Mapping Report > Section I. Most serious violations > CHAPTER II. First Congo War > C. Attacks against other civilian populations > Kasai Occidental & Bandundu

7. Kasaï occidental

The AFDL/APR forces arrived in Kananga on 12 April 1997. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents:

• On 6 June 1997, AFDL/APR soldiers killed nine civilians and a young non-combatant soldier in the town of Tshimbulu, administrative centre of the Lulua district.⁴³⁵

• On 22 June 1997, in Kananga, AFDL/APR soldiers subjected an unknown number of civilians to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and committed many acts of looting and armed robbery. Nuns from the Carmelite Order of St. Joseph were among the victims.

• Between June 1997 and August 1998, the town’s military commander established a reign of terror in Kananga, allowing the security forces to torture civilians and loot their property with complete impunity.⁴³⁶

8. Bandundu

In May 1997, the two main towns in Bandundu province, Bandundu town and Kikwit, fell into the hands of AFDL/APR troops, without a great deal of resistance. In a last-ditch effort to halt the progress of the AFDL/APR towards Kinshasa, military leaders sent FAZ and DSP troops, along with UNITA⁴³⁷ and ex-FAR units and mercenaries of various nationalities to Kenge, approximately 200 kilometres from Kinshasa.⁴³⁸ When they arrived near Kenge, on 4 May, the troops passed themselves off as AFDL/APR units to test the loyalty of the people towards President Mobutu’s regime. In their eagerness to see the AFDL arrive, some of Kenge’s inhabitants had already destroyed symbols of state authority – the state authorities having fled before the rebels arrived – and prepared welcome banners for the soldiers of the Alliance. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents:

• On 4 May 1997, FAZ/DSP/UNITA/ex-FAR units summarily executed an unknown number of civilians considered as traitors in the village of Mangangu, west of the town of Kenge, and at the entrance to the town.⁴³⁹

• On 5 May 1997, FAZ/DSP/UNITA/ex-FAR units clashed with AFDL/APR units in heavy weapon fire in Kenge town centre, killing at least 65 people, including children. During the struggle, first-aid workers were not adequately protected and ten members of the Red Cross, who were trying to assist the injured, were killed. An unknown number of CAAFAG, sent to the front line by the AFDL/APR soldiers, are thought to have been killed by Katyusha rocket launchers used by the FAZ. The fighting also resulted in at least 126 civilian wounded.⁴⁴⁰

• As they retreated, FAZ/DSP/UNITA/ex-FAR units executed at least 30 civilians across the town. Some of the victims were bound before they were executed. The members of the local Kimbanguist Church were particularly targeted due to their open support for the AFDL. The soldiers of the FAZ/DSP/UNITA/ex-FAR also raped an unknown number of women, in particular in the Kwango Bridge district.⁴⁴¹
• From 6 May and over the course of the days that followed, FAZ/DSP/UNITA/ex-FAR units fleeing towards Kinshasa killed several dozen civilians, committed rape and pillage and torched several houses along the Kenge to Kinshasa road. Mass graves are still marked, in particular in the villages of Moyen-ville, Tiabakweno, Ndjili, Mbinda and Mbinda Nseke. In all, the fighting at Kenge caused the deaths of over 200 civilians and injured over one hundred more. ⁴⁴².