South Kivu

This section provides a broad overview of insecurity in the province. The security events included below are not exhaustive and only represent a portion of the reporting on individual events.

August - December 2019

According to the UN Secretary-General’s report covering major events and developments between 29 June and 25 September 2019:

The overall security situation in South Kivu remained tense and unpredictable, with eight out of the nine territories of the Province affected by local and foreign armed groups. In Kalehe and Shabunda territories, the Mai-Mai Raia Mutomboki and other members of local armed group reactivated their support networks, reportedly with the tacit support of some local politicians, following the movement of the Conseil national pour le renouveau démocratique and the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) into the area. This also triggered the intensification of confrontations between FARDC and local armed groups in Bunyakiri, as well as renewed rivalries with FARDC for the control of mining areas in Shabunda territory.²⁴⁴

The same source further highlighted with regards to Uvira and Fizi territories:

insecurity and recurrent armed confrontations continued to adversely affect the population.

Intercommunal conflict between Banyamulenge groups, supported by the Gumino and Twigwaneho militias, and the Babembe, Bafuliru and Banyindu communities, supported by various Mai-Mai groups, resulted in serious human rights violations in the Minembwe area of Fizi territory. The continued presence of Burundian and Rwandan armed groups in the Province made the situation even more volatile. Approximately 200,000 people remained displaced owing to continued insecurity.²⁴⁵

The Group of Experts on the DRC, as mandated by a UN Security Council resolution, reported in its report covering August to November 2019:

Since September 2019, civilians in Minembwe, Uvira Territory, experienced an upsurge in violence between communities backed by armed groups. A Mai-Mai armed group coalition led by Mai-Mai Yakutumba supported the Babembe, Bafuliru, Bavira and Banyindu communities in clashes against the Banyamulenge community, which was supported by Ngomino and Twigwaneho armed groups […]

The Banyamulenge members reported that since February 2019, the Mai-Mai coalition had targeted their community in the Moyens Plateaux of Uvira and carried out various attacks

243 OFPRA, Links between the Kumu and Tutsi communities in the Goma region, 27 March 2020 [Les liens entre les communautes kumu et tutsi dans la region de Goma], p. 4/5

244 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 27 September 2019, para. 21

245 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 27 September 2019, para. 22

during which people were killed, cows were looted and housed were burned down. […]

Members of the Bafuliru, Babembe and Banyindu communities reported that since May 2019, their leaders had been killed by Banyamulenge-affiliated armed groups. There was mass displacement of civilians and destruction of property in the villages around Minembwe. The Group notes with concern the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation and will monitor further developments.²⁴⁶

The New Humanitarian in October 2019 noted that:

More than 200,000 people have fled fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu highlands in recent months as a long-simmering struggle over land, power, and citizenship descends into village burnings and widespread killings.²⁴⁷

Following a MONUSCO led-mission in November 2019 to South Kivu to “assess the status of the protection of civilians as well as the security and humanitarian situation following the displacement of civilians caused by constant intercommunal clashes between armed groups in the Fizi and Uvira ‘’ Haut Plateaux’’”, the following observations were made:

mutual mistrust is still observed between local communities.

Armed groups’ activism poses threats to civilians through killings, cattle theft and arson.

Lack of trust between local community and FARDC is also noticed in the region.

On the humanitarian front, IDPs have expressed a strong need for shelter, food and medicine.

Internally displaced persons are estimated at 7,330 in and around Minembwe.²⁴⁸

On Fizi and Uvira territories, between 29 September and 25 November 2019, the UN Secretary-General provided the following overview:

Ethnically motivated violence against civilians on the high and middle plateaus of Fizi and Uvira territories remains a major source of concern, in particular in the Minembwe area. Since March 2019, Ngumino, Twigwaneho and Mai-Mai groups have killed at least 44 civilians and destroyed 89 villages. Worryingly, these attacks have targeted civilians on the basis of their perceived community affiliation, with the Banyamulenge particularly affected on one hand, and the Bafuliro, Babembe and Banyindu, on the other. The situation has deteriorated sharply since October [2019], with a growing risk of the violence spreading to neighbouring provinces.

