DR Congo - OCHA: 14-Sep-04
OCHA
DR Congo
August 2004
14 September 2004
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
This report does not necessarily reflect the official position of the
United Nations.
OVERVIEW
On the evening of 13 August, an armed group carried out the massacre of
150-160 Tutsi Congolese1 who were seeking refuge just across the border
from South-Kivu Province in Gatumba, Burundi. A Burundian Hutu rebel
group, Forces for National Liberation (FNL), immediately claimed
responsibility but preliminary reports from a UN investigation indicated
that Rwandan Hutu rebels and ex-Mayi-Mayi coming from DRC may have been
the perpetrators. The repercussions of the massacre at Gatumba were
instantaneous. Burundi immediately closed its border with DRC.
Authorities from both Burundi and Rwanda threatened to return to Eastern
DRC to secure their own borders. Vice-President Azarias Ruberwa (RCD-G)
announced from Goma the temporary suspension of the RCD-G participation in
the Transitional Government. Security check points multiplied in many
cities and border areas.
By the end of the month, the situation in the Kivus had improved slightly.
After spending one week in Goma following his momentous announcement,
Ruberwa returned on 30 August to Kinshasa with the facilitation of MONUC.
On the evening of 01 September, the founders of the RCD-G met and in a
press release signed by Ruberwa announced that the RCD-G had decided to
revoke its previous decision to suspend its participation in the
transitional government. Another positive sign for the month was that
insurgent leader General Nkunda respected the 04 August ceasefire and
there were no major confrontations in the Kivus.
The problem of the integration of former rebel groups into the national
army continued throughout DRC this month. The demobilization and
community reintegration program for armed groups in the Ituri District,
supported by the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC), is expected to officially
take off on 01 September.
No new major displacement in DRC was reported in August. Nevertheless,
the numbers of persons displaced by three weeks of fighting in July
between the FAPC2 and FNI3 in Mahagi Territory, Ituri District continued
to rise this month. By 28 August, the number of IDPs displaced in this
region had risen to 90,000. Despite the fact that roughly 75,000 of these
IDPs were accessible only 20-30,000 had received emergency food and NFI
assistance. OCHA has been advocating with partners for the mobilization of
more emergency assistance for this vulnerable group.
The protection of civilians remains a serious concern throughout DRC,
particularly for populations living in the Kivus and Maniema who are under
threat of FDLR movements and clashes between insurgent groups and
government troops, not to mention the possibility of foreign intervention.
Further north in the Mahagi Territory, Ituri District, the FNI and FAPC
forces continue to wreak havoc for civilian populations in this region.
PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS
In flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights
principles, war crimes continue to be carried out by both renegade armed
groups and the national army throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Violations of the right to life, physical integrity, freedom of movement
and property continue to be systematically violated by those in positions
of power while impunity reigns unchecked.
The following points related to the protection of civilians were
highlighted this month by human rights sources (Not an exhaustive list):
South-Kivu Province: More than 150 Congolese refugees, mostly originating
from Uvira, South-Kivu Province, were killed at Gatumba transit camp in
Burundi after the Banyamulenge section of the camp was attacked during the
night of 13 August 2004. Approximately 111 other victims were reported
wounded; some of them succumbed to their injuries and died in hospital in
the days following the attack. A high number of children were among the
victims. Their attackers, who have not yet been confirmed, set fire to
tents sheltering the refugees and fired on those fleeing. Grenades and
machetes were also used to kill individual victims, according to Human
Rights sources.
Maniema Province: An organization reported that 85 cases of rape against
children occurred in Kibombo between February and June 2004. The
organization claims Mayi-Mayi dissidents as responsible for the rapes.
Investigations to confirm the information are underway, according to Human
Rights sources.
Ituri District: More than 8,000 civilians have been killed during the
period 2002-2003 in Ituri District, according to a recent MONUC/Human
Rights report. This document accuses all armed groups from Ituri, Rwanda,
Uganda and the former Congolese government. The MONUC experts interviewed
more than 1,600 witnesses during its inquiry.
FNI and FAPC soldiers are reportedly committing various violations against
the civilian population in Mahagi Territory, including the right to life,
physical integrity, and freedom of movement.
POPULATION MOVEMENTS
No new population displacement was reported this month by the IDP
provincial commissions. As of August 2004, the total number of IDPs in
DRC was estimated at 2.3 million, down approximately 700,000 from the same
period last year (see below table).
