Situation in Djugu territory in the aftermath of the conflict

In Aru and Mahagi territories, there were reports of the presence of armed ex-M23 elements. On 20 April [2018], two alleged ex-M23 elements surrendered to FARDC in Mahagi while, on 23 April [2018], two alleged ex-M23 elements were arrested by ANR in Aru.³¹⁴

Following UNHCR’s team visit to the area where months of conflict between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups resulted in the displacement of around 350,000 people, UNHCR reported in mid-July 2018 that they “heard numerous, harrowing reports of barbaric violence, including armed groups attacking civilians with guns, arrows and machetes, entire villages razed, and farms and shops being looted and damaged beyond repair”.

5.3.1.3. Situation in Djugu territory in the aftermath of the conflict

The security situation in parts of Djugu territory was tense, and there was an increase in attacks by alleged Lendu youth militias on FARDC positions and civilians. Suspected Lendu youth militias attacked the FARDC position in Linga on 1 and 4 October [2018] and carried out attacks against FARDC in Bule, Jiro and Muvaramu along Lake Albert between 9 October and 5 November [2018]. In addition, on 3 November [2018], unidentified assailants attacked a position held by FARDC in Muganga, resulting in the killing of 16 soldiers and 20 civilians.

On 9 November [2018], suspected Lendu youth militias attacked Landjo (25 km north-east of Djugu town), resulting in the killing of 9 soldiers and the wounding of 14 others. The violence spread from Djugu towards Lake Albert with assailants attacking FARDC positions 60 km north-east of Tchomia on 28 November [2018], killing five FARDC elements and three civilians. Assailants also ambushed FARDC patrols on 4 December [2018] in Landjo and again in Jiro on 9 December [2018], killing at least three more FARDC soldiers.³¹⁸

The UN Secretary-General report on MONUSCO’s activities covering the period from 4 January to 8 March 2019 noted that “the security situation in Djugu territory remained tense as attacks by alleged Walendu militias on FARDC positions flared up in January. FARDC, in turn, launched military operations in several localities occupied by Walendu militias along the shore of Lake Albert.

The UN Secretary-General report on MONUSCO’s activities covering the period 8 March to 28 June 2019 noted “Violence by suspected Lendu assailants re-emerged in Djugu and Mahagi territories, reaching worrying levels. Suspected Lendu youth militias carried out several attacks on villages, resulting in the killing, wounding and displacement of civilians, as well as the destruction and looting of properties. On 1 June [2019], in Bunia, members of the provincial assembly hailing from Mahagi territory issued a statement claiming that the violence had resulted in the killing of at least 40 civilians in May [2019]. Between 8 and 12 June [2019], approximately 72 civilians were reportedly killed in a series of attacks by suspected Lendu assailants in several villages around Lake Albert; however, unconfirmed figures suggest that the number of victims may be substantially higher. On 18 June [2019], the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated that more than 300,000 had fled from the resurgent inter-ethnic violence in Djugu, Mahagi and Irumu territories. FARDC conducted operations against Lendu militia camps in the Wago forest along the shores of Lake Albert. MONUSCO deployed forward bases in the affected areas”.

On 28

June 2019 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted in her press briefing notes that “At least 117 people were killed in Ituri province *…+ between 10 and 13 June *…+

The investigative team confirmed that at least 94 people had been killed in Djugu territory and 23 in Mahagi territory, including an as yet undetermined number of women and children. Some of the victims were beheaded. Homes and warehouses were burned down after being looted. The ferocity and scorched-earth nature of the attacks suggests the assailants intended to prevent survivors from being able to return to their villages. Most of the victims belonged to the Hema community, and the rest to the Alur group. The attackers are reported to be unidentified individuals from the Lendu community […+ The motives of

318 UN Secretary-General, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 4 January 2019, II. Major developments, C. Security situation, Ituri, Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé Provinces, para. 30

319 UN Secretary-General, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 7 March 2019, II. Major developments, C. Security situation, North Kivu, para.

