Oxfam has called for the redeployment of UN troops in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to protect vulnerable civilians from the notorious Lord's Resistance Army, which has killed more than 2,300 people in the region in the last three years.
The UN peacekeeping force in the DRC (Monusco) is the second largest in the world, with more than 17,000 troops across the country. However, only 850 peacekeepers are deployed in the LRA-affected areas, despite vicious attacks on civilians there in the last two years, according to the charity Oxfam in a new report.
"Only 5% of Monusco troops operate in this area," said Olivia Kalis, Oxfam's DRC policy co-ordinator in Kinshasa. "Yet 20% of total displacements in the DRC are due to the LRA. We know Monusco are very stretched and they're never going to have enough troops. We recognise that, but, at the same time, we think they can do more with what they have."
Oxfam urged Monusco to listen more to local people about the protection they need and to make particular efforts to listen to the needs of women and young people. The charity also called on the UN mission to increase foot patrols in fields and markets in "flashpoint" areas, and to increase its monitoring presence at checkpoints manned by army troops that are, in effect, illegal barriers to prevent extortion.
The LRA rebel group originally formed in Uganda in the mid-1980s and terrorised the north of the country, before spreading mayhem to the DRC, what is now South Sudan and the Central African Republic. The international criminal court issued arrest warrants in 2005 against its leader, Joseph Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti, and LRA commanders Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen. The five were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape, sexual slavery and enlisting of children as combatants.
In eastern DRC, the LRA – whose numbers range from the hundreds to the thousands – has been operating since 2008 in some of the most insecure and isolated communities of Haut-Uélé and Bas-Uélé in Province Orientale. Some 3.3 million people live in these areas.
Oxfam interviewed 322 people in nine communities in Haut-Uélé and 62% said they felt less safe than last year. Oxfam paints a grim picture for civilians in the region. The LRA was described as the main perpetrator of killings, tortures and abductions as well as looting, destruction of crops and rape, but civilians are also preyed upon by the FARDC, the Congolese army, which is supposed to protect them.
"The soldiers who are there to escort farmers to their fields and protect them from the LRA are also the ones stealing their produce," said Oxfam's report. "However, faced with the stark choice between the LRA and the FARDC, communities often still preferred an FARDC presence to none at all, as the presence of soldiers was reported to have a deterrent effect on the LRA."
A person interviewed in Haut-Uélé said: "Our future is dark. We are scared all the time. The LRA continue to kill us and burn our houses down. We have a family that has been staying with us for a week, after they fled Doruma, where the LRA have been abducting day and night. We are not safe here."
The eastern provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Province Orientale cover more than 625,000 sq km, an area larger than France. Three-quarters of the 1,705 people surveyed by Oxfam in these three provinces this year said they felt their security had not improved since last year. In areas affected by the LRA, this figure rose to 90%.
Oxfam conducted the survey in April and May this year, a period leading up to one of the worst months on record in the number of attacks by the LRA. In June alone, there were 53 attacks, involving 26 deaths and 23 kidnappings, including the abduction of 10 children. In the first six months of 2011, there were 158 attacks in total, representing a 53% increase on the previous year.
Oxfam says 30,000 civilians fled the LRA in the first three months of 2011, bringing the total number of internally displaced people in the region to 330,000.
The UN security council last month specifically cited the threat from the LRA when it renewed Monusco's mandate. Resolution 1991 said it encouraged "Monusco to continue to keep close contacts with LRA-affected communities and keep under review the deployment of its available resources to ensure maximum effect".
Separately, an investigation by Monusco and the UN commissioner for human rights into mass rapes last week identified the rapists as Congolese army soldiers and demanded their prosecution. The incidents took place seven months ago in the villages of Bushani and Kalambahiro in North Kivu. The UN said it could confirm that soldiers subjected 47 women, including one minor, to sexual violence, including rape abducted two civilians, and inflicted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment on 12 other civilians.