Mapping Report > Section I. Most serious violations > CHAPTER II. First Congo War > B. Attacks against Hutu refugees > 1. South Kivu > Walungu and Kabare

In 1996, UNHCR estimated that there were 307,499 refugees spread over the 26 camps in the territories of Walungu, Kabare and Kalehe, commonly known as the “Bukavu camps”: Kamanyola, Izirangabo, Karabangira, Nyangezi (Mulwa), Nyantende, Muku and Mushweshwe to the south of Bukavu, Bideka, Chimanga (Burhale), Bulonge (non-UNHCR-recognised), Nyamirangwe and Chabarhabe to the west of the town, Panzi, Nyakavogo, Mudaka/Murhala, INERA (Congolese Institute for Agronomic Studies and Research), ADI-Kivu (Action for Integrated Development in Kivu), Kashusha, Katana, Kalehe and Kabira north of Bukavu and Chondo, Chayo, Bugarula, Maugwere and Karama on Idjwi Island.¹⁹⁹

As they advanced towards Bukavu, the AFDL/APR (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo / Rwandan Patriotic Army) troops destroyed the makeshift camps created by refugee survivors of the massacres committed in the Ruzizi Plain (in the Uvira territory) and to the west of Bukavu city. When they left Nyantende village, the AFDL/APR troops split into two groups. The first group continued in the direction of Bukavu, passing through Buhanga, Mushweshwe, Comuhini, Chabarhabe, Ciriri and Lwakabirhi. The second group headed towards Walungu-Centre via Muku, Cidaho and Cidodobo. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents:

• On 20 October 1996, units of the AFDL/APR from Bwegera and the Rwandan town of Bugarama attacked the Kamanyola refugee camp in the Walungu territory, killing an unknown number of refugees and Zairian civilians. The soldiers then dumped the bodies of the victims in the camp’s latrines.²⁰⁰

• On 21 October 1996, AFDL/APR units killed an unknown number of refugees at Nyarubale in the Kalunga hills, two kilometres from Kamanyola. Having escaped the attack on their camp at Kamanyola, the refugees were trying to reach Bukavu. Some were the victims of surprise attacks while they were resting and others were intercepted by soldiers at checkpoints set up along the roads. Those answering the soldiers’ Swahili greetings with a Rwandan or Burundian accent were systematically executed. The victims’ bodies were later buried by the local people.²⁰¹

From 22 October 1996, in the face of the advancing AFDL/APR troops, refugees from the Nyangezi and Nyantende camps began to flee towards Bukavu. From 26 October 1996 onwards, the soldiers launched attacks on the camps to the south and west of Bukavu city. In most cases, the refugees had already left the camps before the soldiers arrived, fleeing towards the Kashusha, INERA and ADI-Kivu camps (north of Bukavu) and the Chimanga camp (west of Bukavu in the direction of Shabunda). On 26 October, AFDL/APR soldiers set fire to the already abandoned camp of Muku, ten kilometres from Bukavu in the Walungu territory. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents:

• On 26 October 1996, units of the AFDL/APR killed several hundred refugees who were fleeing along the routes between Nyantende and Walungu-Centre and Nyantende and Bukavu. Most of the victims came from the Uvira territory and the Ruzizi Plain. They were shot, killed by blows from bayonets or hit by shrapnel. The soldiers set fire to most of the sites where refugees were located. Most of the victims were women, children and the elderly. According to the witnessstatements gathered, the soldiers killed between 200 and 600 people. The bodies of the victims were buried at the scene by the local people.²⁰²
• On 28 October 1996, units of the AFDL/APR from Nyangezi killed five refugees in the village of Lwakabiri, thirty kilometres west of Bukavu.²⁰³

After the capture of Bukavu on 29 October 1996, AFDL/APR troops continued their operations against the camps located north of the city. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents:

• On 2 November 1996, AFDL/APR units attacked the Kashusha/INERA camp in the Kabare territory with heavy weapons, killing hundreds of refugees. Outflanked, FAZ troops from the camp security contingent CZSC (Contingent zaïrois pour la sécurité des camps)²⁰⁴ fled, followed by some of the refugees. During the attack, AFDL/APR soldiers fired indiscriminately at the FAZ, the ex-FAR/Interahamwe and the refugees.²⁰⁵
• Around 22 November 1996, units of the AFDL/APR killed several hundred refugees in the Chimanga camp, seventy-one kilometres west of Bukavu. When they arrived at the camp, the soldiers asked the refugees to assemble for a meeting. The soldiers then promised them that they would slaughter a cow and give them meat so they could build their strength with a view to returning to better conditions in Rwanda. They then began to register the refugees, grouping them according to their prefecture of origin. At a given moment, however, a whistle sounded and the soldiers positioned all around the camp opened fire on the refugees. According to the different sources, between 500 and 800 refugees were killed in this way.²⁰⁶
• In January 1997, AFDL/APR units killed at least thirty Rwandan and Burundian refugees, mostly with knives, on the Bukavu to Walungu road, around sixteen kilometres from the city of Bukavu. The victims had been arrested as part of a combing operation. Before killing the victims, the soldiers often tortured and maimed them.²⁰⁷