Mapping Report > Section I. Most serious violations > CHAPTER IV. Towards Transition > B. Ituri

During the second half of 2000, the underlying conflict between the President of the RCD-ML, Wamba dia Wamba and his two principal lieutenants, the Nande Mbusa Nyamwisi⁷¹⁴ and the Hema John Tibasima⁷¹⁵ broke out in public. Wamba dia Wamba had long criticised Nyamwisi and Tibasima for trying to orchestrate the conflict between the Hema and Lendu communities⁷¹⁶ in order to establish a power base in the district and control the region’s natural resources. In August, Wamba dia Wamba tried to regain control of the movement by dismissing Nyamwisi and Tibasima from their posts, but they resisted and the number of incidents on the ground between the different factions of the APC increased. After several unsuccessful attempts at mediation by Uganda and a series of confrontations in the centre of Bunia, Wamba dia Wamba was exiled to Kampala in December, leaving the leadership of the RCD-ML to Nyamwisi and Tibasima.

In January 2001, Ituri saw a resurgence of violence in the Djugu area. Between January and February, members of the Hema militias from Bogoro, generally accompanied by Hema soldiers from the APC and UPDF soldiers, led indiscriminate attacks in the Walendu Tatsi community, next to the Bahema-Nord community, killing an unknown number of civilians. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• On 4 January 2001, during a failed attack on Kpandroma, members of the Hema militias based in Fataki killed at least 35 Lendu civilians in the Zabu groupement in the Walendu Pitsi community, particularly in Aruda and Mola and the surrounding area.⁷¹⁷

• In early 2001, members of the Hema militias killed at least 16 people and kidnapped two minors who have been since recorded as having disappeared in the Salimboko, Poli-Masumbuku and Penyi groupements in the Walendu Tatsi community.⁷¹⁸
• Also in early 2001, members of the Lendu militias killed an unknown number of civilians, including a majority of Hema and Alur in the villages alongside Lake Albert in the Bahema Banywagi and Bahema-Nord communities.⁷¹⁹
• Between January and February 2001, UPDF soldiers attacked around 20 villages in the Walendu Tatsi community, killing around 100 people, including various Lendu civilians. During the attacks, the soldiers also committed rape, looted and caused an unknown number of people to disappear. Most of the victims were killed in villages located near the Zumbe power station, in the Bedu Ezekere groupement, where they had gathered under the protection of members of the Lendu militias.⁷²⁰
• On 3 February 2001, members of the Hema militias and UPDF troops killed 105 people, including numerous Lendu civilians, in the villages in the Bulo groupement in the Ndo Okebo community in the Djugu region. The victims often came from the Walendu Pitsi community. They had taken refuge in the Bulo groupement following recent attacks on their village.⁷²¹

At the end of 2000, the conflict between the Hema and Lendu finally reached the Irumu region. The UPDF soldiers lent their support to the local Hema communities and violent incidents broke out on the ground.

• Between 9 and 18 January 2001, members of the Hema militias allegedly killed around 60 people, including numerous Lendu and Ngiti civilians,⁷²² in the village of Kotoni, in the Irumu region and the surrounding area.⁷²³

Following the bombardment of the Walendu Bindi community by a UPDF helicopter, Ngiti militiamen, originally in conjunction with the Djugu Lendu from the Walendu Bindi community, launched an attack on 19 January 2001 against UPDF positions at the airport in Bunia. During the attack, Ngiti militiamen tried to destroy the helicopter the UPDF had used to bomb their villages. The UPDF finally repelled the attack but at the cost of a significant loss of human life.

• On 19 January 2001, Hema militiamen and civilians allegedly killed between 200 and 250 civilians from the Lendu, Ngiti, Nande and Bira ethnic groups in the Mudzipela neighbourhood in the town of Bunia. The victims, who included a large number of women and children, were killed with machetes, spears or studded batons. Most of them were subjected to mutilation. Some were decapitated and their heads carried through the town as trophies. The Hema militiamen and civilians also systematically looted the victims’ property and set fire to several houses. Shortly before the massacre, UPDF officers and senior members of the Hema community in Bunia had held a meeting and called on Hema civilians to attack the Lendu population.⁷²⁴

