anyone over the age of 16 who n
  • Mind We campaign vigorously to create a society that promotes and protects good mental health for all – a society where people with experience of mental distress are treated fairly, positively and with respect.
  • Research Blogging Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research. If you don’t have a blog, you can still use our
  • Royal College of Psychiatrists Mental health information provided by the Royal College of Psychiatrists
  • Young Minds YoungMinds is the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the emotional well being and mental health of children and young people. Driven by their experiences we campaign, research and influence policy and practice.

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • a1000shadesofhurt
    • Join 100 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • a1000shadesofhurt
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar