Congo Siasa blog: List of armed groups in the Kivus

TODAY, thanks to Alun McDonald's tweet (see details below), I found Jason Stearns' blog, Congo Siasa at http://congosiasa.blogspot.com and noted his list of armed groups in the Kivus published on 09 June 2010 at his blog post entitled List of armed groups in the Kivus.

According to the 'About' page at Congo Siasa blog, Mr Stearns has been working on the conflict in the DR Congo for the past eight years, most recently as the Coordinator of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Congo (2008). He has also worked for Heritiers de la Justice, a local human rights NGO (2001), the UN peacekeeping mission MONUC (2002-2004) and the International Crisis Group (2005-2007). A book he wrote on the conflict, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, is due to be published soon. He is currently obtaining his PhD at Yale University.

Hat tip: Alun McDonald's tweet 10 June 2010 - A who’s who of armed groups in eastern Congo http://is.gd/cJOt5.

Note, according to Mr McDonald's bio, he is based in Nairobi, Kenya, "working for Oxfam, covering Sudan, Congo, Somalia and everywhere in between". See alunmcdonald's photostream at Flickr and the photo set on Sudan where he lived between 2006 and 2009. Most of the photos were taken in Darfur, South Sudan, the eastern Red Sea State, Khartoum (the capital), and the northern desert. The photos from Great Lakes: Congo, Uganda, Rwanda were taken from between 04 May 2009 and 30 June 2009. Here is a sample.



A hotel in Kiwanja, North Kivu, destroyed in the fighting in late 2008. In November 2008, a massacre in this small town killed 150 people. (Photo and caption by Alun McDonald)



A camp in North KIvu, sheltering thousands of people who fled the fighting in late 2008. (Photo and caption by Alun McDonald)



UN peacekeepers set up a military checkpoint in North Kivu, eastern Congo. (Photo and caption by Alun McDonald)



Red Cross tented hospital in North Kivu, eastern Congo. (Photo and caption by Alun McDonald)



Main street in Goma, the state capital in eastern Congo. The volcano - which glows red at night - dominates the town. (Photo and caption by Alun McDonald)

Top UN man in DR Congo mission as unrest escalates

John Holmes will meet president Joseph Kabila during five-day mission.

Top UN man in DR Congo mission as unrest escalates
From BBC News, Kinshasa
By Thomas Fessy at 22:59 GMT, Thursday, 29 April 2010 23:59 UK:

The UN's top humanitarian official has flown into the troubled Democratic Republic of Congo as armed groups continue to spread insecurity.

John Holmes will travel to three provinces where humanitarian workers face increasingly difficult conditions.

He will also visit a region where tens of thousands of people have reportedly been forced to flee their homes.

Human rights abuses such as rapes and lootings are reported regularly in the country.

Fighting and banditry

Mr Holmes will visit the Kivu region, where a military campaign backed by the UN against Rwandan Hutu rebels has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Aid workers say better protection for civilians was promised at the end of similar joint military operations last year.

But, in reality, human rights abuses such as rapes and lootings are reported regularly.

And, they say, displacements of populations are constant. The situation is becoming increasingly difficult for humanitarian workers whose operations have been restricted by fighting and banditry.

As a result, thousands of people in need are left with no assistance.

Mr Holmes is also travelling to the north-eastern part of the country, where attacks by Ugandan rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army on villages are still frequent.

His Congo tour will eventually take him to the western province of Equateur, where a recent insurgency by Enyele fighters has pushed thousands of people into the bush.

The Congolese authorities have asked the UN mission to prepare for a withdrawal; Mr Holmes will be discussing civilian protection issues with President Joseph Kabila on Monday.

Eight Red Cross staff kidnapped near Fizi in South Kivu by Mai Mai Yakutumba militia

Red Cross: 8 staff kidnapped in eastern Congo
From The Associated Press, Tuesday, 13 April 2010:

GENEVA - Eight Red Cross staff have been kidnapped by an armed group in eastern Congo, the international aid agency said Tuesday.