In order to restore calm to Ituri and avoid new splinter groups developing within the RCD-ML, Uganda forced the RCD-ML and MLC to join forces within a new movement, the Front de libération du Congo (FLC), led by Jean-Pierre Bemba.⁷²⁵ On 6 February 2001, the FLC organised consultations with the traditional chiefs in Ituri and on 17 February, the latter signed a memorandum of agreement, providing in particular for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the disarmament of the militiamen and the dismantling of the training camps.⁷²⁶ During the months that followed, the number of violations decreased significantly. Inter-community tension on the ground nonetheless remained high and the militias continued to arm themselves. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• On 26 April 2001, armed men killed six members of the ICRC during an attack on a humanitarian convoy in the area around Fataki in the Walendu Djatsi community, in the Djugu region. Local sources indicate that the attack is thought to have been perpetrated by Ugandan soldiers and Hema militiamen. The attack was supposedly aimed at ending the presence of humanitarian personnel in areas where the displaced Lendu had taken refuge. During the period under consideration, numerous sources indicate that Hema militias and armed groups severely hampered the work of humanitarian organisations in areas populated principally by Lendu.⁷²⁷

• In 2001, Hema soldiers from the APC killed 40 Lendu, a majority of them civilians, including women, children and elderly and disabled people, in the village of Gobu in the Bahema-Nord community. The victims were taken to a ditch and shot. Their bodies were then thrown into the ditch.⁷²⁸

• In January 2002, UPDF troops and Hema militiamen opened fire on the population of the village of Kobu in the Walendu Djatsi community in the Djugu region, killing 35 Lendu civilians. As they entered the village, Ugandan soldiers killed four civilians in the marketplace, including one disabled person. Almost all of the population fled and hid in the forest for nearly two months. On their return to the village, the villagers found 35 decomposed bodies, which they buried in various places. Those responsible for the massacre were trying to remove Lendu populations from the Kobu area, close to the Kilomoto gold mines. Following the killing, the population of Kobu sent a petition to Governor Lopondo, who visited the area shortly afterwards accompanied by senior figures in the UPDF. Following the visit, UPDF soldiers left the area.⁷²⁹

• On 26 January 2002, members of the Hema militias killed around 100 Lendu in a forest a few kilometres from Datule, in the Bahema-Sud community in the Irumu region. The victims had been chased from the village of Datule the previous day by a UPC commander. They were killed with machetes, spears and studded batons. A young girl of 13 was the only person to survive the attack.⁷³⁰

• On 28 January 2002, Hema militiamen killed and mutilated around 50 Lendu civilians in Kasenyi in the Irumu region. Having been informed of the massacre that had taken place on 26 January, the victims had fled the village of Datule on 27 January in the hope of reaching the Lendu villages in the Walendu Bindi community. They were hiding behind a police station when they were surprised and killed.⁷³¹

• Between January and May 2002, Hema militiamen in the region forcibly recruited all the men from the Alur ethnic group living in the village of Gobu in the Bahema-Nord community in the Djugu region.⁷³²

• Between February and April 2002, elements of the UPDF and Hema militiamen killed several hundred Lendu civilians in the Walendu Bindi community in the Irumu region. They also tortured and raped an unknown number of people. The villages of Aveba, Bukiringi, Nombe, Kaswara, Djino, Kagaba, Biro, Kapalayi, Gety étang, Tsubina, Kinyamubaya, Karach, Bolomo, Bachange, Tsede, Molangi, Tamara, Irura, Modiro, Mukiro and Anyange were all pillaged.⁷³³

In February 2002, against a background of growing economic rivalry between Hema and Nande businessmen and disagreements on the new strategic directions taken by the Mouvement,⁷³⁴ the Defence Minister of the RCD-ML, Thomas Lubanga, and the Hema soldiers of the APC broke away from the RCD-ML to form a political and military Hema group, the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC). In response, Mbusa Nyamwisi and Nande officers in the APC, supported by certain members of the UPDF, reduced Hema influence in the district,⁷³⁵ intensified their cooperation with the FAC⁷³⁶ and encouraged members of the Lendu and Ngiti militias to join forces in political military groups, namely the Front National Intégrationiste (FNI)⁷³⁷ and the Forces de résistance patriotique en Ituri (FRPI)⁷³⁸. During the course of 2002, these various armed groups received significant supplies of weapons from Uganda and the Government in Kinshasa. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• Starting on 21 May 2002 and during the course of the next six months, elements of the UPC killed at least 46 civilians, most of them from the Bira ethnic group, in Walu in the Ngombe-Nyama groupement, in the Irumu region. The militiamen also raped an unknown number of women, looted and destroyed educational institutions and hospitals. These attacks were supposedly intended as retaliation for the help given to the Lendu by the Bira during the previous attacks against the Hema in the region.⁷³⁹

