Mapping Report > Section II. Specific Acts of Violence > CHAPTER III. Acts of violence linked to natural resource exploitation > A. Violations of human rights and international humanitarian law linked to the struggle for control of natural resources

It is no coincidence that the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law were committed in the provinces of North and South Kivu, Maniema, Orientale and Katanga. These regions, rich in natural resources, came under the control of a succession of national and foreign armed groups, along with foreign armies, spurred on by the lure of these natural resources.

Some of these actors had far-reaching strategies aimed at occupying these areas, which they implemented by means of military operations.¹³³⁵ Others, such as some of the smaller Congolese rebel groups and the different factions into which they had splintered, were more opportunistic and seized the chances offered to them by collaborating with the highest bidder. Whatever their level of organisation, all actors inflicted serious suffering on the civilian population. The warring parties all used the same practices to seize and maintain control of the coveted territories: massacres of unarmed civilians, rape, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, along with forced displacements. There was widespread and systematic use of forced and child labour in the mines.

North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema Provinces

The main minerals found in these three provinces are coltan, cassiterite and gold. While the plunder of natural resources in the first war was far less well documented than in the second, there is little doubt that the first war demonstrated to the groups involved in the conflict how easy it was to seize control of the natural resources and make vast profits from their trade.¹³³⁶ When the price of coltan rose sharply in 2000, this mineral became the most attractive of all.¹³³⁷

Given the lucrative nature of illegal exploitation, the armed groups used military force and committed serious human rights abuses against civilian populations in order to maintain control of these regions. The financial issues at stake and the presence of armed men responsible for maintaining this kind of hold over resource extraction inevitably gave rise to serious human rights violations, and the cost of this plundering in terms of human life was enormous.

Civilians who attempted to resist the theft of their natural resources, or who did not collaborate with those in power, were subjected to attacks. Entire villages were displaced to make way for mineral or timber exploitation and armed groups engaged in massacres, sexual violence and cruel and inhuman treatment in the process.¹³³⁸ They also attacked and burned villages in order to seize coltan that had been mined artisanally by the residents.¹³³⁹

The battles for Lulingu in South Kivu are a clear example. The fighting for control of Lulingu, a relatively small and isolated village in Shabunda territory, between soldiers of the National Congolese Army (ANC) (the armed wing of the RCD-G) and the Mayi-Mayi in 2000, at the height of the coltan rush, can partly be explained by a desire to gain control of its coltan mines.¹³⁴⁰ At least ten clashes took place between the Mayi-Mayi and the ANC, supported by troops from the Rwandan Army (APR), each time resulting in the massacres of dozens of civilians, displacements of the civilian population and looting of their belongings.¹³⁴¹ In North Kivu, in revenge for an attack on their convoy of Mayi-Mayi coltan on the road between Mangurejipa, an important mining area, and Butembo, Ugandan soldiers from the UPDF allegedly killed 36 inhabitants of the village nearest to the place of ambush.¹³⁴²

Coltan traders were also the victims of murder, torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention.¹³⁴³ In July 2001, for example, soldiers from the ANC reportedly killed a mineral trader and twelve porters at Punia, in Maniema Province, on the orders of the local authorities, in order to seize a large cargo of coltan and gold, along with a substantial amount of cash. The victims were accused of spying for the Mayi-Mayi.¹³⁴⁴

It would be wrong, however, to assume that the warring parties competed only for coltan and other raw materials. The Virunga (North Kivu) and Kahuzi-Biega (South Kivu) national parks were a particular magnet for rebel and military forces because of the wildlife found there, and the ivory that could be obtained from poaching elephants. The trade in “makala“, or charcoal, the main cooking fuel used in the DRC, is worth several million dollars in Goma region alone, and was the cause of numerous clashes between armed groups present in the region and the park guards from the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN). In Virunga National Park alone, 87 ICCN guards were murdered between 1993 and 2003, mostly during confrontations with armed or rebel groups.¹³⁴⁵

Orientale Province

With its diamond and gold mines, its vast expanses of forest with valuable timber and barely explored oil reserves, Orientale Province was the scene of numerous conflicts.

Under Mobutu, Zairian soldiers of the SARM¹³⁴⁶ could often be found around the exit to the OKIMO company’s gold extraction factory at Durba, where the company’s directors would pay them to apprehend staff trying to steal gold.¹³⁴⁷ UPDF soldiers later requisitioned gold from the same company.¹³⁴⁸

The violent battles for control of Kisangani between 1999 and 2000 and the associated violations of human rights and international humanitarian law can be explained, at least in part, by the struggle to maintain control of its economic resources. The town of Kisangani is in a region that is not only rich in diamonds and timber; being situated on a river it also forms an important trading and transport crossroads, linking eastern DRC with the rest of the country. The Rwandan and Ugandan armies and the RCD-Goma obtained significant revenue from trading diamonds in and around Kisangani. During the three wars for control of Kisangani, competition for the region’s natural resources and the town’s strategic importance were both factors that precipitated the fighting. In 2001, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DRC stated: “The cause of the conflict [was] both economic (both armies want[ed] the huge wealth of Orientale Province) and political (control of the territory)”.¹³⁴⁹

In 2001, the confrontations between soldiers from the ANC/APR and Mayi-Mayi groups in the diamond-bearing region of Masimango, south of Ubundu territory, allegedly resulted in numerous massacres of civilians, including children.¹³⁵⁰

The conflict in Ituri between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups – originally a dispute over land – began in 1999, but it was not until the Ugandan and Rwandan armies became involved that the violence escalated to unprecedented levels. From 2002 onwards, Ituri became the scene of some of the bloodiest events of the second war, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths.

