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Summary

Rwandan armed groups, like many other armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) kill, rape, and otherwise injure civilians and often loot or extort their property. Under the terms of the Lusaka Accords and the Pretoria Agreement ending four years of war in the Congo, the Congolese government agreed to disarm these groups, but has failed to do so. In the face of this failure, Rwanda, a signatory to the peace agreements, has threatened to invade the Congo. The Congolese army, the Forces Armées de la République Democratique du Congo (FARDC) and a United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping force known as MONUC, began a new disarmament operation in Walungu (South Kivu province) in early November. During its first several weeks, this operation produced little, but at the same time MONUC officers in North Kivu were showing greater success in persuading members of Rwandan armed groups to lay down their arms and return home.

In late November Rwandan President Paul Kagame stated that voluntary disarmament efforts had failed and threatened to send Rwandan army troops to Congo to forcibly disarm the Rwandan armed groups. These threats and incursions by Rwandan army troops into Congo which reportedly followed soon after sparked a resumption of armed conflict in North Kivu province between rebellious Congolese soldiers once part of the forces of the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma) and other soldiers of the Congolese army. The renewed armed conflict caused the flight of nearly 200,000 civilians and disrupted disarmament efforts in North Kivu.

Congolese troops, poorly organized and disciplined, poorly trained, and poorly supplied have also raped and looted the very civilians they are supposed to protect. These kinds of abuses, reported in this paper for South Kivu, have also marred Congolese army conduct in North Kivu since the resumption of armed conflict.

Neither MONUC nor Congolese commanders have adequate plans to protect civilians against the abuses by Rwandan combatants or by Congolese army soldiers that are certain to increase if Congolese forces begin to use force to disarm the Rwandan armed groups. MONUC and Congolese commanders must implement an effective strategy to protect civilians now and in the course of operations to come.

International actors supporting the peace process in the Congo must actively monitor and promote compliance by all signatories to the Lusaka Accords, the Pretoria Agreement and subsequent agreements, including the recent Dar-Es-Salaam declaration on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes region signed at the first summit of regional leaders in November 2004.