• In May 2002, Lendu militiamen accompanied by civilians killed at least 80 people, mainly Hema and Alur, in the village of Gobu in the Bahema-Nord community. The victims were civilians or soldiers who were no longer able to fight. Most were summarily executed with edged weapons. According to several witness statements, the Hema militiamen in the area had fled before members of the Lendu militias arrived in the village.⁷⁴⁰

• In early June 2002, elements of the UPDF and Hema militiamen indiscriminately killed members of the Lendu militias and an unknown number of civilians in the Lendu villages in the Walendu Pitsi community. By way of example, in June 2002, Hema militiamen and elements of the UPDF killed at least 27 people in Buba.⁷⁴¹

In June 2002, faced with the advance of Lendu militiamen into the Banyali-Kilo community in the Djugu region, the local Security Council for the town of Mongwalu decided to chase away or eliminate any Lendu living in the town. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• On 10 June 2002, elements of the UPC supported by local youths, systematically attacked the houses of Lendu living in Mongwalu, killing around 20 civilians. The victims, who were long-term residents of Mongwalu, were either shot dead or killed with studded batons.⁷⁴²

• On 11 June 2002, in retaliation for a massacre carried out the day before, several hundred Lendu from the villages of Kobu, Bambou and Kpandroma killed tens of civilians with edged weapons, most of them from the Hema ethnic group, in the town of Mongwalu. The Hema left Mongwalu following the massacre.⁷⁴³

In early August 2002, elements of the UPC, with support from UPDF troops, are reported to have chased elements of the APC out of the town of Bunia. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• Between 7 and 10 August 2002, in Bunia, at least 300 civilians were killed on the basis of their ethnic origin, most of them by UPC militiamen. Between 7 and 8 August, elements of the UPC killed an unknown number of Bira, Lendu and Nande civilians during raids on the neighbourhoods of Mudzipela, Bigo and Saio. Lendu and Ngiti militiamen responded by killing an unknown number of Hema civilians in the districts of Mudzipela, Saio, Rwambuzi and Simbiliabo. At the same time, Lendu and Ngiti militiamen killed 32 Hema civilians and wounded and mutilated an unknown number of them at a farm in the village of Lengabo, a few kilometres from Bunia. Between 9 and 11 August, elements of the UPDF and the UPC killed at least 80 Lendu, Nande and Bira civilians at the Governor’s residence, at the hospital in Bigo and at Bunia central prison. The bodies of the victims were then placed in mass graves.⁷⁴⁴

Over the course of the following months, violent fighting broke out on several fronts, between elements of the UPC and UPDF on the one hand, and those of the APC and FNI-FRPI on the other. Both coalitions targeted civilian populations on the basis of their ethnic origins. Numerous civilians from non-belligerent tribes were also massacred on the basis of their actual or supposed support for one or other camp. Many of them were also victims of forced recruitment to the various armed groups. The mining regions north of Bunia, control of which was seen as strategic by the various groups involved, were the theatre for some particularly violent fighting.

On 9 August 2002, having had to leave Bunia quickly, Governor Lopondo, the APC troops and Lendu and Ngiti militiamen⁷⁴⁵ established a base in Komanda for the purpose of preparing the counter-offensive. The UPC, meanwhile, consolidated its positions south of Bunia in order to prevent the counter-attack from elements of the APC and FNI-FRPI and to gain control of the area’s mining resources. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• On 9 August 2002, elements of the APC and Lendu and Ngiti militiamen killed tens of civilians, mostly Hema, in the town of Komanda and the surrounding villages in the Basili-Basumu community, in the Irumu region. Guided by the Ngiti militiamen who had infiltrated the village and by local youths, elements of the APC and members of the militias moved from house to house, killing Hema civilians purely on the basis of their ethnic origin. Most of the victims were killed with edged weapons. Some were tied up and then killed with spears.⁷⁴⁶
• From 14 to 19 August 2002, elements of the UPC killed over 50 civilians from different ethnic groups during an attack on the village of Komanda. Most of the victims were shot or killed with edged weapons when they fled Komanda for Beni. Many of the victims had left Bunia a few days previously following the takeover of the town by the UPC and had taken refuge in Komanda. The aim of the UPC attack was to avenge the massacre committed in Komanda on 9 August.⁷⁴⁷

