03 07 14 HRW DR Congo: Army, UN Failed to Stop Massacre

 

Anneke Van Woudenberg, Africa advocacy by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">director.

(Goma) – Congolese forces and United Nations peacekeepers failed to intervene to stop a nearby attack that killed at least 30 civilians. The attack was in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province on June 6, 2014.

by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Human Rights
Watch research found that a senior Congolese army officer stationed
nearby, who had been repeatedly warned and informed of the attack by
armed assailants in the village of Mutarule, did not act to stop the
killings. Members of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUSCO,
based 9 kilometers away, were also aware of the attack but did not
intervene, and only visited Mutarule two days after the massacre.

“The Congolese army and UN peacekeepers left civilians in Mutarule to be
slaughtered even though they got desperate calls for help when the
attack began,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Watch. “Both the army and MONUSCO need to determine what went wrong and make sure such atrocities don’t happen again on their watch.”

Congolese military authorities opened an investigation into the attack and arrested two army officers by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">and a civilian, but have not yet charged them. None of the attackers has been arrested.

The massacre occurred amid rising tensions between the Bafuliro and the
Barundi and Banyamulenge ethnic groups. During a week-long Human Rights
Watch research mission in and around Mutarule in mid-June, victims and
witnesses described how a group of armed assailants, some of whom wore
military uniforms and spoke Kirundi and Kinyamulenge – the by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">languages of the Barundi and Banyamulenge – attacked an outdoor church service in the Bafuliro section of Mutarule.

The assailants opened fire on nearly 200 people who were gathered outside the church by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">between
8 p.m. and 9 p.m. As people ran for cover, some were hit by gunfire or
grenade shrapnel. The assailants then entered the worship area and
started shooting people. They also targeted a health
center and several houses, shot people at point-blank range, and then
burned them to death. The victims included men, women, and at least
eight children – among them a 4-year-old boy with mental and physical
disabilities who was burned to death. Most of those killed were from the
Bafuliro ethnic group.

One woman, who hid during the attack but was found by the assailants,
told Human Rights Watch: “I said to them: ‘Please don’t kill me. I’m an
old woman. What can I do to you?’ One said: ‘Bring the flashlight.’ When
they brought it, another said: ‘What sort of old woman is this? Kill
her.’ Then one of them took the bayonet on his gun and stabbed me here
[in my ribs and breast].”

The South Kivu military prosecutor opened an investigation into the
massacre on June 10. In the following two weeks, several provincial and
national government officials visited Mutarule and surrounding areas to
investigate the attack and show their support and solidarity with the
victims and survivors. Human Rights Watch urged Congolese judicial
authorities to bring the assailants responsible for the massacre to
justice promptly, in accordance with international fair trial standards.

“Allegations that soldiers close to the scene of the massacre were given
direct orders not to intervene raises serious questions about the
military’s response to the attack,” Van Woudenberg said. “The military
should investigate whether officers deliberately blocked efforts to
protect civilians under attack and hold all those responsible to
account.”

Residents of the village repeatedly called MONUSCO peacekeepers as the
attack was going on. They then set up a small, temporary base on the
outskirts of the village. In the ensuing two weeks, the MONUSCO force
commander, Gen. Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, and the UN special
representative for the secretary-general in Congo, Martin Kobler,
visited Mutarule and surrounding areas. MONUSCO issued a news release on
June 7, condemning the attack and saying that peacekeepers would take
measures to protect the local population in Mutarule. Maj. Mohammed
Shaban, the Pakistani commander of the MONUSCO peacekeepers’ base in
Sange, 9 kilometers from Mutarule, was replaced by by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">a new commander on June 22.  

“UN peacekeepers are providing a false sense of security if they don’t
even respond when the local protection committees they helped set up ring the by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">alarm
bell,” Van Woudenberg said. “Continuing tensions and the risk of
further attacks mean that the UN should take immediate action to uncover
what went wrong at Mutarule and make sure that UN commanders have the
authority to respond quickly to any new threats.”

