Massive civilian trauma after Kisangani clashes

A UN inter-agency team, which is assessing the fallout in Kisangani, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after serious fighting between Ugandan and Rwandan troops in the city in June, has reported to the UN Security Council, saying the conflict has “intensified the pressure on an already fragile and neglected infrastructure, increasing the hardship faced by the population of Kisangani”.

On 5 June, persisting tensions in the city between the occupying forces of Uganda and Rwanda - supposed allies in the DRC conflict - “erupted into open and violent conflict, with fighting spreading into residential areas and indiscriminate shelling occurring for six days”, the mission team’s preliminary analysis stated. More than 760 people were killed, and an estimated 1,700 people wounded, it added.

In addition, the mission team reported, more than 4,000 houses were partially damaged, destroyed or made uninhabitable. Sixty-nine schools were shelled, medical facilities and the city’s cathedral were damaged during the shelling, and other public buildings were badly damaged. The communes of Tshopo and Makiso were worst affected, according to the assessment, which was carried out from 13 to 24 August.

Transport infrastructure was badly damaged, including the vital bridge over the Tshopo river, which was now in “an advanced state of disrepair” as a result of overuse by rival troops and their heavy military trucks and equipment, the mission team said.
Landmines were also laid by retreating forces on the bridge and along major routes, it added. Rehabilitation of Kisangani’s electricity supply was a priority, and rehabilitation of the Kisangani-Ubundu railway should be made a country priority, as should opening up navigation on the Congo river, it said.

But beyond the physical damage, “the psychological trauma inflicted on the civilian population... was immeasurable”, the mission team said. “Systematic violations of international humanitarian law and indiscriminate attacks on civilians have left residents ‘highly traumatised’, realising that they were unprotected against such violence and ill-prepared for its consequences,” it added.

Some 65,000 people had been forced to flee the fighting and seek refuge in nearby forests, the report said. Approximately 12,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were still sheltered in urban camp settlements around Kisangani, USAID reported on Monday 4 December. It also cited findings by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) that the high mortality rates prevalent in the DRC were attributable to endemic and epidemic diseases “exacerbated by fighting and displacement”.

The June clash in Kisangani was the third, and by far the most brutal, between the Ugandan and Rwandan armies for control of the city, for reasons not adequately explained by their leaders, the damage assessment mission reported. (The Ugandan and Rwandan armies had previously clashed in Kisangani in August 1999 and May 2000.) “This has led some observers to suspect that the underlying cause was control of the lucrative diamond industry,” it added.

After a Security Council resolution on the Kisangani clashes, Rwanda and Uganda have continued to confine their forces to a distance of some 100 km from the city, which remains in the control of the rebel Congolese Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD). This dispersal is generally being adhered to, and all parties have contributed to the overall equilibrium, according to a recent report to the Security Council by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

While there were signs that life was returning to some semblance of normality in Kisangani, large-scale reconstruction of homes and public buildings would be needed before displaced people would return, the assessment team reported. However, the uncertain security situation remained the main obstacle to people resettling in their communities, it said.

Both because of the massive costs involved and to break the cycle of dependency among the civilian population, the assessment team recommended that the international community fund “a series of quick-impact projects to rebuild people’s traditional capacities and self-sufficiency in the affected communities”. It suggested, for instance, stimulating agricultural production and encouraging commercial activity through distribution of seeds and tools, food aid programmes to support public sector staff and their families, and small farmer and micro-credit schemes.

Kisangani could be viewed as the pilot phase of such flexible, local-level and sustainable approach, which could then be replicated in other parts of the country and/or region, the report said. International organisations should be encouraged to increase their presence in Kisangani to improve funding, to support the implementation of rehabilitation programmes, and “as a confidence-building measure for the populations at risk”, it added.

In its recommendations, the team said efforts must be made: to improve security in the field for humanitarian staff; support peace-building initiatives within the DRC; and to ensure that humanitarian operations and rehabilitation efforts are complementary, thereby “reinforcing common objectives of saving lives, rebuilding livelihoods and promoting peace and reconciliation”. The UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) should facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and all humanitarian work should be undertaken to “reduce the dependency on external assistance and to help create conditions locally for peace and reconciliation”, it said.

Whereas an assessment of structural damage had been carried out, further expert follow-up was required to complete financial costings on the matter, the mission team stated. The issue of reparations for the loss of life and property to be made by the governments of Uganda and Rwanda was, however, outside the terms of reference of this particular mission, it added.

In Kisangani, and elsewhere, it was “imperative to help rebuild people’s traditional capacities and self-sufficiency”, the assessment mission stated. “Such programmes should aim to wean the population away from humanitarian aid and establish a sustainable base for rehabilitation, generated at the local level.”