AFRICA/CONGO DR - Since 2007, one third of North Kivu's people have been evacuated and in neighboring South Kivu mass rapes continue. Who benefits from all this?

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – News continues regarding the serious violence being carried out against the people of North and South Kivu, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. As Agenzia Fides has reported (see Fides 14/5/2009, 28/5/2009, 3/6/2009), the violence is committed by members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, however by the Congolese soldiers as well.
Caritas-Development of Congo denounced the fact that on June 1, several attacks were carried out on villages in the Mwenga area, where houses were set on fire and at least one case of rape was confirmed.
One of the most horrendous crimes in this conflict have been the rapes committed on women and children from the two Kivus. According to Nestor Yombo, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in the last 3 months alone there have been at least 463 cases of sexual violence in South Kivu, over half the number of cases registered in all of 2008. The increase in secual violence has coincided with the deployment of Congolese soldiers in the area, as part of a new military attack on the FDLR.
Yombo told the case of a 3-year-old girl who died from the violence suffered. According to a representative of the local civil society, the FDLR is continually responsible for rape cases, while there are several isolated cases of sexual violence performed by members of the Congolese Army.
In 2008, in North Kivu, the International Crisis Group reported that there were 2,200 cases of rape registered, however there were surely more than those registered, as several women feared making a claim (for the impact of sexual violence in reference to the local culture, see Fides 29/10/2007).
The worst violence is committed by a faction group of the FDLR, associated with the Congolese militia of Rasta. This group carries out rape and sexual mutilations, as part of a concrete plan that seeks ethnic cleansing for taking control of the area that is rich in minerals.
The old Latin saying “Cui Prodest?” (Who benefits?) is always repeated when a crime is analyzed. According to the missionary network “Peace for Congo” and several observers of the socio-political situation in North Kivu, the current attacks are being carried out by assailants who disguise themselves under the auspices of the FDLR and form a part of the last stage of the war to take over North Kivu, to reach a final occupation. It is worth noting that in 2007, one third of North Kivu's population was forced to evacuate and live in refugee camps far from their hometowns. For observers, the next stage will be the return to the abandoned villages of Congo, in order to promote new arrivals and openness to the coltan mines that are found in the neighboring villages, which are currently besieged by fires. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 8/6/2009)