CAMPAIGN OF TERROR IN KIVUS: 6 tortured to death,...: Bulletin 2 of January 2001
The climate of insecurity and terror continue to feature the daily life of the civilian populations of South-Kivu in the Congo. Mass killings, large number of internally displaced, millions of refugees, and movement of people towards urban centres, such as Uvira, have reached an intolerable level. Frequent ambushes of civilian convoys by various armed groups on the main roads of this region are equally hampering down all the income-generating activities of local populations.
The authorities of the Rebel Movement, the RCD, appear to have lost control of the situation. These authorities give also the impression of being simply unwilling to deal with the suffering facing the civil populations of South-Kivu, blamed for having refused to endorse the brutal regime imposed on them by the rebel movement and its allies.
Recently (late December) 7 civilians were tortured to death at Rukobo, near in the Ruzizi river, in the Uvira district, on the border between the Congo and Burundi.
A Burundian army officer called KAGABO, who was accompanied by his informer Mr. HAVYARI, ordered these acts of tortures followed by the death of the victims.
Amongst the victims were Mr. Albert NGONGO (31 years old), Andre AUKA (31 years old), KIZA KIPINDI (27 years old, and a local shepherd not otherwise identified.
According to one of our local sources and one witness, six of the victims were, in association with the Burundian army officer KAGABO, vendors of various items including petrol across the border between the Congo and Burundi.
Mr. Albert NGONGO was tied up to a tree and then beaten to death.
Chocked by the brutal death of his companion, the other victim, Mr. AUKA, attempted unsuccessfully to defend himself before being also beaten to death. His body as well as that of his friend Albert NGONGO were then tied together and dragged closer to Kavimvira, in the Uvira district.
Mr. TURUBIKA Kavuma Adrien, who works for the local branch of the International Comity of Red Cross in Uvira, has also been arrested by the local security service of the RCD-Uvira. Following his arrest, Mr. TURUBIKA was detained at the military detention centre of the 9th Brigade, known as 'Mbwa Mabe' (Dangerous dog). From there Mr. TURUBIKA was then transferred to Bukavu, where he is still in detention at the security service (DSR). He is accused of having provided humanitarian assistance to local internally displaced people from Lemera.
Furthermore, a civilian boat coming from Baraka/Fizi, and having on board more than forty people was recently attacked by soldiers of the rebel movement RCD on the Tanganyika Lake. One civilian died in this incident, and a considerable number of others were subjected to all sort of inhuman and degrading treatments, and many lost their belongings. Most of those on board of this boat were accused of providing supplies to the mai-mai militia, which is fighting the RCD.
The campaign of terror that appears to be going on in the rural areas of the South-Kivu region of the Congo is particularly intense in places, such as Sange, Kiliba, Kamanyola, Luvungi, and several others villages found in the Ruzizi valley. One could remember the massacre of Makobola, Kiliba, Katogota, Mutarule, on the top of which the current insecurity is to be placed. This situation has resulted in an increasing number of internally displaced people leaving the rural areas towards the urban centres, where they hope to live a more quite life.
Consistent reports from Luvungi confirm that armed men belonging to the Banyamulenge community are grazing sometimes their cattles on lands containing crops of local populations. Other reports confirm that a number of these men take part in acts of extortion of local populations. The villages mostly affected are Rugobagoba, Kinanira, Kabalike, Kataka, Kanganiro, Kigoko Ruzizi, Kaharabwe, Migobe, and Bwegera.
In all these villages, men can no longer go to their farmlands, because of the fear of being assimilated to the mai-mai movement. Thus, women have become the only one who can risk going to visits their crops. However, even women are not safe. They are often intercepted by different armed groups and sometimes subjected to all sorts of human rights abuses, such as rape and distortion.
Recently, a local authority of the rebel movement, the RCD, stated at a public meeting held at Kasenga/Uvira, that this part of the town of Uvira was considered as a base for the militia mai-mai. It is this kind of statements and beliefs that have transformed the city of Uvira into a battlefield, where various factions fight each other without any consideration to the minimum standard of protection of civilian populations.
Despite the fact that the rebel movement RCD in control of South-Kivu is partially responsible for the situation of insecurity and terror that prevails in this part of the Congo, HERITIERS DE LA JUSTICE appeals to this movement for an end to the suffering of the civilian populations of South-Kivu.
Furthermore, at this time when the American signature of the Treaty on the International Criminal Court has boosted chances for justice of victims of crimes similar to those being committed in South-Kivu, HERITIERS DE LA JUSTICE renews its call for an international justice into the killings, war crimes, and crimes against humanity that are taking place in South-Kivu region of the Congo.
HERITIERS DE LA JUSTICE
January 3, 2001
La RONDE du Kivu
Mwenga centre | Kamituga | - - Dan Church Objectifs,...
Rapport des Droits de l'Homme & Media Internationaux sur le Kivu
Human Rights Watch
>International Rescue Committee:1.7 millions mort en 22 mois (Juin 2000):Resume
International Rescue Committee:1.7 millions mort en 22 mois (Juin 2000):Rapport en entier avec ACROBAT READER
Amnesty International HALT! Tribunaux Internationaux contre les violateurs des droits de l'hommes .
Kalambi | Baraka | Bideka | Ibanda-Ngweshe
| Baraka | Ville de Bukavu |
Uvira | Luvungi
| Kalehe | Sange | Lemera| Bunyakiri
|
Nyabibwe | Kitutu | Kalonge | Kaziba
Bailleurs des fonds
/ICCO-Hollande
Aid/Danemark
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Staff
Projets en Cours
Human Rights Watch Rapport de Mai 2000)
Version Francaise de l'avant dernier Rapport
Amnesty International: Dernier Rapport(Juin 2000, version Anglaise)
East du Congo: Quel carnage?
Links sur le Congo
(MONUC: UN au Congo)
Observatoire de l'Afrique
New Congo Net
