Kasai Occidental

As in other provinces, after the outbreak of the second war, the security services that had remained loyal to the Government in Kinshasa and the FAC allegedly arrested and executed an unknown number of Rwandan soldiers and civilians: Tutsis, people of Rwandan origin and those who resembled them. During the period under consideration, several ex-FAZ soldiers accused of colluding with the APR and ANC were also executed:

• Between August 1998 and January 1999, the FAC from the 20th brigade organised the disappearance of 80 Tutsi soldiers taken out of combat and killed at least seven unarmed ex-FAZ and an unknown number of civilians, most of whom were accused of collaborating with the APR and ANC. The executions took place in the École de formation des officiers (EFO) (Officers’ Training College) camp in Kananga. The bodies of the victims were then placed in sacks and thrown into the River Lulua. During the night of 27 to 28 December, for example, 10 people were taken out of their cells in the EFO camp and beaten to death with hammers.⁵⁰⁰

Maniema

After the outbreak of the second war, fighting broke out in Kindu between the FAC troops who had remained loyal to President Kabila and those who had chosen to rebel. First, the loyalist troops managed to force the rebels to flee. As in all the provinces still under the control of Kinshasa, President Kabila’s security services increased their attacks on Tutsis and civilians of Rwandan origin in general. Since the colonial period, many people from Rwanda and Burundi had settled in Kalima to work in the region’s mines.

• On 18 August 1998, around the town of Kalima, in the Pangi region, members of the FAC who had remained loyal to President Kabila allegedly killed at least 133 civilians of Rwandan origin, the majority of whom were Tutsis. Most of the victims were shot dead at the Rushurukuru power station and in the town of Kakula.⁵⁰¹

Kasaï Oriental 

• From August 1998 onwards, in Mbuji Mayi, the security services reportedly arbitrarily arrested and killed an unknown number of Tutsis, people of Rwandan origin and those resembling them: In November 1999, they arrested at least ten Tutsis, whom they then transferred first to Makala prison in Kinshasa and then to the refugee camp in the municipality of Mont-Ngafula, where they remained until 2001. Tutsis and people of Rwandan origin were also transported to Kananga by lorry. On 10 October 1999, the ANR arrested a human rights activist involved in protecting the Tutsi and Rwandan community in Mbuji Mayi. The activist was then transferred to the headquarters of the ANR in Kinshasa, where he was arbitrarily detained for several months in cruel, inhuman or degrading conditions. Under pressure from human rights NGOs, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DRC and the media, however, he was released on 6 January 2000.⁵⁰²