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|Table of IDPs | | | |
|and Returnees | | | |
| in DRC | | | |
| As of August | | | |
| 2004* | | | |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
| Provinces | Displaced | Returns |Date of Information|
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|Katanga | 365,000| 190,000| August 2004 |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|Province | 455,000| 260,000| August 2004 |
|Orientale | | | |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|Maniema | 165,000| [
]| August 2004 |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|North-Kivu | 785,000| [
]| August 2004 |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|South-Kivu | 254,000| 275,000| August 2004 |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|Equateur | 165,000| [
]| August 2004 |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|Kinshasa | 45,000 (includes| [
]|August 2003 for the|
| | +/- 3,000| |IDPs and June 2004 |
| | expellees from| |for the expellees. |
| | Angola)| | |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|Bandundu | | | |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|Bas Congo | | | |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|East and West | 95,000 (includes| [
]| August 2004 |
|Kasai | +/- 40,000| | |
| | expellees from| | |
| | Angola)| | |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|TOTAL | 2,329,000| 725,000| August 2004 |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
|*These figures| | | |
|are | | | |
|estimations | | | |
|representing a| | | |
|consolidation | | | |
|of data | | | |
|furnished by | | | |
|provincial | | | |
|commissions on| | | |
|Population | | | |
|Movements as | | | |
|well as | | | |
|reports of | | | |
|various | | | |
|evaluation | | | |
|missions. | | | |
|--------------+------------------+-----------+-------------------|
EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE / UNMET HUMANITARIAN NEEDS
Please note that this section does not reflect all emergency assistance
and unmet needs information for the whole country. For more details,
please consult the OCHA DRC Weekly Monitoring Report.
Emergency humanitarian assistance continued this month to large
concentrations of vulnerable populations newly displaced during fighting
last month in Mahagi Territory, Ituri District and Kalehe Territory,
South-Kivu Province.
INGOs German Agro Action and CESVI distributed WFP food and UNICEF
non-food item assistance to approximately 20-30,000 of the 90,000
civilians who were displaced last month by three weeks of fighting between
FAPC and FNI. At the end of August, 45-55,000 accessible and 15,000
inaccessible persons were still without assistance due to shortages in
emergency supplies.
OCHA has been advocating at all levels to mobilize assistance to this
unassisted vulnerable group.
Further south in the Kalehe Territory of South-Kivu Province, several
emergency humanitarian operations were underway this month to assist the
tens of thousands of IDPs displaced last month in this region following
clashes between insurgent leader Laurent Nkunda and the government's
commander of the 10th military region, Mbuza Mabe.
Approximately 24,000 IDPs received emergency food and NFI assistance that
was delivered by air and boat.
6,000 IDPs who fled towards the High Plains of Kalehe (Shanje and Numbi)
received 62 tons of assistance by MONUC helicopter. INGOs World Vision
and World Relief distributed the assistance furnished by WFP and UNICEF.
INGO MSF-H started providing emergency health assistance.
Further east towards Lake Kivu, 18,000 IDPs seeking refuge in the Kalehe
islands received emergency assistance by boat from Caritas/Bukavu (WFP and
UNICEF).
An additional unknown number of IDPs seeking refuge with host families
near Kalehe center have not yet been assisted due to problems in
establishing reliable distribution lists.
OCHA has been working with operational partners to resolve the
inconsistencies.
Other large vulnerable groups receiving or needing humanitarian assistance
this month include the following:
- INGO Caritas Uvira was distributing a donation from the German
government to the 6,000 refugee families who had returned home to the
Ruzizi plains, South-Kivu Province.
- Humanitarian needs remained largely unmet in Kibombo Territory, Maniema
Province despite the improvement of the security situation during the last
months. The humanitarian situation is reportedly very bad since
humanitarian access remains limited due to the very poor conditions of
roads. OCHA in Kindu reports that only six INGOs are operating in the
province leaving many unmet needs for vulnerable groups.
One of the major unmet humanitarian needs in the Democratic Republic of
Congo remains the lack of operational capacity to assist an enormous
vulnerable population living throughout a vast and difficult to access
terrain. There are currently only 95 international NGOs and
representatives from the Red Cross Movement implementing programs in a
country with millions of affected populations spread throughout 2.3
million km=B2 (a region 213 times the size of Kosovo, 86 times the size of
Burundi, and 24 times the size of Liberia). Due to this shortage of
operational partners, when humanitarian assistance does arrive in favour
of vulnerable groups, like newly displaced persons or returnees, it rarely
meets international standards, such as those outlined in the Minimum
Standards in Disaster Response (SPHERE Project).
COORDINATION / ADVOCACY / ACCESS
COORDINATION
OCHA and partners undertook approximately 15 joint humanitarian assessment
missions this month throughout DRC. Missions where undertaken to the
following localities:
North-Kivu Province: Ngungu (Masisi Territory); Southern Lubero Territory.
South-Kivu Province: Shanje (Kalehe Territory); Uvira (Uvira Territory);
Nyabibwe (Kalehe Territory).
Maniema Province: Kibombo Territory.
Orientale Province: Ituri District: Draju, Ulyeko, Thedeja, Rigo sites
(Mahagi Territory); Mokambo (Mahagi Territory); Padeya-Ave Maria (Mahagi
Territory); Aveba (Irumu Territory); Kasenyi (Irumu Territory); Sota and
Badiya (Irumu Territory) / Tshopo District: Ubundu (Ubundu Territory);
Bas-Uele District: Buta.