There are many displaced civilians, especially in the Minembwe area, and humanitarian concerns are growing because the insecurity limits access to the area and adequate health facilities are far away. Fearing further attacks, hundreds of these displaced civilians have sought protection in the vicinity of MONUSCO bases.²⁴⁹

Regarding Shabunda territory, the same report noted:

In Shabunda Territory, the redeployment of FARDC to other areas has increased the freedom of action of Mai-Mai Raia Mutomboki armed groups, which has led to a deterioration of the security situation and an increase in exactions against civilians.²⁵⁰

246 UN Security Council, Midterm report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 20 December 2019, paras. 30, 32 and 33

247 New Humanitarian, In eastern Congo, a local conflict flares as regional tensions rise, 28 October 2019

248 UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), Sud-Kivu: UN Team on joint assessment mission to Minembwe, 8 November 2019

249 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 26 November 2019, para. 17

250 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 26 November 2019, para. 18

Reporting on developments in the DRC between 26 November 2019 and 16 March 2020, the UN Secretary-General provided the following overview on South Kivu:

The situation in South Kivu remained volatile owing to the concurrent presence of intercommunal conflict and foreign armed groups. FARDC launched operations against the Conseil national pour le renouveau et la démocratie in Kalehe territory on 26 November 2019.

Combatants from the Conseil national and their dependants dispersed in response, with 600 dependants seeking shelter near a MONUSCO temporary base. In December [2019], FARDC transferred some 362 Conseil national foreign combatants and 1,471 dependants to Rwanda.

In Fizi and Uvira territories, violence continued in the high and middle plateau area between Banyamulenge groups on one side and Babembe, Bafulero and Banyindu on the other.

However, the level of violence was lower than during the second half of 2019.²⁵¹

Human Rights Watch, basing the following on documented violence by the Kivu Security Tracker directed against civilians noted that:

[…] According to the Kivu Security Tracker, which documents violence in eastern Congo, assailants, including state security forces, killed at least 720 civilians and abducted or kidnapped for ransom more than 1,275 others in North Kivu and South Kivu in 2019. […]²⁵²

2020

The Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research reported on the following armed group attacks and conflict in North and South Kivu in 2020:

[…] In the DR Congo (DRC), three conflicts were fought on war-level. The government's campaign against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) escalated to a war [→ DR Congo (ADF)].

This year, the conflict's dynamics centred in DRC, with no violent measure recorded in Uganda.

Mostly based in North Kivu province, ADF was allegedly involved in 289 violent incidents, resulting in at least 1,483 fatalities. Several large-scale military operations throughout the year managed to occupy ADF's main bases. Nevertheless, the group mostly maintained its support and recruitment network. […] A third, highly violent conflict continued in the provinces of North and South Kivu, Maniema, as well as Tanganyika. Competing militant groups such as the MayiMayi factions, the Nduma Defense of Congo-Renovated, and other militias rooted in local communities continued to fight over territory and resources, also frequently clashing with the Congolese military [→ DR Congo (Mayi-Mayi et al.)].

[…] The most active groups in North Kivu were the Nduma Defense of Congo-Renovated (NDC-R), Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS), and the Collective Movement for Change (CMC) comprising Nyatura groups, whereas in South Kivu Raia Mutomboki (RM) factions and armed groups affiliated with the Banyamulenge community, on the one hand, and Bafuliiro, Babembe, and Banyindi communities, on the other, dominated the conflict dynamics. NDC-R remained active and operated in North Kivu territories Rutshuru, Masisi, and Walikale, extending both the territory under its control and its troop strength by co-opting fighters from other armed groups. NDC-R leader Shimirayi Mwisha Guidon further coordinated the Réseau des patriotes résistants congolais (RPRC), a coalition of armed groups including Mayi-Mayi Kifuafua, Mayi-Mayi Simba, Mayi-Mayi GuidesMouvement acquis au changement, Mayi-Mayi Mazembe Union pour la protection des innocents (UPDI), and Raia Mutomboki (RM) groups. In addition, APCLS-R had joined forces with NDC-R in late 2018 after the faction led by Mapenzi Bulere Likuwe had split from APCLS. The operational area controlled by NDC-R and their allies extended to cover Masisi, Walikale, Lubero, and NDC-Rutshuru territories in early 2020. Moreover, FARDC supported NDC-R activities targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and provided logistical support [→ DR Congo, Rwanda (FDLR,

251 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 18 March 2020, paras. 18 and 19

252 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2020 [ Events in 2019], 2020

CNRD)]. NDC-R activities targeted Nyatura groups, mainly Nyatura APRCD, Nyatura Domi.