Tensions between the Bafuliro and Barundi and Banyamulenge remain high
in the aftermath of the massacre. An anonymous flyer written in Swahili
and distributed on June 16 in Uvira, the main town south of Mutarule,
suggested that the Bafuliro would be taking the law into their own
hands. It said: For any person found transporting Banyamulenge, “whether
by bicycle, motorcycle, or in his car, it’s finished; he and his client
will be burned together.”

Accounts of Victims, Witnesses

Human Rights Watch spoke to many witnesses who survived the attack in
Mutarule. A 23-year-old woman who was outside in the church worship area
when the attack started told Human Rights Watch:

We heard bullets by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">coming
from all sides. We all got down on the ground. They came in by the door
and were in camouflage military uniforms. There were many of them. The
first one said: “Exterminate them.” He said this in Kirundi. Then they
started shooting. Next to me was a by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">human rights activist by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">named
Akili. He was shot and died immediately. My sister was shot in the leg
and injured. We lay on the ground and pretended we were dead.

Photographs taken after the attack, viewed by Human Rights Watch,
showed a girl whose stomach was lacerated and children burned beyond
recognition. Human Rights Watch researchers visited the communal
gravesite of the 30 civilians who were killed. The researchers found
AK-47 by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">caliber bullet casings at the scene of the attack, as well as the burned remains of at least 12 homes.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman who was injured by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">during the attack told Human Rights Watch how she hid in her house after the attack started:

When the assailants came into our house, they said: “Today we are
going to kill you.” I asked: “Can you forgive us?” They said: “No, we
aren’t going to forgive you. We are going to kill you.” Then they
started to stab us. They stabbed me, as well as other women who were in
the house with me. Afterward, they went into our neighbor’s house where
they killed a father, a mother, and their children.

An elderly woman who was injured during the attack told Human by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Rights Watch:

During the shooting, I hid in a corner with my head under the dry
banana leaves, but my feet were visible. I felt someone pulling at my
feet. I told them I would get up. When I was up, I said to them: “Please
don’t kill me. I’m an old woman. What can I do to you?” One said:
“Bring the flashlight.” When they brought it, another said: “What sort
of old woman is this? Kill her.” I heard another voice say in Kirundi:
“Shoot her.”’ Then one of them took the bayonet on his gun and stabbed
me here [in my ribs and breast].

Lead-up to the Massacre

Tensions had been mounting in recent months between ethnic Bafuliro,
Barundi, and Banyamulenge in Mutarule and surrounding areas. The
Bafuliro are seen by many to be an indigenous group, native to the
region. The Barundi are related to the people of neighboring Burundi,
and have lived in South Kivu since at least the early 19th century. The
Banyamulenge, ethnic Tutsi who live in South Kivu, speak a language that
is close to the by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">languages of Rwanda and Burundi.

The Barundi and Bafuliro have disputed control of the customary chiefdom
in the Ruzizi plain for several decades. While the current customary
chief is from the Barundi ethnic group, the Bafuliro believe the
customary power belongs to them. The conflict intensified on April 25,
2012, when unidentified gunmen killed Floribert Nsabimana Ndabagoye, the
Barundi customary chief, in Mutarule, leading to a series of
tit-for-tat attacks and cattle thefts.

Banyamulenge leaders, who are often allied with the Barundi, alleged
that Bafuliro Mai Mai fighters had killed four Banyamulenge cattle
herders since by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">February
2013. The Mai Mai are local armed groups often organized to defend a
particular ethnic group. In March and April 2014, two Banyamulenge
herders were reported missing, one near Mutarule, the other in Bwegera, a
village 15 kilometers away. Some local residents suspected the Bafuliro
were behind their abduction. In what is widely believed to be a
Banyamulenge revenge attack, two Bafuliro cattle herders were killed on
April 12. Since then, approximately 400 Bafuliro households have left
Bwegera, only returning to their farms during the day.

