03.03.2021

No end to violence in eastern Congo

Ecumenical Network Central Africa (ÖNZ) is deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Between July and December 2020 alone, more than 468 people were killed in North Kivu. In February 2021, rebel attacks in and around the town of Beni killed dozens. In an attack near Goma on February 22, 2021, the Italian ambassador, his bodyguard, and his driver were killed while traveling to an aid project.

Against the backdrop of this situation, the WCC, of which the UEM has been a member since its inception almost 20 years ago, held a virtual expert meeting on March 2, 2021, in which representatives from the Kivu region in the DRC reported on the desolate situation.

More than 130 armed groups operate in eastern Congo, where there is a struggle for control over land and raw materials. Victims of the conflicts are mainly the civilian population, women and children who are forced to flee, victims of sexualized violence and killings. State security forces are held partly responsible for continuing insecurity and violence. The political crisis in the capital, Kinshasa, is a major factor in the lack of an effective strategy to stabilize the country. MONUSCO, the world's largest United Nations peacekeeping mission with more than 18,000 blue helmet soldiers, is also unable to guarantee the security of the population.

Fred Bauma of the Congo Research Group / LA LUCHA and Odile Bulabula of the RIO organization describe the situation in eastern Congo as catastrophic. There is no security for the population. There are many weapons in the region. Children are recruited as soldiers by the various militias. Many roads are not secured. Nepotism and corruption hinder any development. State institutions and their representatives are often corrupt, partly because of insufficient pay. Violence is commonplace. Crime and a decline in values characterize society.

Bulabula finds it incomprehensible that the international community, which is present in the region, can do so little. Bulabula also sees the neighboring countries, which pursue their own interests in eastern Congo by supporting rebel groups and exploiting raw materials, as partly responsible for the continuing violence and anarchy.

Nene Morisho of the Pole Institute in Goma reports on the causes of the conflicts in North Kivu. One of them, he says, is the unequal distribution of land in the region between ethnic groups who have settled there for a long time and those who moved there later. Another cause of conflict, in Morisho's view, is the struggle for control of raw materials. In a multiethnic context, this leads to violent disputes that are difficult to satisfy in the absence of state violence. Another conflict driver is the spread of misinformation, which manipulates and incites the population. Demobilization programs for former child soldiers and militias that have been implemented to date have failed due to a lack of reintegration programs. Women, who could play a role in peace work, have so far been largely excluded from political participation.

UEM and other member organizations in the Ecumenical Network Central Africa call on the international community to act

The representatives from Congo emphasize the important and positive role of international non-governmental organizations in supporting local civil society and churches in their efforts to bring about social reform and change.

In order to end the violence, the Ecumenical Network Central Africa calls on the Congolese government to take decisive measures to end corruption within state organs and to prosecute crimes committed by the army and militia members. In addition, the ÖNZ believes that the government has a duty to address the underlying causes of violence, such as inadequate access to land and the unfair distribution of revenues from raw materials, with political reform measures.

The WCC expects the international community to support the government in Congo in reforming and building security forces, a judicial system and other state institutions. To this end, neighboring countries must also be involved and, if necessary under pressure, be persuaded to stop the illegal trade in resources from Congo across their territories.

The United Evangelical Mission (UEM) supports churches in the region through humanitarian aid, poverty reduction projects and peace work. Dr. Jochen Motte, member of the Executive Board and responsible for the human rights work of the UEM, fears that after so many years, the ongoing violence will be tolerated and accepted internationally as a "normal state of affairs," especially since the Western media hardly reports on the situation of the affected people in eastern Congo. "To protect the threatened civilian population in the face of countless murdered and displaced people, the international community must turn its attention to this forgotten conflict even more than before and contribute to solutions that guarantee security for the people on the ground and open up prospects for the future. The European Union should be at the forefront of this effort, as the raw materials illegally exported from the region are often used in products that are consumed here in Europe and Germany," explains Dr. Motte.

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