(New York) - The United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congolese army must ensure that civilians are protected during operations to disarm rebel Rwandan armed groups in eastern Congo, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.
The 15-page briefing paper details how threats of incursions and reported attacks by Rwandan government forces in the Congo have increased pressure on the U.N. peacekeeping force (known as MONUC) and the Congolese army (Forces armées de la République Démocratique du Congo, or FARDC) to disarm Rwandan rebel groups in Congo quickly.
In early November, MONUC and FARDC began a joint operation in Walungu, South Kivu province, intended to persuade Rwandan rebel groups-mostly ethnic Hutu and generally called "ex-FAR" (for those once part of the former Rwandan army, Forces armées rwandaises) and "Interahamwe" (the militia that killed many Tutsi in the 1994 Rwandan genocide)-to disarm voluntarily.
Between December 22 and December 28, according to MONUC reports, Rwandan armed groups attacked FARDC soldiers near Walungu four times, apparently rejecting any voluntary disarmament. So far, humanitarian agencies have no reports of civilian injuries, but they estimate that a thousand civilians have been displaced in the vicinity of Walungu.
The joint MONUC-FARDC operation is mandated to use force to disarm members of the Rwandan armed groups, if necessary.
"Disarming Rwandan rebel groups is crucial for regional stability," said Alison Des Forges, senior Africa advisor to Human Rights Watch, "But the U.N. and Congolese authorities must ensure that civilians are protected from abuses by all warring parties."
Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Congo have committed grave abuses against civilians over a period of years, including killings, rapes and sexual slavery, abductions and extortion. In one case documented in the briefing paper, Rwandan combatants in October kidnapped a young married couple along with several other villagers.
"They took me with my husband," said the 19-year-old woman from a village near Walungu. "After that they killed my husband at four on Monday afternoon. After killing him they raped me. Nineteen people raped me in the forest."
FARDC soldiers, many of them poorly trained and poorly disciplined, have also committed abuses against civilians, including by raping women and looting property in South Kivu.
MONUC and FARDC will jointly command the Walungu operation, but they have not yet arrived at any rules of engagement on how to prevent or respond to abuses against civilians committed by rebel groups or their own forces.
In 1996 and 1998 Rwanda sent troops into Congo, claiming the need for preventive action against the armed groups, which at times have threatened to attack Rwanda. In late November, Rwanda said it was ready to send its soldiers to forcibly disarm the rebel groups.
But Rwanda and its close ally in Congo, the Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-Goma, or RCD-Goma) have for several years hindered efforts by MONUC to disarm and repatriate Rwandan rebel combatants in Congo.
Following reports of Rwandan incursions in eastern Congo, the Congolese government sent additional troops to the region. RCD-Goma troops, which have nominally been part of the new FARDC since 2003, then revolted and fighting began between these two parts of the supposedly integrated national army in North Kivu. The resumption of combat has disrupted disarmament efforts.
"Recent threats by Rwanda will only further hamper efforts to disarm these groups that have committed so many abuses in eastern Congo," said Des Forges.
