Mapping Report > Section I. Most serious violations > CHAPTER III. The Second War > B. Attacks on other civilian populations > 1. Bas-Congo

On 4 August 1998, hundreds of Rwandan troops and a small number of Ugandan troops placed under the orders of James Kabarebe arrived by plane at the military base in Kitona, in Moanda, having travelled from Goma. Some ex-FAZ soldiers stationed at the Kitona base for several months rallied to join them. During the days that followed, the Rwandan-Ugandan-Congolese military coalition was reinforced by several thousand men and embarked on its conquest of the Bas-Congo via the road between Moanda, Boma and Matadi. Some elements in the FAC, which included numerous children associated with armed groups and forces (“child soldiers”) (known as “Kadogo” in Swahili) tried to resist, particularly in Boma and Mbanza Ngungu, but were swiftly overwhelmed; many died during the fighting.

Throughout their advance on Kinshasa, the Rwandan-Ugandan-Congolese coalition, referred to in the remainder of the report using the acronym ANC/APR/UPDF, killed numerous civilians and committed a large number of rapes and acts of pillaging. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• On 7 August 1998, fighting between elements of the ANC/APR/UPDF and FAC for the control of Boma caused the death of an unknown number of civilians, most often victims of stray bullets. The coalition forces killed at least 22 civilians close to the central bank and municipal gardens. The victims included gardeners, workers at the abattoir, two people with learning disabilities and people waiting for a vehicle to take them to Moanda.⁵⁰³

• Between 7 and 10 August 1998, in Boma, elements from the ANC/APR/UPDF confined and raped several women, often collectively, in the Premier Bassin hotel, which they had requisitioned. They also caused a significant amount of damage to the hotel.⁵⁰⁴

• From 4 August to 4 September 1998, ANC/APR/UPDF soldiers systematically pillaged the bank vaults in Moanda, Matadi and Mbanza Ngungu.⁵⁰⁵

• On 13 August 1998, ANC/APR/UPDF soldiers stopped the turbines on the Inga dam, depriving Kinshasa and a large area of the province of Bas-Congo of their main source of electricity for almost three weeks. By making property essential to the survival of the civilian population unusable, they caused the death of an unknown number of civilians, particularly children and hospital patients.⁵⁰⁶

On 17 August 1998, however, during the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia announced they were sending troops to the DRC to support the army that had remained loyal to President Kabila. During the days that followed, elements of the ZDF were deployed to Kinshasa, whilst the FAA launched a land and air offensive in the Bas-Congo. On 23 August, the FAA took back control of the Kitona base from the ANC/APR/UPDF troops.

During their advance along the Moanda-Boma-Matadi-Kisantu road, the FAA killed civilians, committed rape and pillaged hospitals and homes. When they entered an area, the FAA would carry out a systematic search operation and execute all those it suspected of collusion with their enemies. The FAA took advantage of these operations to rape women and pillage homes. The property pillaged was then sent to Angola by river, road and even by helicopter. The FAA killed any civilians, including women and children, who tried to oppose the atrocities. The scale of the pillaging gave both the victims and witnesses the impression that this was a planned operation. It is clear that the Angolan military hierarchy and the authorities in Kinshasa at least tolerated the commission of these various violations. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• On 23 August 1998, on their arrival in Moanda, elements of the FAA raped at least 30 women and girls, most of them in the Bwamanu neighbourhood. In some cases, the soldiers obliged the members of the victims’ families to applaud during the rapes, on penalty of execution.⁵⁰⁷

• From 26 August 1998, elements of the FAA summarily executed an unknown number of civilians in the centre of Boma. They also raped an unknown number of women and girls. They pillaged civilian property, primarily in the city’s suburban neighbourhoods.⁵⁰⁸

• From 27 August 1998, elements of the FAA raped six women shopkeepers and at least three girls in the village of Manterne, 19 kilometres from Boma, on the road to Matadi.⁵⁰⁹

• Around 27 August 1998, in the village of Kinzau Mvwete, halfway between Boma and Matadi, elements of the FAA killed 45 civilians, including women and children.⁵¹⁰

• From 4 September, elements of the FAA raped an unknown number of women and girls, in particular during search operations in the Mvuadu and Kinkanda neighbourhoods in the town of Matadi. The troops also pillaged tens of private homes.⁵¹¹

• Around 6 September, in Kimpese, elements of the FAA committed rapes and acts of pillaging on a large scale.⁵¹²

In mid-September 1998, the FAA, ZDF and FAC regained control of the province of Bas-Congo. The ANC/APR/UPDF troops withdrew to Angola, to an area under the control of UNITA, before leaving for Rwanda between November and December. During this period, the humanitarian situation remained very worrying because of the scale of the pillaging, carried out primarily in hospitals, the destruction of major infrastructure and restrictions imposed on the freedom of movement of humanitarian workers in the province by the Government in Kinshasa.