Mapping Report > Section I. Most serious violations > CHAPTER II. First Congo War > C. Attacks against other civilian populations > 6. Équateur
After the fall of Kisangani, on 15 March 1997, FAZ soldiers fled towards the west of the country, taking a variety of routes. On the way, they were joined by groups of Rwandan refugees. As they retreated, the FAZ, ex-FAR/Interahamwe and Rwandan refugees looted many civilian properties and public buildings and destroyed facilities, including hospitals, health centres, schools and places of worship. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents:
- In March 1997, FAZ units looted the general hospital, the convent of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Ekombo primary school in the Ikela locality, in the district of Tshuapa.421
- In April 1997, Rwandan refugees looted the Catholic Mission of Yalisele and Yoseki Hospital in the Djolu territory, and stole 76 cattle from a farm in the village of Mondombe in Bokungu territory, in the Tshuapa district.422 On 19 April, ex-FAR units stole the cattle and looted the property of the Protestant church at Deke, sixty-eight kilometres from Bokungu town centre.423
- Towards mid-May 1997, soldiers from the Special Presidential Division (DSP) looted the Bwa Félix school, the CDI (Centre for Development and Integration) hospital and the residences of some former dignitaries from the Mobutu regime in the Wapinda locality in the Yakoma territory, in the North Ubangi district.424
- From 17 May to 20 May 1997, units from the FAZ and the DSP killed an unknown number of civilians and systematically looted property in the town of Gbadolite.425
Throughout their withdrawal, the FAZ and the ex-FAR/Interahamwe units committed many acts of assault on women living in the villages in the region. The ex-FAR/Interahamwe also killed civilians when they refused to allow them to loot their property. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents:
- In early April 1997, ex-FAR/Interahamwe units killed an unknown number of civilians in the Ene groupement, ten kilometres from Ikela, in the Tshuapa district. In Moma village, they killed a civilian, after stealing his food. In the village of Yali, they killed a man who refused to hand over a goat. They also killed a nine-year-old boy during an attack on the village of Ene-Punga.426
- Also in early April 1997, ex-FAR/Interahamwe units killed a man who refused to hand over his cattle in the village of Ilombo in the Ikela territory.427
- On 16 May 1997, a group of around fifteen ex-FAR/Interahamwe units killed two civilians, including a girl, on the road between Mpenda and Iyembe, two villages 120 kilometres from Mbandaka, in the Bikoro territory in the Équateur district. The militiamen opened fire when one of the victims refused to hand over their bicycle.428
Generally speaking, the AFDL/APR troops did not encounter serious resistance as they advanced across Équateur province. Fighting was limited to a few skirmishes with ex-FAR/Interahamwe units near Lolengi, in the Boende territory, and clashes with DSP units at Wapinda. As a whole, the people of Équateur gave a relatively warm welcome to the AFDL/APR troops on their arrival. However, large-scale public massacres of Rwandan refugees, summary execution of many civilians, and arbitrary arrests, torture429 and other ill-treatment inflicted on the population swiftly worsened their relations with the locals.430 In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents:
- Towards mid-May 1997, AFDL/APR units killed seven civilians originally from the area around the village of Vabesu, eight kilometres from Wapinda, in the Yakoma territory. The victims had been kidnapped by the soldiers, who wanted them to reveal where the DSP soldiers were in hiding. They were shot and their bodies buried in a mass grave.431
- Around 16 May 1997, at Mbandaka, AFDL/APR units executed the chief of the Losanganya chiefdom at the PLZ port, now Endundu Port. The chief, who was suspected of having informed the Mobutu authorities about the massacres of refugees in his chiefdom, was arrested at his home in Djoa village on 14 May and taken to Mbandaka. His body has never been found.432
- On 28 October or 29 October 1997, FAC/APR soldiers433 killed nine civilians in the village of Baenga in the Basankusu territory. They also committed many acts of rape.434
421 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Équateur, March 2009; Document submitted to the Mapping Team, Équateur, April 2009.
422 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Équateur, April 2009.
423 Witness account gathered by the Secretary-General’s investigative team in the DRC in 1997/1998.
424 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Kinshasa, March and April 2009.
425 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Kinshasa, March and April 2009.
426 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Kinshasa, February and March 2009; AI, Deadly Alliances in the Congolese Forests, 1997, p.14.
427 Interview with the Mapping Team, Équateur, April 2009; AEFJN (Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network), “Rapport sur les violations des droits de l’homme dans le sud de l’Équateur”, undated.
428 Interview with the Mapping Team, Équateur, March and April 2009.
429 One of the most frequently used methods of torture was “Fimbo Na Libumu” (“whipping to the stomach” in Lingala), which involved forcing the victim to drink five litres of water and then beating their stomach.
430 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Équateur and Kinshasa, February, March and April 2009.
431 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Kinshasa, April 2009.
432 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Équateur and Kinshasa, March and April 2009.
433 As mentioned before, from June 1997 the national army of the DRC was known as the Forces armées congolaises (FAC). Until the start of the Second Congo War, in addition to AFDL soldiers and ex-FAZ, the FAC included many Rwandan and, to a lesser extent, Ugandan soldiers. On account of the difficulty distinguishing accurately between Congolese soldiers and Rwandan soldiers at this time, the acronym FAC/APR is used for the period from June 1997 to August 1998.
434 Interviews with the Mapping Team, Équateur, March and April 2009; Report of Gandhi International (Équateur), Mbandaka, 1997.
