People in eastern Congo forced to fund the war that destroys their lives, says Oxfam

This week's fighting in Goma the latest in staggering increase in violence

BOSTON, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are being preyed on mercilessly by rebel groups and local militias, as well as their own government's troops and officials, in a vicious cycle of exploitation and abuse according to a new report by international agency Oxfam.

The report is launched as fight engulfs the town of Goma in North Kivu, displacing at least 50,000 people most of whom had already fled fighting north of Goma earlier this year to find shelter in internally displaced camps in the town.

"Only now with the strategic town of Goma under threat, the world is starting to take notice. But since April the civilian population has been subjected to a staggering increase in killing, rape and extortion," Oxfam America's Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor Noah Gottschalk said.

According to Oxfam, Congolese civilians are not only suffering  violent abuse on a massive scale - including rape, kidnap and murder – but are also being subjected to an unprecedented level of financial exploitation, as belligerents loot and extort illegal taxes in their battle for control.

Evidence gathered recently by Oxfam in a survey of more than 1,300 people in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Province Orientale shows that government soldiers and civilian authorities, including the local police, and armed rebel groups are vying for control over local communities to extort money and goods from them. In some areas such as northern Masisi and southern Lubero, vulnerable communities have become one of the most important sources of income for armed groups.

The crisis in DRC has deteriorated rapidly since April of this year when former CNDP (Congres National pour la Defense du Peuple) soldiers defected to form a new group, the M23 (Mouvement 23). Over the past eight months eastern Congo has seen increased activity among armed groups who consistently rape, kill, kidnap, torture and abuse civilians. Many of these groups are taking advantage of power vacuums left as government troops have moved to fight M23 rebels elsewhere. The most insecure areas are those where rebel groups are fighting for control and the number of contested territories has increased significantly in 2012.

"Ruthless militias and government troops are both mercilessly exploiting local communities to help fund their war," said Oxfam's associate country director, Elodie Martel. "Preying on people has become an extractive industry in which armed groups plunder money, food and whatever other resources they can find. People are leaving their homes everyday to escape the terror of rebel rule and the relentless extortion that makes existence almost impossible as their lives and livelihoods are looted."

The aid agency said exploitation has reached appalling levels with people facing violent forced recruitment, forced labor and continuous illegal taxation. As battles rage back and forth over strategic territory and communities, people are fleeing - many to rapidly growing camps where they are forced to live in terrible conditions with very little help. Since the beginning of the year, 767,000 people in North and South Kivu have left their homes due to conflict.

In northern Masisi in North Kivu, the small market town of Kashuga was attacked 12 times between April and July 2012 by Congolese army troops, as well as the APCLS (Alliance des Patriotes pour un Congo Libre et Souverain) and FDLR (Forces Democratique de Liberation du Rwanda) rebel groups. They were fighting over control of illegal tax revenues imposed on local people selling or buying goods at the weekly market.

Elsewhere in Masisi farmers said they had to pay 1,000 Congolese Francs (approximately $1 or the equivalent to 2–3kgs of beans) to the local rebel group, Mayi-Mayi Nyatura, for each person wanting to access their fields to farm their crops.

In Irumu, Ituri, in Province Orientale, women market sellers said they had to give wood and straw to the militia when arriving at the market, and that every household had to give 500 Congolese Francs ($0.5) to the militia each month. Oxfam was told that taxes are seen as a way of reducing the risk of abuse by armed groups and have become known as protection taxes labelled lala salama – Swahili for "sleep peacefully" – or remger ubuzima for "protect life".

The assessment found that communities face pervasive abuse by both armed rebel groups and government forces but around two thirds of people said that, despite the abuse and the environment of impunity, they felt more secure living under FARDC control.

In the absence of an effective state authority, many people said they feel abandoned by central government and in some areas have taken justice into their own hands by forming their own armed force – adding to the plethora of armed groups in the east.

"In the face of abuse and exploitation on this scale there is no room for apathy. This is a humanitarian catastrophe on a massive scale and the world cannot continue to turn its back on this tragedy. Communities in eastern Congo are living on the very edge of survival with the little they have being taken to fund the war. Not only does the conflict mean that people are under constant threat of violence, but it is taking the clothes off their backs and the harvest from their fields," said Martel.

"It is reprehensible that another year goes by with people telling us they go to bed afraid of killing, lootings and abductions and that women are too afraid to go to their fields for fear of being raped. The Congolese Government, the United Nations, the international community must listen and respond to the people paying the ultimate price for the conflict."

Notes to editors:

• This is Oxfam's sixth protection assessment since 2007. Between 4 and 20 June, Oxfam and 41 partner organizations conducted focus groups and interviews with 1,328 people in 32 conflict-affected communities across the three eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo: Provence Orientale, North Kivu and South Kivu. People were asked to give their views on the security situation and their protection in a context of ongoing violence, exploitation, and the widespread presence of multiple armed groups.
• Oxfam's 2012 protection assessment looked at the situation beyond those areas worst affected by insecurity, to include villages that did not suffer from regular armed attacks. This enabled comparison between areas where the predominant armed actors (who have become de facto authorities) were either an armed group, the Congolese Army (FARDC), or other state services, including the police and intelligence services. The assessment also covered communities in areas where control regularly changes between the FARDC and armed groups.

SOURCE Oxfam