• On 28 August 2002, Hema-Gegere militiamen associated with the UPC killed several tens of “non-native” inhabitants⁷⁴⁸ in the gold-producing town of Mabanga in the Mambisa community, in the Djugu region. The victims were killed either with machetes or with studded batons. Sixteen of them were clubbed to death with planks of wood. The Hema-Gegere militiamen associated the “non-natives” with Governor Lopondo and APC soldiers. Whilst the Lendu militiamen were trying to take control of the region’s mines, the Hema-Gegere militiamen feared that the “non-natives” were helping them. During previous fighting in Mabanga, the Lendu militiamen had systematically killed Hema civilians but had spared the “non-native” populations. After the massacre, UPDF troops intervened to provide cover for the flight of the non-natives to Bunia.⁷⁴⁹

• On 31 August 2002, elements of the UPC supported by Bira militiamen killed at least 14 civilians, including women and children, in several villages in Songolo in the Walendu Bindi community, in the Irumu region. They also carried out acts of pillaging and widespread destruction, setting fire to over 1,000 houses. Several victims were mutilated and killed in an extremely cruel fashion. At least three women were impaled. Songolo was considered to be one of the FRPI fiefdoms.⁷⁵⁰

• Between 5 and 15 September 2002, elements of the FRPI and APC systematically massacred over 1,000 Hema-Gegere and Bira civilians, including large numbers of children, in Nyakunde and the surrounding villages in the Andisoma community, in the Irumu region. They also carried out numerous acts of pillaging. The victims were killed purely on the basis of their ethnic origin, mostly using arrows or edged weapons. Elements of the APC and FRPI had set up road blocks so that no-one from the Hema or Bira ethnic groups was able to escape from Nyakunde. FRPI militiamen sorted civilians and the soldiers there who were no longer able to fight based on their ethnic origin in the Evangelical Medical Centre. They systematically killed Hema and Bira and spared the members of other ethnic groups. Numerous victims were detained in cruel, inhuman or degrading conditions for several days before they were finally executed. Most of the massacres took place once the fighting with the UPC militiamen present in Nyakunde had been over for several days.⁷⁵¹

• On 13 September 2002, elements of the FRPI from Gety killed around 150 people, including numerous civilians, most of them Hema, in the lakeside groupement of Bandikado in the Bahema–Sud community, in the Irumu region. They killed and mutilated an unknown number of people in Nyamavi, for example. They also looted the villages before leaving the groupement. These attacks also caused several thousand people to be displaced for several years.⁷⁵²

• On 11 October 2002, in the Djugu region, elements of the FNI from the Walendu Djatsi community killed an unknown number of Alur, Hema, Bira and Nyali civilians in the mining town of Nizi in the Mambisa community. They also killed 28 people and kidnapped 23 women in the mining area of Kilomoto. During these attacks, the militiamen mutilated numerous victims, carried out large-scale pillaging and set fire to numerous buildings, including the community offices, schools and a hospital. The victims’ bodies were buried in nine mass graves. According to witnesses, the FNI militiamen accused inhabitants of the town from all ethnic groups of supporting the UPC.⁷⁵³

Between October and December 2002, confrontations between elements of the FNI-FPRI and UPC had spread throughout the Irumu region. The UPC troops led major military operations in the same region directed at the FRPI bases in the Walendu Bindi community and Lendu enclaves in the Bahema-Sud community. The Bira farmers living in Pinga, in Songo in the Irumu region were also attacked, with the UPC suspecting them of funding the FNI and FRPI. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• Between 15 and 16 October 2002, UPC militiamen killed at least 180 people, including civilians, in Zumbe in the Walendu Tatsi community. The militiamen also raped at least 50 women. Most of the victims were killed with machetes or spears. Some were shot dead. Some survived but were badly mutilated. Having looted large amounts of property and stolen 1,500 head of cattle, the UPC troops set fire to the village, destroying more than 500 buildings, including health centres and schools. Zumbe was an FRPI fiefdom.⁷⁵⁴
• On 20 October 2002, elements of the UPC from Bunia and Bogoro killed at least 10 Lendu civilians during attacks on several villages, including Nombe, Medhu, Pinga, Kagaba, Singo and Songolo in the Walendu Bindi community, in the Irumu region. A Bira woman married to a Lendu civilian was also killed. The militiamen systematically pillaged property and stole cattle belonging to Lendu in the villages they attacked.⁷⁵⁵
• On 24 October 2002, elements of the UPC killed several dozen Lendu in the Walendu Bindi community, particularly in the villages of Nombe, Kagaba, Lakabo, Lokpa, Medhu, Songolo, Pinga, Androzo and Singo. Most of the victims were killed with edged weapons. The militiamen also kidnapped more than 20 people, including women. They also stole some 1,450 head of cattle and burned at least 351 houses, including schools and health centres.⁷⁵⁶
• On 5 November 2002, elements of the FRPI killed at least 14 civilians, including two women, in the village of Saliboko in the Mobala community, in the Irumu region. They also pillaged and set fire to the village. Most of the victims were Bira. They were attacked at night in their houses. First they were tied up and then killed with machetes. Some civilians managed to escape but were often severely mutilated. The militiamen were critical of the Bira in Saliboko for having given shelter to displaced Hema. The village has not been rebuilt since.⁷⁵⁷

