Kivu Conflict

Since 2004, the large region in the Democratic Republic of Congo called Kivu, which borders western Rwanda and parts of Uganda, has been plagued with fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo military, rebel forces of National Congress for the Defence of the People.

According to BBC News, since 2007 fighting in the region has left hundreds of thousands of Congolese people displaced from their homes, especially in the past few months when the violence has escalated to a full-scale war. Those who have fled face incredible hardships. Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, a spokeswoman for the UN in North Kivu described the scene of people fleeing from their homes as "horrendous" and she even told BBC News that she saw three women give birth while they were running from the rebels. Many flee across the border or to refugee camps, but BBC reports that some displaced Congolese camping out alongside roads and in bushes.

The largest accumulation of U.N. peacekeepers are in the DRC working as the MONUC or Mission of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and they have been trying to prevent the advancement of rebels into Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province where one of the major refugee camps are located. However, Congolese feel as if the UN is not working hard enough to provide and protect for them. CNN reported in October 2008 of frustrated Congolese, who were seeking shelter in one of the refugee camps in Goma, hurling rocks into the UN offices in the Kivu region

Laurent Nkunda, commander of rebel forces, justified the first outbreak of violence in an interview with IRIN. He explained that a genocide similar to the ethnic cleansing that happened in Rwanda in 1996 was planned by factions of Rwandan Hutu militias to take place in Kivu against Tutsis and he was simply trying to "stop the first stage of a planned genocide". Tutsis of the eastern Congo region, according to Amnesty International, back the National Congress for the Defence of the People and have used their ethnic and cultural ties to gain support with their Tutsi neighbors in Rwanda and Uganda. The UN has repeatedly discredited Nkunda's accusations.

For four years fighting continued all around the Kivu area, but in January 2008 the United Nations urged the two opposing sides to try to resolve the conflict with the construction of a peace treaty. Disputes and disagreements lead Nkunda's men to walk out on the peace talk, but they did return and continued to work cooperatively with officials of the Democratic Republic of Congo government. A peace treaty was composed and signed January 23^rd with each side agreeing to provisions for an immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of rebel forces from Kivu, resettlement of the thousands that lost their home, and immunity of Nkunda and his forces from being charged for war crimes.

The peace treaty was unsuccessful. According to Amnesty International, in October the rebel forces began advances on the town of Rutshuru. Rebel forces attacked and seized the military camp in the town on the outside of Goma. From the camp Nkunda launched a series of attacks on the capital city of Goma, acting as a catalyst to the civilian riots that begun on Oct. 27^th. Facing overwhelming pressure by the quickly advancing rebel army, the national forces retreated from the city, leaving U.N. forces to protect citizens, who were outraged, feeling that the U.N. had failed to protect them. Nkunda called a cease fire in response of the international community to stop the bloodshed, but situations remained chaotic. Civilians and Congolese soldiers continued to destroy the city with looting and violence.

Efforts by the U.N. and even Nkunda's outreach to help displaced citizens get back to their home have failed miserably. The DRC remains in critical conditions. Soldiers wreak havoc, terrorizing citizens in areas not patrolled by the national military. The International Rescue Committee that women have been targeted by soldiers and displaced citizens and are extremely susceptible to sexual violence. Recently, with help from Angolan forces, the DRC has regained control of key battling areas in North Kivu and have been repelling rebel forces from the area since then.

Sources:

IRIN News

CNN.com

BBC News

Amnesty International