The Rafto Foundation received a letter of concern, see below, from Bulambo Lembelembe Josué on 7 June 2010. He was awarded the 2008 Rafto Prize for his dedicated struggle to end the plight of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo. His work brings hope for peace, reconciliation and human dignity to people who have suffered from the deadliest conflict since World War II.

The Democratic Republic of Congo celebrated its 50th year of independence from Belgian colonial rule on 30 June 2010. But according to Pastor Bulambo Lembelembe Josué, the situation in South-Kivu is fearful.

Letter from Bulambo Lembelembe Josué 
We are worried about the level of safety in South-Kivu.
"Happy are those who work for peace; they will be called sons of God" (Mathew 5:9)

1. The Church of Christ in Congo (CCC)/South-Kivu is very worried about the level of safety in the Province of South-Kivu in particular, and in Congo in general. The safety of the population is not possible because of the violation of human rights, including assassinations and killings, rape and many other tolls on humans who have been created in the image of God.

2. On a national level, the CCC/South-Kivu has regretfully learned about the drunken assassination of Mr. Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, defender of human rights and leader of the NGO "The voice of the voiceless". Our compatriot was probably assassinated in the night between Monday, 31 May and Tuesday, 1 June 2010. His body was found on Wednesday, 2 June 2010 in his car in the area called Mitendi in the West of the capital Kinshasa, on the road to Matadi.

Mr. Fidèle Banza Edadi, member of the same NGO, and driver of Mr. Floribert Chebeya was also found dead in the East part of Kinshasa, his body full of bullets.

3. On a provincial level, there is a general insecurity in all the territories. Those who are responsible of this situation are the FDLR (Democratic Force of Liberation of Rwanda), the FARDC (Armed Force of Democratic Republic of Congo) from the "Amani Leo" operation, and some local armed groups who don’t want to be integrated into the FARDC (FRF, Raia Mutomboki, the PCN (National Congolese Party) which is lead by Kyatend Ditman, the Mai-Mai Yakutumba, etc.)

We only want to tell some of the most recent events to illustrate this general insecurity:

– Around 6pm on Wednesday, 20 June 2010 near the city of Bukavu in the Kabare territory, armed men dressed in military uniforms shot dead three people; two small children from the same family (Denise Bengeya and Denis Bengeya) and their driver. Four persons were wounded, among them the mother of the two children. During the attack, a lot of vehicles were plundered by the same armed men.

– In the territory of Kalebe, our units report some suspect movement of heavily armed people, but we don’t know their goal. The population is worried about a destabilisation of the province.

– In the territory of Shabunda, safety is threatened by regular attacks from local armed groups (among those Raia Mutomboki and the PCN, lead by Kyatend Ditman). Those attacks are directed towards the civil population and their goods. The FDLR are also still active in the region.

– In the territory of Mwenga, local associations have just published a report in which they mention the burning of 163 houses and 354 other houses destroyed by the FDLR, who are based in four villages of Bashimwenda, in the municipaliry of Basile.

– In the territory of Uvira, ambushes by unidentified armed men against civilian vehicles are common on the Bukavu-Uvira road. The latest case is from 29 May 2010: a person was killed in Ruzizi in an attack against his car while driving from Uvira.

– In the territory of Walungu, in the villages of Kaniola, on 27 May, a dozen people were kidnapped and taken into the forest; probably by the FDLR.

– In the territory of Fizi, security is seriously threatened by confrontations between the Mai-Mai Yakutumba and the FARDC of the Amani Leo operation. These confrontations have lead to a massive movement of the civilian population. On the high plains of Minembwe, the FRF is still in control and has carried out several attacks against the civilian population.

We have to note that the increased level of activity from the local armed groups is due to the wrong approach of the government concerning their integration into the FARDC.

4. Some soldiers from the FARDC are also threatening the civilian population, because they have little or no food or receive little or no wages. We have to note that the military approach has not had the expected effect, and has adversely affected the civilian population.

Considering the high level of activity of armed men, most of them wearing military uniforms, in all the territories of the South-Kivu Province, we fear a destabilisation of the democratic regional institutions. 

That is why the CCC/South-Kivu urges the MONUC to fulfil its mission in Congo, and also urges the government to fulfil its constitutional obligation to protect the citizens and their property.

The Church also asks that a commission is appointed to find out why and by whom Floribert Chebeya and company were killed.

Written in Bukavu,
7 June 2010

For the Church of Christ in South-Kivu
Bulambo Lembelembe Josué

Background
South-Kivu, along with North-Kivu, has been the center of the conflict resulting from the Second Congo War of 1998-2003. The UN estimates that in 2005, approximately 45,000 women were raped in South Kivu.

It forms the new Congolese military (FARDC’s) 10th Military Region, whose undisciplined former factional fighters are responsible for many continuing human rights abuses, due to a continuing culture of impunity for military personnel, bad conditions, lack of pay, and lack of training.

In July 2007, United Nations human rights expert Yakin Erturk called the situation in South-Kivu the worst she has ever seen in four years as the global body’s special investigator for violence against women. Sexual violence throughout Congo is "rampant," she said, blaming rebel groups, the armed forces and national police.

Her statement included that "Frequently women are shot or stabbed in their genital organs, after they are raped. Women, who survived months of enslavement, told me that their tormentors had forced them to eat excrement or the human flesh of murdered relatives."

Since December 2010, the UN refugee agency has registered 15,508 newly displaced people at dozens of UNHCR-run sites for internally displaced people (IDP), where they seek shelter and safety. This latest wave of displacement brings the total number of IDPs in the UNHCR-run sites to 116,000. There are an estimated 2.1 million internally displaced people in total in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to UN.

HRH Bergen, the letter republished from Rafto Foundation website www.rafto.no, see the original one here. Backgorund information is based on UNHCR data.