RCD-Goma, Mayi-Mayi forces still besiege Kindu

Continued tension and abuse of civilians has been reported in the eastern province of Maniema, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). "We are living in a dramatic situation that risks unleashing an unprecedented war between tribes and families driven by revenge," the Reverend Nestor Salumu, chairman of the local diocesan Justice and Peace Commission, was reported as saying on Wednesday over UN Radio Okapi. Violence has been reported as being particularly severe in the provincial capital of Kindu, some 1,200 km east of the DRC capital, Kinshasa. The Missionary Service News Agency (Misna) reported that Salumu condemned fighters of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) for their continued abuse of civilians, particularly young women. Misna also reported that widespread famine in the region was exacerbating already precarious humanitarian conditions, despite the arrival in Kindu on Monday of basic necessities such as oil, rice, beans, and cassava, and the availability of potable water. Misna added that a ban remained in place on leaving the city without RCD-Goma authorisation. Local sources, which asked that their identities be withheld for security reasons, told IRIN on Wednesday that innumerable exactions were being inflicted on civilians suspected of collaboration with the Congolese Mayi-Mayi militia. The sources singled out two RCD military officers: Bernard Biamungu, commander of the 5th Brigade headquartered in Goma; and Gabriel Amisi, alias Tango-Fort, the assistant chief of staff for logistics of the RCD-Goma army. Both men have been implicated in the Kisangani killings of May 2002 and are believed to be among the ringleaders of the Kindu violence. Forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Army began their withdrawal from Kindu on 17 September, handing power over to the Rwandan-backed RCD-Goma. However, Mayi-Mayi militias were reported to have taken advantage of the Rwandan army withdrawal and attacked RCD forces. Negotiations between RCD and Mayi-Mayi forces held on 19 September were reported to have failed. The Rwandan army withdrawal followed the signing of an accord on 30 July by the presidents of Rwandan and the DRC, Paul Kagame and Joseph Kabila, in Pretoria, South Africa. The agreement commits Rwanda to withdrawing its troops from the DRC in exchange for Kinshasa taking measures to address Rwanda's security concerns in the DRC.