The seven Congolese and one Swiss national were seized Friday afternoon near the town of Fizi in South Kivu province by the Mai Mai Yakutumba rebels, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in Geneva.

"The ICRC has been able to get in touch with some of our colleagues after the incident," spokesman Marcal Izard told The Associated Press.

He declined to say whether the Red Cross is in contact with the kidnappers.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry said it was aware of the situation and was in touch with the Red Cross and Congolese authorities.

The Red Cross has several offices in South Kivu, which like much of eastern Congo has been wracked by violence since the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda spilled war across the border. The shadowy Mai Mai militia is one of many armed groups in the area. Their fighters have been seen using rudimentary weapons like spears and their group is believed to value mysticism.

In early 2009, a top rebel leader from another militia was arrested and the Congolese government began a campaign to integrate all militias, including the Mai Mai, into the national army.

"It is in order to protect and assist armed-conflict victims that we have been carrying out our activities in the area," said Franz Rauchenstein, the head of the ICRC's mission in Congo.

"We continue to insist that the strictly neutral, impartial and humanitarian nature of our work be recognized, and that our colleagues be able to return to their loved ones soon," he said in a statement.

Staff of the neutral aid group have also been targeted for kidnapping in other conflict regions recently.

Three foreign Red Cross workers were kidnapped in the Philippines last year, and French staff members were seized in Chad and Sudan. All have since been released.

DR Congo: Cholera cases tripled in some areas to 150 a week - UN (OCHA) N. Kivu Situation Report 13 Nov 2008 - Cholera increase in N. & S. Kivu

What are the symptoms of cholera? How is it transmitted? How do you treat it? See answers here below, courtesy of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).



UN (OCHA) North Kivu Situation Report 13 Nov 2008 - Cholera increase in North & South Kivu

Novembre 13, 2008 UN (OCHA) rapport de situation humanitaire au Nord-Kivu:

Les pillages se poursuivent au Sud Lubero;
2,000 personnes traversent la frontière vers l’Ouganda portant à 12 000 le total;
Les cas de choléra triplent dans la zone de santé de Goma depuis le mois d’Octobre.

Contexte politique et sécuritaire

Selon des sources locales à Kirumba et Kanyabayonga, les militaires FARDC, des éléments PARECO ainsi que des bandits ont pillé les deux cités dans la nuit du 12 au 13 novembre. Deux personnes ont été tuées à leur domicile à Kirumba et la cité de Kanyabayonga s’est de nouveau vidée de sa population. La Police Militaire affirme avoir arrêté 18 militaires la même nuit

Les localités de Rwindi, Kibirizi, Mirangi situées respectivement à 20 km, 17 km et 10 km de Kanyabayonga (Sud Lubero) sont désormais sous contrôle du CNDP.

Click here for full report. Photo d’archive/OCHA
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WHO & health partners lead massive cholera response in E. DRC

November 13, 2008 (Goma/Geneva):

The World Health Organization (WHO) and health partners have launched an intensive operation to prevent and control the increase in the number of cholera cases, which have tripled in some areas to 150 a week, amid the recent escalation of violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Insecurity, massive population displacement (at least 250 000 people since early August), weak health services and a lack of safe water and proper sanitation facilities have caused a marked increase in the number of people with cholera in North and South Kivu. As yet no data is available on the number of deaths linked to the current outbreak, but generally in complex emergencies the case (...)

Photo: Télécharger OCHA - Rapport de situation humanitaire au Nord-Kivu du 12 novembre 2008. Photo d’archive/OCHA www.rdc-humanitaire.net/f/
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Symptoms of cholera, how it is transmitted, how you treat it (MSF)

From an article dated 2006 at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) website:

What are the symptoms of cholera?

Watery diarrhea and vomiting, according to the case definition we are using. When people show those symptoms they are hospitalized, even if they are not too severe, because we never know, they might develop a severe cholera very fast. In addition to the patients that come directly to the CTC, we have a team that visits the smaller Cholera Treatment Units (CTU) in town to identify potential cases. A lot of them arrive in a severe state due to the fact that cholera develops very fast and people loose a lot of fluids. A case can get severe just in a couple of days.

How is it transmitted?

Through the food, but mainly through contaminated water. This outbreak is really due to a problem of water and sanitation. It affects first of all the most vulnerable people, those living in the poorest areas, with poor water and sanitation conditions.

How do you treat it?

Most of the cases that are hospitalized need intravenous fluids and oral rehydration salts (ORS) in order to replace the fluids they have lost. Normally, with this simple treatment they should recover promptly. It is only when a patient does not get better after a few days that we give him antibiotic.

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Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - DRC 2008 Images

Each day during the current DRC crisis, MSF volunteers are providing specific images from the situation or work done in order to emphasize the conditions, work or simply the situation found on the ground by our staff.



Photo: A child with suspected cholera at the Don Bosco orphanage in Goma. About 40 cases of cholera have been treated by MSF here, where hundreds of displaced people have gathered. However most of these cholera patients come from Kibati. Nov 13, 2008 © Francois Dumont/MSF



Photo: Audio file attached Belgian nurse Laurence is organizing consultations at a mobile clinic in Karuba, Masisi district. Even though it is the first day of mobile clinics in the small health post of Karuba village, it is busy as more patients show up. Karuba has remained without medical assistance for months. Nov 12, 2008 © Francois Dumont/MSF



Photo: A child with suspected cholera on Saturday morning in Kibati. More and more suspected cholera patients are showing up at a health centre in KIbati. The existing structure was overwhelmed and other NGOs had suspended their activities. In a few hours, MSF installed a cholera treatment centre. On Sunday, shootings in Kibati caused panic and MSF was able to evacuate its more serious patients to Goma's general hospital. Nov 11, 2008 © Francois Dumont/MSF



Photo: On the open road in Kibati as people flee in panic as fighting is heard nearby. Nov 10, 2008 © Francois Dumont/MSF



Photo: It rains every day, now. It happens suddenly and people are caught in heavy, pouring rain and thunder. Roads that were filled just minutes before, empty and everyone scatters, desperate to find shelter under a tree, in a school or the local church. It rains for about 30 minutes then stops. The roads refill with people soon after. Nov 7, 2008 © Clio van Cauter/MSF



Photo: A father and his two manourished children, aged two and four, fled Rugari on Monday for Kibati. The father took the children and his wife along with some scant belongings. The walked almost 30 km and now they have no place to stay but have managed to stock their few belongings in a school. They have not eaten since Monday, apart from a few bananas. They sleep outside in the cold at night, and it rains everyday. The two boys, both malnourished, are coughing a lot. Nov 6, 2008 © Clio van Cauter/MSF



Photo: An MSF nurse is examining a child during MSF's mobile clinics in Kibati, about 15 km north from Goma. MSF teams have installed tents in Kibati where they carry out consultations and have provided 60,000 litres of clean water per day to the displaced population. Over the weekend MSF carried out over 100 consultations, mainly for malaria, respiratory infections and diahrreas. Now that other NGOs have started to return to the area, the number of consultations is decreasing. These diseases are directly linked to the dire conditions and the lack of hygiene where the displaced have been forced to live. It is estimated that up to 40,000 displaced people have sought refuge in Kibati. Nov 5, 2008 © Francois Dumont/MSF



Photo: A displaced child in Kibati, around 15 km north of Goma. Following the latest wave of violence, about 40,000 people have found refuge in and around Kibati, a village on volcanic rock. Most people here have been repeatedly displaced and are now living either with host families, in schools or under makeshift shelters made up of plastic sheets. MSF has been running mobile clinics in Kibati, mostly treating malaria and infections. MSF teams also vaccinate young children against measles and provide access to clean water in order to prevent outbreaks. Nov 4, 2008 © Francois Dumont/MSF

Source: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF): Rue de Lausanne 78 - CP 116 - 1211 - Geneva 21 - SWITZERLAND Tel: +41 (22) 849.84.00 - Fax: +41 (22) 849.84.04