Kwilu Rebellion and First Congo War

Walungu Territory has a tumultuous history marked by conflict and insecurity, stemming from a combination of internal and external factors. In the late 1960s, the region played a significant role during the Mulelist insurgency, where the Zairian army achieved a key victory against the insurgency.^[16][17] During the First Congo War from 1996 to 1997, the region became a battleground due to its strategic location and access to valuable resources. The conflict involved multiple armed groups, including the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), and Forces Armées Burundaises (FAB). The AFDL, led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila, emerged as a rebel movement aiming to overthrow the regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire. The AFDL received significant support from RPA, led by Paul Kagame, due to concerns about the presence of Rwandan Hutu militias in eastern Zaire.^[18][19]

The counter-offensive led to massacres of millions of Hutu génocidaires, Hutu refugees, and Zairean civilians in the eastern part of DRC, as documented by the United Nations Mapping Report. The AFDL/RPA units committed numerous human rights violations, deliberately attacking civilian populations, resulting in massacres, summary executions, and mass displacements. Civilians often found themselves caught in the crossfire between rival factions or targeted deliberately to exert control over local communities.^[18]

Throughout October and November 1996, the AFDL/RPA units launched brutal attacks on refugees, killing hundreds of people in various locations, including the Kamanyola grouping of Ngweshe Chiefdom, Nyarubale in the Kalunga hills, and the routes between Nyantende and Walungu-Centre and Nyantende and Bukavu. Most of the victims were women, children, and the elderly. The soldiers resorted to firearms, bayonets, and shrapnel, causing immense suffering and loss of life.^[18] Additionally, on 28 October 1996, the AFDL/RPA units killed five refugees in the village of Lwakabiri and, in January 1997, killed at least thirty Rwandan and Burundian Hutu refugees on the Bukavu to Walungu Territory road. Before killing the victims, the soldiers often subjected them to torture and mutilation.^[18]

Second Congo War

The Second Congo War further plunged the region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo into a devastating conflict. After ousting President Mobutu in 1997, Laurent-Désiré Kabila assumed power. However, tensions escalated as former allies from AFDL and RPA felt sidelined and excluded from the new government. This led to a quest to topple Kabila's administration. The Rwandan-backed rebels were known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie; RCD). The RCD made up various factions with the common goal of challenging Kabila's government and gaining political influence.^[20][19]

As a major faction opposing Laurent-Désiré Kabila's government, the RCD engaged in acts of violence, committing grave atrocities against civilians. These human rights abuses included deliberate attacks on civilian populations.^[21][22] In Walungu and surrounding areas, civilians endured massacres, summary executions, and widespread displacement due to the conflict.^[20] RCD forces often resorted to brutal tactics to assert control over local communities and weaken perceived adversaries. Women and girls faced brutal acts of rape, sexual assault, and forced marriage. These nefarious acts were intended to instill fear, degrade communities, and exert dominance over the civilian population. In addition to sexual violence, the RCD was known for recruiting child soldiers. Young boys, and in some cases girls, were forcibly conscripted into their ranks, exposing them to violence, abuse, and manipulation.^[20][23]

Ongoing conflict

Since the Sun City Agreement in 2003, the region has been plagued by persistent insecurity and conflict due to armed groups like the FDLR (Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda) and Rasta militia (les Rasta), remnants of Interahamwe, perpetuating violence and instability. The Rasta militia, an ultra-violent armed group composed of approximately fifteen Congolese dissidents, emerged in the region and has been responsible for several brutal massacres, most notably in the Nindja Chiefdom and Kaniola Groupement between 2004 and 2007.^[24]

Another source of ongoing conflict is the traditional power struggle and the presence of vigilance committees; armed groups formed to protect local communities.^[24] Nonetheless, their presence has also generated internal tensions and conflicts. The head of the Ngweshe Chiefdom in Walungu Territory's decision to depose the leader of the Kaniola Groupement without providing a justifiable reason fueled tensions. This expulsion, coupled with the existence of armed vigilance committees and the popularity of Foka Mike, a local figure, further aggravated the power struggle and accusations of militancy.^[24] Civil society in Kaniola and other parts of the region has voiced grievances against the chieftaincy chief, accusing him of lacking transparency and disregarding the demands and expectations of local populations.^[24] Parenthetically, the issue of access to land has become a severe source of insecurity. The competition between customary land practices and formal land law has created conflicts over land management and access. Customary land rights, often precarious and unprotected, leave many farmers susceptible to dispossession and exploitation by influential private individuals who convert large portions of land into private plantations. This plight has exacerbated land inequalities, as small-scale producers are constrained to rent land from large landowners under insecure oral agreements.^[24]