AFRICA/DR CONGO - More groups commit massacres against civilians in Beni: maybe a new war?

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "In the territory of Beni, which belongs to the province of North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the situation of extreme insecurity is becoming more dramatic and intolerable: more than 250 people killed and 88,500 displaced only in the past two months. Who are those responsible for these atrocities? Hard to say", says a note sent to Agenzia Fides by the "Peace for Congo" Network.
"The civil and military authorities and local civil society in North Kivu attribute this violence to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group of Ugandan origin", says the statement.
According to the Peace in Congo Network, which cites some reports of local observers, in North Kivu, in addition to the ADF, there are other armed groups, including elements of the former M23, the rebel movement that formally laid down their arms in December 2013 (see Fides 13/12/2013), but, as stated in the note, "its former fighters, who fled to Rwanda and Uganda after their defeat in the month of November 2013, continue to show their discontent towards the Congolese government, accusing it of not living up to commitments in the statements of Nairobi, signed on December 12, 2013". Among the groups operating in the territory of Beni, there is also one led by Mbusa Nyamwisi, "a delegation member of the M23 in the negotiations between the M23 and the Congolese government in Kampala (Uganda)", states the note.
"If the ADF are suspected to be the main responsible for the massacres, it would be useless, if not harmful, just to blame them", the document says. "Maybe someone is interested in fomenting, under the name of the ADF, insecurity and massacres, and then present himself as the only one able to restore order", especially since a report prepared by twelve members of the majority and the opposition poses serious questions on the work of local security forces, which in many cases did nothing to stop the massacres.
"A new war could therefore be behind the corner, this time not from Goma (in the south of North Kivu), but from Beni (in the north of North Kivu), but always under the impetus of the usual political, military and ethnic forces supported by some neighboring Countries. The evolution of the situation will be able to confirm or deny it", the statement concludes, which hopes for the creation of more parliamentary committees of inquiry on the situation in the region. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 16/12/2014)