24

320 UN Secretary-General, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 17 July 2019, III. Security situation, Ituri, Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé provinces, para. 31

the perpetrators of these latest attacks are unclear. Originally, they were reported as retaliation for the earlier deaths of four Lendu people. However, the team’s analysis of the context suggests this explanation was a pretext. The information gathered so far seems to indicate that despite the attackers reportedly belong to one community, and the victims to others, there appear to be additional political and economic motives underlying the assaults”.

In mid-June, Congo Forum reported on the discovery of mass graves in Djugu territory [unofficial translation]:

At least 140 dead bodies were discovered last weekend in the Tché locality in the Losandrema grouping in Djugu territory of the Ituri Province. It was the civil society of the chiefdom of North Bahema who delivered this information on Sunday 16^th June.

According to this citizen structure, these bodies are in addition to 21 other bodies discovered the same Saturday 15^th June in the Zendro, Pawi and Tshini regions in the Dhendro area.

These new discoveries make an alarming total number of at least 161 dead bodies in this north-eastern region of the DRC.

The civil society states that these bodies were discovered by the local population in a forest, following an attack by men with guns and knives which took place in the night of last Tuesday to Wednesday, 12^th June.³²²

The UN News Centre reported in mid-June 2019 that “Citing multiple attacks and counter-attacks between Hema herders and Lendu farmers, UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch told journalists in Geneva that the situation had worsened in recent days [with] 300,000 flee[ing]

*…+ The development comes amid reports of intense fighting between the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and non-state armed actors in Djugu territory, as the authorities attempt to bring the situation under control in the vast, resource-rich region *…+ Three of Ituri’s five administrative territories - Djugu, Mahagi and Irumu – have all seen mass displacement after self-defence militia reportedly carried out “revenge killings”, according to UNHCR”.

In a subsequent report the same source reported that:

“The investigative team confirmed that at least 94 people had been killed in Djugu territory and 23 in Mahagi territory, including an as yet undetermined number of women and children,” OHCHR spokesperson Marta Hurtado said. “Some of the victims were beheaded.

Homes and warehouses were burned down after being looted. The ferocity and scorched-earth nature of the attacks suggests the assailants intended to prevent survivors from being able to return to their villages.” Most of the victims belonged to the Hema community, while the remainder were Alur people, Ms. Hurtado said. The attackers were reportedly from the Lendu community, she added, her comments echoing an earlier alert from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, that thousands of people displaced by violence had arrived in Uganda this month, with an average of 311 people crossing the border daily, double the number for May [2019].³²⁴

At the end of June 2019 ACLED reported that “the communal conflict between the Hema and Lendu in the Dujug territory of Ituri has increased drastically, as a reported 291 people have been killed in a series of retaliatory attacks since June 11

[2019]. During the past two weeks, numerous villages have been attacked by militias, which have also clashed with

321 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Press briefing notes on DRC attacks, 28 June 2019

322 CongoForum, Ituri: des charniers découverts dans des localités de Djugu, 18 June 2019 [unofficial translation provided by a COI researcher]

323 UN News, 300,000 flee flare-up of ethnic violence in north-eastern DR Congo, 18 June 2019

324 UN News Centre, Ebola fight ongoing amid evidence of ‘several massacres’ in DR Congo’s Ituri province, 28 June 2019

military forces in the region. An estimated 300,000 people have been displaced by the recent attacks, amidst reports that militias are preventing others from fleeing”.

At the end of June 2019 the independent journalist, Roger Mulyata argued in an article published by CongoForum [unofficial translation]: “The military operation Zaruba Ya Ituri (Ituri Storm), launched by the FARDC against the perpetrators of killings of civilians in the territories of Djugu and Mahagi, continues successfully. The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced the conquest of a dozen villages that were occupied by armed groups in these two territories of the Ituri Province. The army also took control of the WAGO forest in the Djugu territory, considered as a bastion of the armed fighters. Military sources in Ituri Province are providing provisional figures of 19 dead including 16 dead attackers and 3 FARDC soldiers *…+ The actions of the armed forces in Djugu and Mahagi, in Ituri Province, is responsible for several hundred deaths and massive displacement of civilians”.

According to reporting by The New Humanitarian “On a visit to Ituri *…+ President Felix Tshisekedi described the violence – blamed on an ethnic Lendu militia – as “attempted genocide” and a “plot” to destabilise the central government”.

ACLED reported in early July 2019 that:

Military forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo continued operations against armed militias in the Eastern provinces. In Ituri, military forces carried out operations against the Cooperative for Development of Congo (CODECO) militia, which is mainly comprised of ethnic Lendu. The group is believed to be responsible for recent attacks on Hema communities, which President Felix Tshisekedi called an ‘attempted genocide’. Military forces carried out an offensive against the militia in the Wago area. Despite these operations, attacks on civilians in the Djugu territory have persisted. They have not been on the same scale as the June massacres, but there were several attacks on civilians this week.

IDPs appear to have been specifically targeted in four attacks, which resulted in 10 reported fatalities. The current unrest in the province has destabilized the relative calm it has recently achieved.³²⁸

Radio Okapi reported in mid-July 2019 that *unofficial translation+: “Heavy weapons fights

*…+ between the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and groups of armed men in the town of Agu, Ndendro grouping, Walendu Pitsi sector in Djugu territory, continued *…+ Sources from local civil society report that twelve people died in both camps”.

The International Crisis Group noted in its July 2019 ‘CrisisWatch’ that:

violence continued in Djugu, Mahagi and Irumu territories as armed groups continued to target civilians and military. Eight headless bodies discovered 10km from provincial capital

325 Maya Moseley (ACLED), Regional Overview – Africa, 25 June 2019

326 Roger Mulyata (CongoForum), Ituri : 19 morts, bilan à mi-parcours des opérations militaires Zaruba ya Ituri contre les groupes armés dans cette partie Nord-Est de la RDC, 28 June 2019 [Unofficial translation provided by a COI researcher]

327 The New Humanitarian, Machete attacks and forest escapes, as conflict returns to Congo’s troubled Ituri, 9 July 2019

328 Maya Moseley (ACLED), Regional Overivew – Africa, 9 July 2019

329 Radio Okapi, RDC: combats à l’arme lourde entre les FARDC et des hommes armés à Djugu, 18 july 2019

Bunia 18 July [2019], prompting youth to protest against insecurity. 200 additional police deployed to shore up security 8 July [2019].³³⁰

ACLED noted at the end of July 2019 that “Insecurity has continued in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as eight civilians were beheaded by unidentified attackers in two separate attacks near Bunia, Ituri. Following the attacks, youth demonstrated by carrying the bodies through the city. Military forces continued operations against militias operating in the Djugu territory in Ituri resulting in 23 reported fatalities”.

ACLED also noted in its ‘Fact Sheet’ of 25

July 2019 that “In June 2019, ACLED recorded a surge in violence against civilians in Ituri province, particularly in the Djugu territory. Over 360 civilian fatalities were reported between 1 June 2019 and 20 July 2019. Lendu ethnic militias were responsible for 57% of these fatalities, while unidentified ethnic militias were responsible for 28%. Much of the violence targeted the Hema community. During the same period, ACLED recorded 24 clashes in the province, 95% of which involved state military forces. The violence has displaced over 300,000 people, and at least 10 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were reported killed by unidentified groups during the first week of July”.

According to the head of MONUSCO, Leila Zerrougui, “blasted ‘spoilers’ in Ituri Province for

‘seeking to play on ethnic tensions’ between Lendu farmers and Hema herders that have

resulted in violent clashes and forced more than 350,000 people from their homes. ‘The

deterioration of the security situation is interrupting the return process that had been

gradually taking place since 2018’, she told the UN Security Council. This was ‘causing new

displacements towards Bunia [city] and forcing the humanitarian community to reorient its

assistance to the most vulnerable populations’, she added *…+ Interethnic clashes in the

turbulent, gold-rich Ituri region have also left 733,000 people needing aid

handouts, Zerrougui told the UN Security Council”.