The signing of a peace agreement in September 2002 between the DRC and Uganda offered new prospects for peace in Ituri. In addition to the withdrawal of UPDF troops from Gbadolite and Beni, the agreement provided for the creation of a Peacekeeping Commission in Ituri and the setting up of an Administration intérimaire de l’Ituri (AII) [Interim Administrative Authority for Ituri] responsible for managing the district after the departure of the Ugandan soldiers. On the ground, however, far from stabilising the region, the closer relationship between Kinshasa and Kampala prompted new patterns of alliances that made the situation even more volatile. As mentioned previously, in October 2002, the MLC army, the ALC, and its allies in the RCD-N launched a major operation east of Orientale Province, called “Clean the blackboard”. This operation aimed to destroy the APC once and for all, so as to deprive the Government in Kinshasa of its ally in eastern Congo and get hold of the natural resources still under the control of the RCD-ML before the transition period began. The UPC, which was also trying to crush the APC, joined in with the operation.

On 12 October 2002, the ALC and its allies from the RCD-N entered the town of Mambasa. On 29 October, however, they were forced to withdraw, before regaining control of the town from the APC on 27 November. During the attacks, the ALC soldiers (MLC and RCD-N) committed numerous atrocities directed at civilians.

• Between 12 and 29 October 2002, elements of the ALC and RCD-N taking part in the “Clean the blackbaord” operation allegedly killed at least 173 Nande and Pygmy civilians in Mambasa and in the villages along the main road between Mambasa and Beni, particularly in Teturi, Mwemba and Byakato, in the Mambasa region. The soldiers also carried out acts of cannibalism, mutilated an unknown number of civilians, raped a large number of women and children and committed widespread pillaging. The victims were killed purely on the basis of their ethnic origin, with Nande and Pygmies accused of supporting the RCD-ML.⁷⁵⁸

Following their victory over the APC in Mambasa, elements of the ALC/RCD-N/UPC, with the help of UPDF soldiers, launched a major military operation in order to take control of the mining town of Mongwalu.

• On 20 November 2002, during their attack on Mongwalu, elements of the ALC/RCD-N/UPC are alleged to have killed at least 50 Lendu, including civilians and Lendu militiamen who were no longer able to fight. Most of the victims were shot dead or killed with edged weapons. Some were killed whilst they were hiding in a church. Some survived but were badly mutilated and tortured.⁷⁵⁹

On 30 November 2002, APC, FNI and FRPI troops regained control of the towns of Irumu and Komanda. Following the scandal caused by the publicity organised about acts of cannibalism committed by troops taking part in the “Clean the blackboard” operation, the international community put pressure on the leaders of the MLC, the RCD-ML and the RCD-N to sign a ceasefire agreement in Gbadolite on 30 December 2002.⁷⁶⁰ The UPC, however, which in December 2002 had successfully taken control of the strategic town of Mwanga and blocked access north of Bunia for the FNI militiamen based in the Kilomoto region, rejected the agreement. Faced with the closer relationship between the Government in Kinshasa and Uganda and the ALC’s withdrawal from Ituri, the UPC entered into an alliance with Rwanda, which brought weapons and military advisers into the area immediately. In response to the arrival of Rwandan soldiers into the area, Uganda ended its collaboration with the UPC and offered its support to the Lendu militia and the APC. During the first half of 2003, fighting between the UPC and elements of the FNI, FRPI, APC and UPDF intensified and spread throughout the district.

