What is the Kivu war?

Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson
What is the Kivu war?

During the TF1 news at 8 p.m. on Thursday August 29, the channel revealed the violence that is plaguing the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Kivu, in the east of the country, a bloody war is persecuting the population, marked by the rise of political-ethnic antagonisms.

A TF1 team went to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In a report broadcast during the 8 p.m. news for the August 29 edition, we see the incredible violence that the inhabitants of Kivu have to face. This region in the east of the DRC lives to the rhythm of persecution against the population. Ongoing armed conflict since 2004, the war in the provinces of South Kivu and North Kivu has already caused the internal displacement of nearly 7 million people, as revealed by the International Organization for Migration ( IOM), in a report published in October 2023.

The genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, first factor

Between April and July 1994, the Hutus of Rwanda launch mass massacres against the Tutsis. The genocide began after the Tutsis were accused of having provoked the presidential plane crash on April 6, 1994. Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan president, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, Burundian president, died in this attack.

The Tutsis then become a target to be killed. In 100 days, 800,000 people are killed. The genocide ended when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Paul Kagame, retook Kigali. After the genocide, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis fled to eastern DRC, seeking to escape death. Tutsi survivors are installed in the provinces of South Kivu and North Kivu.

Different policies

On the other side of the Rwandan-Congolese border, soldiers form the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL). Together, they overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997. Laurent-Désiré Kabilathe leader of the AFDL then takes up the torch.

Kabila then benefits from the support of the new Rwandan government. However, a few years later, his son Joseph Kabila, who succeeded him from 2001 to 2019, did not get along with Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda. Former allies become enemies. Joseph Kabila considers the presence of Rwandan refugees in eastern DRC as a threat, accusing Rwanda of supporting conflicts in this region.

After a peace agreement signed on March 23, 2009 in Goma, the international community hoped for lasting peace in North Kivu, already ravaged by massacres for decades. However, the absence of Rwanda in the peace process gave the situation another twist. Tensions between armed groups in Kivu have increased. It is in this context that the armed group M23 was formed in 2012 and took up arms against the Armed Forces of the DRC. Paul Kagame denies any Rwandan involvement in supporting the M23, despite a Human Rights Watch report from February 2023, which accuses Rwanda of supporting the group.

In pursuit of coltan

Kivu is home to numerous gold and diamond mines, including coltan. This ore rare and essential in the manufacture of telephones and computers explains part of the bloody war waged in Kivu.

The soils of the DRC and particularly Kivu contain between 60% and 80% of coltan reserves. The economic stakes are then substantial and lead to clashes between the different armed groups in the area.

For their part, former Hutu generals formed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group active in North Kivu. Their goal is to overthrow Paul Kagame and regain power in Rwanda. Tensions are rekindling even more. Kigali accuses Kinshasa of supporting the FDLR, while Félix Tshisekedi, Congolese president, criticizes Paul Kagame for supporting the M23, composed mainly of Tutsis.

Félix Tshisekedi, re-elected in December 2023, refuses to negotiate as long as Rwandan troops remain in the DRC and the situation remains urgent.

Civilians in the crosshairs

In this forgotten war, the first targets are civilians. According to the United Nations (UN), 200,000 women were raped in the region between 1998 and 2013 (this is the last official figure made public). Counting the dead becomes mission impossible, and the horror doesn’t stop there…

In the region, it is not uncommon to come across locals with machetes in hand. Used primarily to clear a path in the dense forests of Kivu, it has become a symbol of barbarism. There are 150 armed groups competing in this region. When they attack a village, they pillage, burn and do not hesitate to kidnap children to make them future soldiers. At the microphone of journalist Liseron Boudoul, the surviving children at the Unicef ​​transit center in Bunia, in the province of Ituri, talk about the hell they suffered. Train to kill, “children obey orders”testifies Karim Sankara, head of child protection at Unicef. All are minors. Powerless in the face of the situation, the Congolese army allies with militiamen who uses child soldiers.

Hell continues in Kivu, where war seems endless and peace non-existent.

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