Trying to fight fire with fire and its inherent dangers

People in the eastern Congolese city of Beni have had enough of massacres. Angered by the inability of the army to protect them against shadowy armed groups, some are secretly forming their own self-defence units.

But it’s a decision that can’t be taken lightly. The last thing the Democratic Republic of Congo needs is more militias, and there are voices in the community urging caution.

“The young have understood that they cannot fold their arms when faced with the killers that the state and its partners no longer know how to stop,” said Jean-Paul Ngahangondi, national coordinator of the Beni-based Convention for the Respect of Human Rights.

But “there is a danger,” he said. “The risk is using any means necessary, [leading to the creation of more] armed groups.”

People in Beni are still reeling from the latest attack on 13 August, when unknown men raided the Rwangoma suburb of the city and used machetes to kill more than 50 people, including women and children.

The Kyaghanda Yira cultural association (Yira is the majority ethnic group in North Kivu Province) said the attack, the deadliest to date, brings to more than 1,500 the number of civilians killed since October 2014.

“The genocide will only continue. Innocent civilians are being executed while the Congolese government fails to come up with any retaliatory or preventative measures,” said Jules Vahikehya, secretary general of Kyaghanda Yira.

In an open letter to President Joseph Kabila, a coalition of civil society groups listed the humanitarian toll of the violence. Aside from the deaths, it includes “more than 1,470 people missing, more than 1,750 huts burnt down, semi-deserted villages, and schools and health clinics destroyed”.

The displaced include people like Masika Kaghoma. Her family moved to Eringeti, outside Beni, to escape the violence. But running short of food, her husband and eldest son took the risk to return to their fields.

“Half-way, they met the cut-throats who decapitated them with machetes. Having learnt of this new atrocity, I took my four other children and walked with them to Beni town centre,” she told IRIN.

Three months on, she now lives in nearby Butembo, surviving through scavenging in the market. “Me and my children do the rounds at the supply depots,” she said. “If there’s a banana that falls during unloading, I grab it. This is how life is for us these days.”

The government blames the violence on the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist rebel group with links to Uganda. But critics say it’s not that simple. Behind the narrative of an Islamist menace, there is evidence of Congolese military involvement, with potential links to smuggling rackets.

The writer filed this article for IRIN from Beni, DRC