On 23 January 2003, the UPC officially asked the UPDF troops to evacuate Ituri. In February, the Peacekeeping Commission in Ituri began its work but the UPC rejected the creation of the interim institutions provided for in the agreement of September 2002. The hardening of the UPC’s positions and the open conflict with the UPDF caused several internal splits. The Hema-Sud militiamen led by Chief Kawa Mandro left the UPC to create a new armed group, the Parti pour l’unité et la sauvegarde de l’intégrité du Congo (PUSIC), with the support of Uganda. In the Mahagi and Aru regions, Jérôme Kakwavu also left the UPC and created the Forces armées du peuple congolais (FAPC) with the support of Ugandan soldiers who wanted an ally in areas with substantial forest resources.

• On 2 January 2003, elements of the FAPC from Mahagi allegedly killed around ten Alur civilians in the village of Djalusene, in the Djukoth community, in the Mahagi region. They also raped several women and set fire to numerous houses.⁷⁶¹

Between January and March 2003, the UPC carried out several military offensives in order to take control of the mining areas around Mongwalu and Kobu.⁷⁶² In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• On 13 January 2003, elements of the UPC from Mongwalu killed at least ten Alur civilians in Nyangaraye. The victims were killed with machetes, most of them in the Catholic church where they had been assembled. The bodies were then burned when the church was set on fire.⁷⁶³

• Between 18 and 20 February 2003, elements of the UPC from Mwanga and Kunda raped and killed an unknown number of civilians during attacks on the villages of Ngongo Kobu, Lipri, Nyangaraye and Bambou. During the attacks, the militiamen also destroyed infrastructure owned by the Kilomoto mining company, including schools and hospitals.⁷⁶⁴

• On 24 February 2003, elements of the FNI and FRPI, under the command of Mathieu Ngudjolo and Germain Katanga respectively, indiscriminately killed between 200 and 350 people, including a majority of Hema civilians, in the village of Bogoro in the Bahema-Sud community. They also raped numerous women and girls and reduced some of them to sexual slavery. They also took part in widespread pillaging of the village and destroyed numerous homes. Elements of the FNI and FRPI included numerous children under the age of 15 amongst their combatants. Ngudjolo and Katanga are currently being tried in the International Criminal Court for the crimes committed during this attack.⁷⁶⁵
• On 25 February 2003, elements of the UPC took hostage, tied up and killed around 50 Lendu delegates in the village of Sangi in the Walendu Djatsi community, who had come to negotiate with UPC officers. Four days previously, having carried out an attack on the village of Buli and suffered significant losses, UPC officers had invited senior Lendu figures in the area to take part in peace talks in the village of Sangi. The victims, who included numerous women, were killed with machetes, knives and batons. Some were tied up and then killed in the village church. Others were taken to Kobu and killed there. Only two people survived the massacre. The victims’ bodies were buried in several mass graves.⁷⁶⁶
• For several days, starting on 25 February 2003, elements of the UPC raped and killed an unknown number of people in the villages of Jitchu, Buli, Ngabuli, Pili, Athe, Bakpa, Lambi and Widde in the Walendu Djatsi community. On 25 February, for example, heavy weapons fire directed at the village of Buli caused numerous civilian casualties. The militiamen also arrested tens of civilians, including numerous women and children who were hiding in the Jitchu forest in the area around Buli. Having brought them back to the village of Kobu and held them there, they executed them with edged weapons. The 40 or so bodies found in Kobu were then buried in the village by the local people.⁷⁶⁷
• On 4 March 2003, FNI militiamen from Zumbe and elements of the APC killed at least 47 civilians during an attack on the village of Mandro. The place was a former UPC training centre which had been a bastion of the PUSIC since February 2003. The victims, most of them Hema-Sud, were indiscriminately killed with edged weapons, or shot. Elements of the FNI also kidnapped an unknown number of women, who were reduced to slavery. Before leaving Mandro, the FNI troops systematically pillaged and stole civilian property, in particular bringing several thousand head of cattle back to Zumbe.⁷⁶⁸

On 6 March 2003, after the UPC had attacked the UPDF base in Ndele, a few kilometres from Bunia, UPDF soldiers and elements of the FNI and FRPI set up a joint military operation and regained control of the town of Bunia.