Other groups organized within the CMC as well as the Mayi-Mayi Forces populaires de paix (FPP) in Masisi territory. In Rutshuru territory, NDC-R targeted the APCLS and FDLR.

Furthermore, NDC-R targeted civilians in all regions they controlled. Discontent among NDC-R commanders and allies increased with Guidon's rule over the equitable sharing of internal resources, the loss of control over several mining sites and the inability to counter FDLR's influence. Subsequently, NDC-R commanders Gilbert Bwira and Mapenzi Likuhe dismissed Guidon, resulting in the split of the group. On June 8, NDC-R fighters led by Bwira and supported by FARDC attacked Guidon at the NDC-R headquarters in Pinga locality, Walikale.

Alerted by a FARDC officer, Guidon escaped and regrouped with remaining followers in Walikale. Heavy infighting between the Bwira wing and the Guidon wing of NDC-R marked NDC-R's activity in the second half of the year, especially in Walikale. For instance, 17 people were killed and seven injured in a clash between Bwiraled and Guidon-led fighters on July 14 in the villages of Byamba and Bukucha. On July 20, NDC-R Bwira, supported by FARDC, clashed with NDC-R Guidon in Pinga, killing 37 people and leaving twelve injured. On September 4, NDC-R Bwira fighters shot and killed a civilian, whom they suspected of collaborating with NDC-R Guidon, in Mutongo village. The Bwira wing was often supported by FARDC. For instance, on October 14, FARDC and NDC-R Bwira attacked NDC-R Guidon in the villages of Nkingwa, Twamakuru, Koko, and Mpama, killing eleven people. […] FDLR was mainly active in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province, DRC […]. Overall, FDLR […] activity significantly decreased, mainly due to the ongoing military operation Sokola 2 by the Armed Forces of the DR Congo (FARDC) and pressure from other armed groups [→ DR Congo (Mayi-Mayi et al.)].

[…]

On April 24, FARDC launched military operations against FDLR. At least seven civilians were killed and up to 250 houses burned. Following an operation targeting inter alia FDLR-Forces Combattants Abacunguzi (FDLR-FOCA) elements, FARDC announced that one of their self-proclaimed generals was killed on August 28 in Makoka locality, Rutshuru. Although weakened by FARDC operations, FDLR and CNRD attacks continued throughout the year. In the first half of the year, attacks attributed to FDLR increased in Nyiragongo and Rutshuru territories, with at least 21 civilians killed. On April 24, suspected FDLR-FOCA members ambushed and killed 13 rangers and four civilians in Virunga National Park. In the latter half of the year, following the redeployment of some FARDC units, FDLR and CNRD began to recruit actively in the northern part of South Kivu, especially among young people in Kalehe. […]

On April 24, suspected FDLR-FOCA members ambushed and killed 13 rangers and four civilians in Virunga National Park. In the latter half of the year, following the redeployment of some FARDC units, FDLR and CNRD began to recruit actively in the northern part of South Kivu, especially among young people in Kalehe. […]²⁵³

An analytical note published by OHCHR-MONUSCO covering the period between February 2019 and June 2020 in the highlands of Mwenga, Fizi and Uvira territories found:

171 violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law committed in the context of the conflict in the areas of Mikenge, Minembwe and Itombwe by armed groups and defense and security forces (in particular FARDC soldiers). Of these violations and abuses, 85% are attributable to armed groups and nearly 15% to the FARDC. According to the information collected and analysed by the UNJHRO, 38% of the victims are from the Banyamulenge community, 25% Bafuliiru, 13% Banyindu, 12% Bashi and 9% Bembe

The violations and abuses documented include 76 violations of the right to life (128 victims of summary or extrajudicial executions, including 21 women and seven children, and 19 people who received death threats), 39 violations of the right to physical integrity with 47 victims of conflict-related sexual violence (42 women and

253 Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, Conflict Barometer 2020, 2021 [Analyzed Period: 01/01/20 – 12/31/20]

five children) and 39 victims of other violations of the right to physical integrity (including six women and 10 children), 10 violations of the right to liberty and security of the person (34 victims including eight women) and 46 violations of the right to property (looting and burning of houses). In addition, it was reported that thousands of cattle belonging to the Banyamulenge were either killed, mutilated or looted during this period.