Army’s Failure to by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Respond

On June 6, before the attack, a Bafuliro armed group known as Mai Mai
Bede, under the command of Bede Rusagara, an army deserter, allegedly
killed a Banyamulenge cattle herder near Mutarule and stole his cattle.

A cattle rancher and youth leader of the Barundi ethnic group, Raymond
Sheria, phoned Capt. Enabombi Changa Dejeune of the 10052 army
battalion, based in Mutarule, and told him that cattle belonging to the
Barundi had been stolen. Captain Enabombi sent soldiers to investigate
the claim, but the troops came under fire from both Bafuliro Mai Mai and
Banyamulenge and Barundi youth. When Enabombi called his commanding
officer, 10052 interim battalion commander Col. Venance Kayumba Nyenyeri
– himself from the Banyamulenge community – Nyenyeri told the captain
to pull his troops back to his
command post in Mutarule. Colonel Nyenyeri allegedly told the captain
he should let the Mai Mai and Barundi fight it out themselves and that
the army’s intervention could result in civilian casualties.

The fighting continued until around 6 p.m. Captain Enabombi continued to
call Colonel Nyenyeri, who told him again not to intervene. Around 8
p.m., Sheria, the youth leader of the Barundi, called Enabombi. A
soldier present at the time told by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Human Rights
Watch that Sheria taunted the captain, saying that even though Sheria
was a civilian, he would show Enabombi who was more of a soldier. The
soldier said Sheria also said that he was going to commit a “memorable”
act in Mutarule that no one would forget.

Around 9 p.m., when Enabombi heard gunfire in Mutarule, he called
Nyenyeri again. The soldier who overheard the phone call said Nyenyeri
promised to call the Barundi and “ask them to stop.”

by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Soon
after, the attackers fired on Enabombi’s troops, who were protecting
civilians who had sought shelter near their base. The troops returned
fire. A soldier who was involved in the shoot-out told Human Rights by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Watch:

We tried with the means we had despite the orders that we were given
not to intervene. We stopped because we didn’t have any more ammunition.
The little we were able to do was thanks to 250 bullets we by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">received from the police commander based there.

Enabombi again alerted Colonel Nyenyeri, as well as the deputy battalion commander, that attackers were burning by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">houses
and killing people. Nyenyeri allegedly told him he would bring
ammunition and to wait at his command post while he consulted with the
regiment commander, but never gave him any further instructions.
Enabombi called Nyenyeri again multiple times, but the soldier who was
present at the time said Nyenyeri did not always answer his phone.

Enabombi also called the military’s 104 sector commander and MONUSCO and
alerted them to the attack. An army officer in Uvira who was alerted
about the attack told by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Human Rights Watch that he had repeatedly tried to call Nyenyeri, but that his phone was turned off all night.

UN’s Failure to Respond

Major Shaban, the Pakistani commander of the MONUSCO peacekeepers’ base
in Sange, told Human Rights Watch that the peacekeepers had been alerted
to the killings in Mutarule on the evening of June 6, after the attack
was under way. He said that when he called his superiors, they told him
to clarify the situation and gather more information.

by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">Local residents made multiple calls to MONUSCO pleading for help, from about 8:30 p.m. as the attack began.

Major Shaban told Human Rights Watch he had contacted the battalion
commander, Nyenyeri, who said he would “sort it out.” Shaban said that,
“We were very confident that if [gun]fire is going on, [the Congolese
army] would by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">be able to handle it.”

Following a previous attack in Mutarule in August 2013, when
unidentified gunmen killed eight civilians, as well as ongoing
insecurity in the region, Shaban said MONUSCO had set up local
protection committees in early 2014 in Mutarule and by The weDownload Manager" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent ! important; border: medium none ! important; display: inline-block ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; float: none ! important; font-weight: bold ! important; height: auto ! important; margin: 0px ! important; min-height: 0px ! important; min-width: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important; width: auto ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important;">neighboring
villages to enable civilians to alert them to attacks or other threats.
MONUSCO also distributed phones to allow community leaders to call
MONUSCO without charge.