U.S. Committee for Refugees Mid-Year Country Report 2001 - Congo-Kinshasa

Background

Congo-Kinshasa is often considered to be Africa's most strategically important country because it is geographically the second largest country in Africa, is one of the continent's five largest in population size, borders nine countries, and contains immense deposits of gold, diamonds, and other lucrative natural resources.

Congo-Kinshasa has suffered warfare since 1998, involving armies from eight African countries and at least seven other armed groups. International observers have characterized the war in Congo as "a continent-wide free-for-all." Congolese rebels and their allies loosely control one-third to one-half of the country. The war follows three decades of corrupt mismanagement by former President Mobutu Sese Seko, who was ousted from power in 1997. Many areas of the immense country have been cut off from outside aid for three years.

At the beginning of 2001, an estimated 2.1 million Congolese were uprooted from their homes, including approximately 1.8 million internally displaced persons and some 350,000 Congolese refugees in other countries. Some 270,000 refugees from neighboring countries lived in Congo-Kinshasa despite its war.

Political/Military/Human Rights Developments through September

A fragile peace process made progress during the first nine months of 2001. Congolese President Joseph Kabila, who took power when his father, President Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in January, demonstrated a stronger commitment to the peace process. Preparations continued throughout August and September for a key meeting of Congolese groups, known as the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, scheduled for mid-October. "There is clear, visible progress" in the peace process, a UN peacekeeping official stated in September.

Major armies adhered to a cease-fire in many areas, although increasingly serious violations occurred in September. Most armies pulled back from frontline positions. Government armies from Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda partially withdrew troops from Congolese territory but did not comply with UN resolutions calling for their total withdrawal. Namibia completed the withdrawal of virtually all its troops. Some 2,300 UN military observers and peacekeeping troops extended their deployment to more than 20 locations to monitor the cease-fire. Congolese authorities disarmed 3,000 ethnic Hutu Rwandan combatants aligned with the government and turned them over to UN officials.

Despite the official cease-fire, extensive violence by militia and other unofficial armed groups persisted in some regions, particularly in eastern Congo. Rwandan and Burundian Hutu militia allied with the Congolese government captured the key town of Fizi in eastern Congo's South Kivu Province in September, indicating that large-scale military actions continued in that isolated region. Military clashes also occurred in September near the city of Kindu, in eastern Congo's Maniema Province. Infighting between previously allied rebel forces in northeastern Congo caused a steady stream of violence and population displacement. Human rights abuses were pervasive in some areas, including massacres, assassinations, lynchings, and rapes.

"Even though the war along the conventional frontline has more or less ceased, eastern [Congo] has suffered an increase in violence," a report by Oxfam/Great Britain and other aid agencies noted in August. A report by the UN Secretary General agreed that "the situation in the eastern provinces remains highly volatile" and charged that continued violence and abuses in eastern Congo's South Kivu Province were part of "deliberate strategies to induce flight." A report by UN investigators in April accused many participants in the war, including Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, of looting Congo's natural resources.

New Uprooted Populations through September

Approximately a quarter-million Congolese became newly uprooted between November 2000 and May 2001, UN humanitarian officials estimated. Most newly uprooted families remained inside Congo-Kinshasa, where they became internally displaced. Approximately 15,000 new Congolese refugees fled to neighboring Zambia during the first nine months of 2001, including 1,500 in July. A thousand or more new Congolese refugees fled to neighboring Tanzania in August.

A UN report in September estimated that three years of war had left approximately 2 million persons internally displaced in Congo-Kinshasa, including about a million people in eastern Congo's North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces, which were occupied by indigenous rebel forces as well as troops from Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi. UN officials estimated in September that 760,000 people were displaced in North Kivu Province, 220,000 in South Kivu Province, 410,000 in southern Congo's Katanga Province, 230,000 in northeastern Congo's Orientale Province, 85,000 in Equateur Province in northwestern Congo, 160,000 in Maniema Province in eastern Congo, 230,000 in Kasai Orientale Province in south-central Congo, and 170,000 in other provinces. UN estimates suggested that the number of displaced persons increased in six provinces between April and September. Approximately 330,000 Congolese were refugees in other countries.

By September, Congo-Kinshasa was Africa's second largest source of uprooted people. About one-sixth of all uprooted people on the continent were Congolese.

Humanitarian Conditions through September

A thorough assessment of humanitarian conditions in Congo-Kinshasa remained difficult because large areas of the country were still inaccessible to regular visits by international relief officials. Humanitarian agencies had access to less than half of the country's displaced population in August because of security concerns.

A study by the International Rescue Committee concluded in May 2001 that approximately 2.5 million Congolese had died of war-related causes since August 1998. The study stated that about 85 percent of the deaths were because of disease and malnutrition caused by the war and its destruction of agricultural systems, economic trading, and health centers.

A report in August by three international relief agencies warned that "many Congolese are hovering on the brink between life and death," with "appalling levels of hunger, disease, ... death, and ... countless abuses of human rights." Some 16 million people – one-third of the population – needed substantial food assistance, the report said. Up to 30 percent of children were severely malnourished at some locations, according to aid workers. Death rates among children reached 11 per day per 10,000 children in some parts of southern Congo's Katanga province, the UN World Food Program (WFP) reported in September.

Humanitarian agencies gained improved access to populations in government-controlled areas of western Congo and launched an airlift of emergency supplies to displaced persons in southern Congo in June. The International Committee of the Red Cross began working to provide clean drinking water systems to major urban areas. UNICEF provided widespread polio vaccinations to children. The U.S. government supplied $79 million for aid projects in Congo – nearly triple its previous funding. By September, however, WFP had received only 40 percent of the $112 million needed to deliver food to 1.4 million beneficiaries.

Aid agencies faced serious dangers. Six staff members of the International Committee for the Red Cross – including two international workers – were killed in an ambush in northeastern Congo in April. A staff member of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees was killed in western Congo-Kinshasa in March.