The UNJHRO also documented the destruction of at least 95 villages, which were burnt down by combatants of different armed groups in the context of retaliation and counter retaliation against members of the communities involved. Thirty-two of these villages were inhabited by Banyamulenge, 37 by other communities (Babembe, Bafuliiru Bavira, Banyindu) and 26 villages had mixed populations. The destruction of these villages caused the massive displacement of the civilian population and the loss of the livelihoods of entire families.²⁵⁴

Reporting on developments in the DRC between 26 November 2019 and 16 March 2020, the UN Secretary-General provided the following overview on South Kivu:

The situation in South Kivu remained volatile owing to the concurrent presence of intercommunal conflict and foreign armed groups. […]

As at 31 January, MONUSCO deployed three temporary bases to Mikenge, Bijombo and Kipupu, which provided protection to 3,720 individuals from all communities. The Mission’s presence also helped to alleviate humanitarian concerns. For example, MONUSCO systematically accompanied internally displaced persons to their fields and to local markets and provided security for humanitarian agencies to carry out their activities.²⁵⁵

According to the UN Secretary-General’s report covering major events and developments between 17 March and 16 June 2020:

In South Kivu, renewed violence along ethnic lines broke out in the wider Minembwe area, with over 30 civilians killed since the beginning of the year. In Bijombo, clashes between local Twigwaneho militias and Mai-Mai fighters have occurred on a weekly basis, triggering several MONUSCO interventions. In late April [2020], FARDC clashed with Mai-Mai groups for several consecutive days in the Minembwe area, resulting in multiple casualties. An estimated 130,000 people remain internally displaced, with few prospects of returning in the near future owing to the unstable security situation [...]

In Kalehe territory, there was renewed activity of combatants of the Conseil national pour le renouveau et la démocratie, who had previously been scattered during FARDC operations in December 2019. A group of nearly 100 Conseil combatants was also reported in the Ruzizi Plain area in Uvira territory. The protracted insecurity affecting Fizi, Mwenga and Uvira territories has required FARDC to concentrate their forces there, leaving a vacuum that has enabled Raia Mutomboki groups to move more freely in Kalehe, Mwenga, Shabunda and Walungu territories. […]

The security situation also deteriorated in the border area of South Kivu, Maniema and Tanganyika Provinces owing to activity of Twa militias and Mai-Mai Apa Na Pale. Following a reported surge in sexual violence committed by these groups, MONUSCO deployed a

254 OHCHR-MONUSCO, Analytical note on the human rights situation in the highlands of Mwenga, Fizi and Uvira territories, South Kivu province, between February 2019 and June 2020, August 2020, paras.

5-7

255 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 18 March 2020, paras. 18 and 19

temporary base as a deterrent. Mai-Mai Malaika activity in Kabambare territory, Maniema Province, also continued to cause forced displacement.²⁵⁶

Describing the security situation in South Kivu between 17 June and 18 September 2020, the UN Secretary-General noted in his report that:

The security situation in the highlands worsened considerably and was characterized by tit-for-tat militia attacks against civilians. The former FARDC Colonel Michel Rukunda, alias Makanika, who has been active since January 2020, consolidated his control over the Twigwaneho armed groups and led several raids in the Kamombo area, killing six civilians and destroying 15 schools and seven health centres. Many Babembe, Bafuliro and Banyindu community members fled the area, increasing the number of internally displaced persons in Bijombo, where MONUSCO is deployed, to 6,725 (1,122 men, 1,253 women and 4,350 children). In Mikenge, MONUSCO continued to provide protection to 2,037 internally displaced persons (328 men, 409 women and 1,300 children), most of whom are members of the Banyamulenge community. MONUSCO troops repeatedly intervened to prevent attacks on internally displaced person sites.²⁵⁷

The same report further noted:

In late July, there was a further upsurge in violence in the highlands, following a Mai-Mai raid on Banyamulenge cattle and a subsequent Twigwaneho retaliatory attack on Kipupu. A joint government-MONUSCO verification mission to Kipupu on 29 July [2020] determined that a total of 15 civilians, including the Kipupu locality chief, had been killed during the clashes.²⁵⁸