Western Kasai: Tshikapa (Tshikapa Territory).
ADVOCACY
The following OCHA advocacy efforts in respecting humanitarian principles
and mobilizing humanitarian action were reported this month by OCHA field
offices (Not an exhaustive list. For more details, please consult the
OCHA DRC Weekly Monitoring Report).
Mahagi Territory, Ituri District: OCHA met this month the FAPC Commander
in Mahagi to convince him to move his military camp from the town of Ngote
so that the civilian population, estimated at 14,000, would be able to
return home. By mid-August, the population had begun to return.
North-Kivu Province: OCHA in North-Kivu met this month with authorities of
the 8th military region (North-Kivu) to discuss the problem of military
harassment of civilians living in Walikale. The results appear to be
positive, according to this office. OCHA also met with authorities in
Goma to discuss the increasing insecurity in town.
South-Kivu Province: OCHA in Bukavu met several times with provincial
authorities to discuss the problem of illegal taxes being demanded from
expatriate humanitarian staff, militaries entering into civilian hospitals
with weapons, and impediments to the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
OCHA in Uvira met with the local authorities in Mutambala, Fizi Territory,
this month to facilitate the distribution of food to thousands of
Congolese refugees who have spontaneously repatriated from Tanzania over
these past months.
Katanga: OCHA's IDP unit provided training in the Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement and International Humanitarian Law with the new
military installed in Kalemie since 03 June.
OCHA has been advocating this month with MONUC at the highest levels in
Kinshasa to send some of their Military Observers (MILOBS) back to the
team sites formerly occupied in Tanganika District before the 03 June
events.
OCHA in Kalemie has been working with authorities this month to resolve
the problems arising from systematic searches of humanitarian cargo that
arrives in Kalemie airport.
OCHA continues to monitor the situation for IDPs living in the 4 camps
outside Kalemie and has been advocating with partners to prepare
themselves for potential assistance programs in their villages of origin.
Province Orientale: OCHA in Kisangani reminded local officials this month
of their obligation to protect civilians against all forms of human rights
abuses.
The near total absence of a road infrastructure, particularly in the
provinces of Maniema, South-Kivu, Orientale, the 2 Kasais and Equateur
continue to greatly impede humanitarian access to vulnerable groups.
CONSOLIDATED APPEALS PROCESS (CAP) 2004
DRC CAP 2004
At the end of August, overall funding through the CAP 2004 for the DRC was
at 42.4%. From the revised requirements of US$161.1 million essential to
cover the needs of affected populations in 2004, US$68.3 million had been
contributed or pledged by donors, leaving a shortfall of US$92.8 million.
The following sectors had all received less than 10% funding through the
Consolidated Appeal at the end of August: Family Shelter & NFIs, Health,
Water & Sanitation, Education, Protection/Human Rights/Rule of Law, and
Economic Recovery & Infrastructure (See below table).4
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
| Sector |Requirements| Contributions/ |Percentage |
| | (USD) |Pledges/ carryover | Funded |
| | | (USD) | |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Agriculture | 11,598,250| 4,181,181| 36% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Coordination & | 8,870,330| 6,284,924| 71% |
|Support Services | | | |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Economic Recovery & | 8,225,000| 274,725| 3.3% |
|Infrastructure | | | |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Education | 2,719,091| 99,942| 3.7% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Family Shelter & NFIs| 4,793,863| 0| 0% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Food | 57,736,073| 33,282,472| 57.6% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Health | 25,349,900| 0| 0% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Mine Action | 5,027,744| 508,824| 10% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Multi-sector | 23,114,682| 18,223,987| 78.8% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Protection/Human | 9,523,653| 532,608| 5.6% |
|Rights / Rule of Law | | | |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Security | 1,048,520| 274,725| 26% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|Water & Sanitation | 3,071,023| 0| 0% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|UNATTRIBUTED | | 4,598,110| |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
|TOTAL | 161,078,129| 68,261,498| 42.4% |
|---------------------+------------+-------------------+-----------|
In addition to funding within the CAP, donor reported contributions
outside the CAP totalled US$61.7 million at the end of August. This
included substantial contributions from the European Commission, in
particular in the health sector.
Footnotes:
1 Mostly from Uvira, South-Kivu Province.
2 FAPC : Forces Armees du Peuple Congolais.
3 FNI : Front des Nationalistes et Integrationnistes.
4 Source : OCHA Financial Tracking System, Reliefweb, 31 August 2004.
Data for contributions to the CAP are compiled by OCHA on the basis of
information provided by respective appealing organisations.
OCHA - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Democratic
Republic of Congo
Boulevard du 30 Juin, Immeuble Losonia, Kinshasa
E-mail : ochadrc@un.org
Tel. : (+243) 88 45 573 / 98 60 44 41 / 99 81 875 + 871 762 904 845 / 48,
Fax : + 871 762 904 846
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International web: www.cidi.org
Disaster Information listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -