Congo's Ituri District Turns Corner on Rebel Violence, U.N. Says
06 June 2006
17,000 militias disarmed in Democratic Republic of Congo by U.N. peacekeepers
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Bunia, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo -- The dusty main boulevard of Bunia remains unpaved but shows no signs of the carnage commonplace during the worst of rebel fighting here more than two years ago, says U.N. public information officer Mohammad Abdul Wahab.
Before the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), called MONUC, arrived in Ituri with armed force in 2003, its administrative center -- Bunia -- was "a free for all," Abdul Wahab told the Washington File June 6. "Rebel gunmen would drive around town with people's hacked-off limbs tied to their vehicles, firing at anyone who moved on the streets."
Like a number of conflicts on the continent, many of Ituri's roughly 4 million inhabitants were caught in an ethnic crossfire between its two main groups, the Hema and Lendu, beginning in 1999. As many as 50,000 Iturians were killed in the violence with another 100,000 forced into refugee camps.
A State Department document notes, "Most fighting in northeast Congo since 2000 has been rooted in competition between local warlords and businessmen to control trade/customs and economic/mining resources in the area."
Abdul Wahab said, "Even after I arrived in February 2004 [in Ituri], there was intermittent gunfire at night and all U.N. personnel were restricted to the [guarded] compound after dark.
"But the change has been dramatic," he said, ever since Pakistani forces moved in and cleared the gunmen out of town with armored personnel carriers and then began moving against the militias and rebels in the countryside with the support of an Indian Air Force unit -- all operating with MONUC.
"Now there is security for all Iturians," Abdul Wahab said, crediting the work of MONUC ground forces consisting of four battalions of infantry from Bangladesh, Morocco, Pakistan and Nepal for forcing 17,000 rebels to disarm in 2005.
The result is that Bunia is safe and most of Ituri is at peace -- but at a price. As recently as May 29, a Nepalese unit was ambushed by rebels during active MONUC operations; one soldier was killed and seven taken prisoner. They have yet to be released.
MONUC's American chief, former U.S. Ambassador William Swing, who was responsible for stepping up the "tempo" of active field operations against the militias in eastern Congo, recently told the Washington File that MONUC was doing everything it could to gain the release of the Nepalese soldiers. (See related article.)
U.N. MISSION REGISTERING VOTERS, BUILDING ROADS
In addition to military operations, MONUC also has scored several other impressive achievements, says chief public information officer Jennifer Bakody, including: registering close to 1.4 million Iturians to vote in DRC's July 30 national elections, the first free balloting the nation has experienced in 40 years.
MONUC has 16 regional offices tasked with helping the DRC prepare for the elections that will take place at 50,000 voting stations throughout the country. Altogether, 216 parties have been registered; 9,000 candidates will compete for 500 seats in Parliament, with 33 candidates vying for the presidency.
On the infrastructure front, close to 2,000 kilometers of road have been built and improved by MONUC in Ituri -- an Indonesian army engineer unit is part of that operation. "MONUC has also helped build schools, moved much-needed food to stricken areas and helped with electoral assistance,” Bakody added.
The Bunia airfield has been renovated, allowing MONUC's fleet of 82 aircraft to transport an average of 4,000 people through Bunia every month. Two Indian air force attack helicopters also use the field to provide air support to MONUC ground forces conducting operations in the countryside.
"I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the people here are better off because of the work MONUC has done," Bakody said.
The vastness of the DRC and its administrative districts is daunting for those trying to organize elections while coping with conflict in the east. For example, Ituri district, in the northeastern Orientale province, is approximately the size of Sierra Leone.
The conflict in Ituri mirrors similar fighting in the neighboring Kivu district. The districts are far from direct DRC control -- Kinshasa, the DRC’s capital, is 1,300 kilometers by air from the region -- and the mineral wealth of eastern Congo. Gold in Ituri has spurred and funded rebel activity for years.
U.S. SUPPORT FOR PEACEKEEPING MISSION
The U.S. government funds 27 percent of MONUC's budget while devoting approximately $100 million a year in health care and humanitarian assistance to the DRC in an attempt to stem conflict in the east while setting the groundwork for sustainable democracy in the DRC.
The United States also contributed to the establishment of the "Fusion Cell," an information-gathering facility in Kisangani used to monitor and analyze the movements of rebels and arms traffickers in eastern Congo.
The idea is to build confidence among the Great Lakes nations that formerly fought a war with the DRC from 1998-2000, while easing the tensions on the political and economic fronts that could cause the conflict to spark up again.
For additional information on U.S. policy in the region, see Africa.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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