With regards to the northern part of South Kivu, the UN report stated:

following a security vacuum created by the redeployment of some FARDC units to other conflict hotspots, the former Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR)/Conseil national pour le renouveau et la démocratie began to recruit actively, especially among young people in Kalehe territory. The humanitarian and security situation in the border area between Maniema, South Kivu and Tanganyika also further deteriorated in the context of continued FARDC redeployments. The territories of Kabambare and, to a lesser extent, Kasongo, continued to be affected by the activities of Mai-Mai Malaika, resulting in the displacement of more than 1,500 families. MONUSCO also received reports of regular incursions of Twa combatants from Tanganyika into Maniema.²⁵⁹

The Kivu Security Tracker reported that despite a ceasefire agreement signed near Bukavu in mid-September 2020, “Despite a slight fall in the number of clashes and civilians killed, abducted, and kidnapped compared to August [2020], the level of violence remained high in September [2020, well above historical monthly averages since the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) started collecting such data in June 2017”.²⁶⁰

256 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 18 June 2020, paras. 13-15

257 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 21 September 2020, para. 14

258 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 21 September 2020, para. 15

259 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 21 September 2020, para. 16

260 Kivu Security Tracker, Ceasefire in Murhesa, Little Impact on the Ground, Monthly Report No 35 – September 2020, September 2020, p. 1

The Group of Experts on the DRC reported in its report covering 25 April 2020 to 19 November 2020:

The Group of Experts is concerned by, and continues to investigate, the escalation of violence in the highlands of Fizi, Uvira and Mwenga territories by armed groups and the attribution of collective responsibility to communities for their attacks, as well as inflammatory speech.²⁶¹ According to the UN Secretary-General’s report covering major events and developments between 19 September and 1 December 2020:

The security situation deteriorated in the Hauts Plateaux of Minembwe, amid persistent inter-ethnic strife. FARDC reduced the rate of its operations owing to the redeployment of units outside South Kivu and logistical challenges. Seven of the eight territories in South Kivu were affected by harassment, looting, razing of dwellings, cattle rustling and attacks against civilians by armed groups. The Hauts Plateaux of Fizi, Mwenga and Uvira territories, comprising the zones of Bijombo, Mikenge and Minembwe were the most insecure areas in South Kivu, with 131 attacks against civilians recorded, resulting in at least 38 civilians killed (including 15 women and 1 child) and 22 injured. The situation deteriorated further following the official installation of a member of the Banyamulenge community as the mayor of Minembwe, which triggered demonstrations led by members of the Babembe, Bafuliro and Banyindu communities. In Bijombo, internally displaced persons remained the target of opportunistic attacks by armed militias. Five direct attacks against internally displaced persons resulted in 8 civilians killed or wounded, mostly women, in addition to 18 cases of rape and sexual violence.

In the territory of Fizi, four humanitarian workers were kidnapped […]

Violence also persisted in the Ruzizi plain of Uvira territory, as well as throughout Kalehe, Walungu, Kabare and Shabunda territories. This was due in part to limited FARDC deployments and the return of several leaders of Mai-Mai Raia Mutomboki to South Kivu after a failed attempt to demobilize. In Kalehe territory, the insufficient deployment of FARDC enabled ongoing armed group activity and increased recruitment in Kalonge and Ziralo groupements.

Meanwhile in Shabunda, there was a surge in violence, including sexual violence, by Raia Mutomboki groups. In the Ruzizi plain, Mai-Mai Kijangala and local gangs have been active in cattle rustling, imposing illegal taxation and directly attacking villages, while in Muturule four civilians from the Banyamulenge community were allegedly kidnapped by armed elements from Burundi on 17 October.²⁶²

2021

Reporting on developments in South Kivu between 2 December 2020 and 18 March 2021, the UN Secretary-General report stated that

In South Kivu […] the security situation improved, as the number of human rights violations and attacks against civilians declined. However, clashes between community-based armed groups led to an upsurge of violence in Fizi and Shabunda territories in South Kivu […]

On 1 January [2021], more than 50 civilians, including six women, were killed in Bijombo and more than 500 households were displaced. Meanwhile, sexual violence escalated in northern Shabunda following confrontations on 24 December [2020] between Mai-Mai Raia Mutomboki factions and the killing of two leaders, Mabala and Walike.²⁶³

261 UN Security Council, Midterm report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 23 December 2020, Summary

262 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 30 November 2020, paras. 15 and 16

263 UN Security Council, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Report of the Secretary-General, 18 March 2021, para. 21