The presence of gold and timber was a major factor in fuelling the conflict in Ituri and the plunder of these resources was at least as violent as it had been in North and South Kivu. In 2003, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DRC stated: “Despite the conflict’s ethnic appearance, its root causes are of an economic nature”.¹³⁵¹ Some have described the competition for control of natural resources by combatant forces as “a major – if not the main – factor in the evolution and prolongation of the crisis in Ituri”. ¹³⁵²

Although most of the human rights abuses in Ituri in 2002 and 2003 were carried out on an ethnic basis, reflecting the original tensions between Hema and Lendu, the economic agendas of the parties to the conflict became increasingly obvious as events unfolded. The economic and political agendas of Uganda and Rwanda gave rise to changing and contradictory alliances, along with military support for very violent rebel groups, causing massive and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.¹³⁵³ The different armed groups and militia multiplied, by splitting into different factions and through their rearmament. Other armed groups, such as the Armée de libération du Congo, the armed branch of the MLC, originally based in Équateur, gradually became involved in the conflict. In 2001-2002, during the violent clashes between soldiers of the RCD-National and MLC alliance with soldiers of the Armée du peuple congolais (the armed branch of the RCD-ML) in the context of the “Erasing the Board” campaign, numerous atrocities were committed against the civilian population and soldiers. Although the origins of this fighting lay in a context of political positioning, it must also be noted that the battles took place primarily in areas rich in raw materials or in regions providing access to such zones.¹³⁵⁴

Events in and around the town of Mongwalu, in Ituri, the heart of the gold mining area, clearly illustrate the link between human rights abuses and the scramble for resources. Mongwalu changed hands several times in 2002 and 2003 and, when the Hema armed groups of the UPC fought the Lendu of the FNI for its control, each group allegedly carried out widespread killings of civilians along with rapes, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions. Tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes.¹³⁵⁵

As the conflict spiralled, other armed groups joined in. Their involvement was largely dictated by economic interests and the lure of the gold mines.¹³⁵⁶ A MONUC report thus described Mongwalu as “a town to conquer for its natural resources”.¹³⁵⁷ Aside from the prospects of personal enrichment, the armed groups made no secret of the fact that they were using the proceeds from gold extraction to buy weapons and ammunition.¹³⁵⁸

The gold mining town of Mabanga, in the local collectivité of Mambisa, Djugu territory, was also the scene of bloody clashes. In August 2002, Hema Gegere militia linked to the UPC allegedly killed several dozen “non-native” inhabitants with machetes and nail-covered sticks. They were suspected of helping the Lendu militia, who were seeking to control the region’s mines and had previously committed massacres.¹³⁵⁹

The villages around the Kilomoto gold mines in Watsa territory of Haut-Uélé district also suffered repeated and devastating attacks. In January 2002, UPDF troops and Hema militia apparently opened fire on the inhabitants of Kobu village (Walendu Djatsi collectivité, in Djugu territory) in order to force the people away from the gold mines. During this incident, 35 Lendu civilians were killed.¹³⁶⁰ During October 2002, members of the FNI from Walendu Djatsi collectivité reportedly killed 28 people and abducted 23 women from the Kilomoto mining site. During these attacks, the militia mutilated numerous victims, committed large-scale looting and burnt many buildings, including the local authority’s offices, schools and a hospital.¹³⁶¹ In February 2003, members of the UPC coming from Mwanga and Kunda allegedly killed and raped an unknown number of civilians during attacks on villages in the areas of Ngongo Kobu, Lipri, Nyangaraye and Bambou, around Kilomoto. During the course of these attacks, the militia also destroyed infrastructure belonging to the Kilomoto mining company, including schools and hospitals.¹³⁶² Between the end of 2002 and mid-June 2003, members of the Forces armées du peuple congolais (FAPC) and the FNI reportedly also killed and raped dozens of civilians around the Kilomoto gold mine.¹³⁶³ The attacks were aimed at destroying the UPC camp and chasing out the Hema who were controlling the Kilomoto mining company.¹³⁶⁴  

Whilst the FAPC did not commit massacres on the same scale as some other armed groups in Ituri, they apparently were nevertheless responsible for several particularly cruel human rights abuses, many of them directly related to the gold trade. In addition to repeated attacks on the Kilomoto mining site and surrounding area, the FAPC also reportedly killed and raped dozens of civilians at the Nizi mining site in Djugu territory and in the village of Djalusene, Mahagi territory, where they also looted and burnt numerous houses.¹³⁶⁵ Constantly changing sides during the Ituri conflict, the FAPC collaborated, at various times, with the RCD-ML, the UPC and the FNI, always with a view to maximising their profits from the gold trade and retaining control of the border with Uganda. It has been calculated that the border posts under FAPC control, particularly the Mahagi and Aru posts, generated some US$ 100,000 per month in taxes for this armed group over the period 2002-2004.¹³⁶⁶ In Orientale Province, the national parks were also targeted for their resources, such as the Garamba National Park, for example, where the Sudanese rebels of the SPLA were involved in ivory poaching.¹³⁶⁷

Katanga

Although related primarily to a political conflict between Mobutu and Tshisekedi,¹³⁶⁸ the persecution and forced expulsions of Kasaiens from Katanga between 1991 and 1995 clearly had an economic aspect as well. For many Katangans, it was a question of regaining control of the local mining sector, beginning with the main mining company in the province, Gécamines, which employed a large number of Kasaiens, particularly within the company’s management.¹³⁶⁹