• On 6 March 2003, elements of the UPC and UPDF/FNI/FRPI fought each other with heavy weapons in Bunia, reportedly killing between 17 and 52 civilians. After the withdrawal of UPC troops from the town, elements of the FNI killed an unknown number of Hema civilians on the basis of their ethnic origins. Elements of the UPDF/FNI/FRPI also looted and destroyed numerous buildings, private homes and premises used by local and international NGOs. UPDF soldiers sometimes intervened to ask elements of the FNI/FRPI to stop the atrocities and leave the town.⁷⁶⁹

After taking control of Bunia, elements of the FNI launched a major offensive against the UPC bastions located north of the town. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• Between 9 and 13 March 2003, elements of the FNI killed at least 113 civilians in the villages of the Kilo-Banyari community, in the Djugu region, and in the villages in the Sindoni-Akeso groupement and along the road to Mongwalu, including Itende, Kabakaba and Kilo-Missio. The victims were of various ethnic origins but included a large number of Nyali. During the attacks, FNI militiamen mutilated civilians, pillaged property and set fire to villages. On 10 March, for example, elements of the FNI opened fire on the population of Kilo, indiscriminately killing 20 civilians. The UPDF soldiers there tried, without any great success, to stop the FNI atrocities directed at civilians.⁷⁷⁰

• On 3 April 2003, elements of the FNI killed and mutilated several hundred people, including a majority of Hema civilians, in the Largude groupement in the Bahema-Nord community. Some victims, including children, were killed by heavy weapons fire, others by being shot or with edged weapons. The militiamen also attacked the hospital in Drodro, where they killed at least 27 people. Numerous women were kidnapped by the militiamen and reduced to sexual slavery. At the end of the hostilities some of the women were released, but others are still recorded as having disappeared.⁷⁷¹

• On 13 May 2003 in Mongwalu, elements of the FNI killed two MONUC military observers. The militiamen mutilated the victims’ bodies and stole both their personal property and MONUC property. The militiamen suspected the observers of supporting the UPC troops who were threatening to attack Mongwalu. Hundreds of civilians from various ethnic groups had taken refuge in the house where the military observers were living. Both victims were arrested on the road to the airport and then publicly executed. On 19 February 2007, the military tribunal at the Bunia garrison sentenced seven FNI militiamen who were involved in the murders to life imprisonment for war crimes.⁷⁷²

After the departure of the UPDF troops from the Ituri district, under considerable international pressure, in early May 2003, the UPC and FNI troops fought to take control of the strategic locations left vacant by the Ugandan soldiers. Anticipating new massacres, thousands of Bunia’s inhabitants opted to leave the town. Some followed the UPDF troops to Uganda. Others fled to Beni, in North Kivu. On 6 May, serious clashes broke out in Bunia between elements of the FNI under the orders of Mathieu Ngudjolo and elements of the UPC under the command of Bosco Ntaganda.

• On 6 May 2003, FNI militiamen and, to a lesser extent, members of the UPC militias allegedly indiscriminately killed several hundred civilians, committed rape and carried out widespread pillaging in Bunia during fighting for control of the town. They also mutilated numerous civilians. Elements of the FNI particularly targeted neighbourhoods inhabited primarily by Hema, such as Mudzipela and Nyagasenza. They killed religious representatives, set fire to numerous houses and looted the offices of several international NGOs including Medair, Agro-Action Allemande (AAA) and COOPI [Cooperazione Internazionale].⁷⁷³

The UPC swiftly led a counter-offensive and finally took control of Bunia.

• Having gained control of the town on 12 March 2003, UPC militiamen are reported to have killed several hundred civilians, mostly Ngiti Lendu and Jajambo from other districts, primarily Nande.⁷⁷⁴

In response to this series of massacres and the attacks carried out against MONUC facilities, the Secretary-General of the United Nations asked Member States on May 2003 to form a coalition in order to end the humanitarian disaster and allow MONUC to complete its deployment in Bunia.⁷⁷⁵ On 16 May, Tanzania organised a summit, during which President Kabila met delegations from the Administration intérimaire de l’Ituri [Interim Administrative Authority for Ituri] and the leaders of the main armed groups. In light of the continued fighting, on 30 May the Security Council adopted Resolution 1484 (2003), authorising the deployment to Bunia of an interim emergency multinational force under European command.

On 31 May 2003, the FNI and Lendu from Datule launched a major offensive against the village of Tchomia, which at the time was under the control of PUSIC troops. The attack was intended as revenge for the attack carried out by the PUSIC on Datule on 26 January 2002. In just a few hours, elements of the FNI chased out the PUSIC troops and destroyed their military camps.

• On 31 May 2003, elements of the FNI, often accompanied by members of their families, including women and children, are alleged to have killed almost 300 people in the village of Tchomia in the Bahema-Sud community, systematically massacring the Hema-Sud victims on the basis of their ethnic origin. The militiamen moved from house to house, killing civilians. They reportedly also killed 40 people at the hospital in Tchomia. During the killings, elements of the FNI had blocked all access roads into Tchomia in order to prevent anyone escaping from the village. The militiamen and their families embarked on widespread pillaging of the area. Before they left, they set fire to schools, churches and the hospital. They also kidnapped ten women, whom they used to carry the property they had pillaged and as sex slaves.⁷⁷⁶

The interim emergency multinational force began its deployment in Bunia on 6 June 2003. After a few weeks, it managed to restore order in the town and put an end to ethnic killing. Outside Bunia, however, the acts of violence continued. Elements of the FNI, FRPI and FAPC launched a series of attacks against UPC and PUSIC positions in the Djugu and Irumu regions. These violent clashes resulted in numerous massacres of civilians, most of them from the Hema ethnic group. In this context, the Mapping Team documented the following alleged incidents.

• On 7 and 20 June 2003, elements of the FNI killed an unknown number of Hema civilians, estimated at 137 according to some sources, in the village of Katoto in the Bahema–Nord community, in the Djugu region. The victims were shot dead or killed with edged weapons. The bodies were buried in approximately 30 mass graves. The militiamen also mutilated several people, pillaged the village and set fire to houses. Katoto was chosen as a target because of the presence of UPC and PUSIC positions in the village.⁷⁷⁷
• In June 2003, elements of the FPAC and FNI killed 33 civilians in the mining town of Nizi in the Mambisa community, in the Djugu region. The attack was intended to destroy the UPC camp and chase away the Hema who controlled the Kilomoto mining company.⁷⁷⁸
• On 11 June 2003, elements of the FNI, FRPI and APC killed an unknown number of civilians, estimated at over 160 according to some sources, in the Bagungu and Beiziha groupements, close to Kasenyi, in the Irumu region. The victims, mostly Hema displaced by the war, were either shot dead or killed with edged weapons. Around 30 victims were killed when they were trying to flee by boat across Lake Albert. The militiamen also kidnapped over 20 people, including women, and executed any who did not have the strength to carry the property that had been pillaged. They also set fire to over 200 homes.⁷⁷⁹
• On 10 June 2003, FNI militiamen from Djugu slaughtered around 40 civilians, mostly Alur, in Nioka in the Mahagi region. Until then the area had been occupied by UPC militiamen. Most of the victims, who included several children, were either shot dead or killed with edged weapons. Elements of the FNI had criticised the inhabitants of Nioka for having given shelter to Hema who had been displaced by the war.⁷⁸⁰

Following the withdrawal of the UPDF soldiers from the mining region of Mongwalu, in March 2003, FNI troops took control of the area. On 10 June, UPC troops regained control of the town of Mongwalu but, after 48 hours, FNI troops launched a counter-attack with the support of elements of the UPDF.

• On 11 June 2003, FNI militiamen allegedly killed several hundred people, including numerous civilians, in Mongwalu. They also raped tens of women and carried out acts of systematic pillaging in the town and its surrounding area. Following the attack, hundreds of bodies were found in the area and burned on the orders of FNI militiamen.⁷⁸¹

During the period under consideration, all the armed groups in Ituri (UPC, FNI, FRPI, FAPC and PUSIC) are alleged to have recruited thousands of children along ethnic lines.

• Between 2001 and 2003, thousands of Hema children recruited by the UPC had undergone military training in the Mandro, Katoto and Bule camps. During the training, they were often tortured, subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading acts and raped. In 2000, at least 163 of these children were sent to Uganda to undergo military training at a UPDF camp in Kyankwanzi before finally being repatriated to Ituri by UNICEF in February 2001. Between 2002 and 2003, some children associated with the UPC were kidnapped and taken to Rwanda to undergo military training in the APR camps. An unknown number of Lendu children were taken to military training camps in North Kivu. Other communities were affected by the same phenomenon, primarily the Alur, largely in the Mahagi region.⁷⁸²