SUMMARY
Nyatura or Nyantura was a local Hutu militia group that formed in DR Congo during 2012 as a response to the emergence of the Congolese rebel group, M23. Although it was made up of several factions, Nyatura remained united against M23 until the latter was defeated in November 2013 (for more information, see DR Congo (Zaire): Government conflict). Subsequently, Nyatura fighters entered cantonment sites for demobilization and integration. However, some Nyatura units retained their structures and splintered into separate armed groups as various factional leaders pursued their own interests instead.
The name, Nyatura, means “those who hit hard” in Kinyarwanda and the group had its roots in MAGRIVI and PARECO – two Hutu armed groups that emerged during the 1980s and 1990s respectively. Most Nyatura factions claimed to be fighting to protect the Hutu population in DR Congo from attacks by other armed groups, including M23.
Nyatura was based mainly in the areas of Masisi and Rutshuru in North Kivu, eastern DR Congo but the group also operated in the Kalehe area of northern South Kivu. Most members drew from the Hutu communities in Rutshuru and Masisi. Many had connections to PARECO, which formed in response to the emergence of another Congolese rebel group in the Kivu area, CNDP, in 2007 (for further information, see CNDP – PARECO). After CNDP agreed to lay down their arms in a separate peace deal with the DR Congo government on 23 March 2009, both CNDP and PARECO integrated into the national military forces (see Government of DR Congo (Zaire) – CNDP for more information). However, due to the increasing dominance of former CNDP members within the military, desertions from the force occurred during 2010 and 2011. As a result, many Nyatura commanders were drawn from the disenchanted military officers, who deserted during this period. Some FDLR troops also chose to remain in southern Masisi and integrate into Nyatura after the FDLR vacated the area in April – May 2012. Nyatura also recruited children and forced them to carry out domestic duties or tasks on the battlefield.
In areas under its control, Nyatura often took over administrative structures and earned revenue from sources of income such as local taxation and small-scale mining. The group also reportedly engaged in widespread abuses against civilians as well as one-sided violence (see Nyatura – Civilians).
There was no overarching leader for Nyatura but there were several notable Nyatura commanders. These included Marcel Habarugira, who was a career fighter that had been part of the RCD rebel group in the 1990s and then joined the CNDP before switching to PARECO. Like many other PARECO commanders, Habarugira integrated into the army after March 2009 but deserted before forming his own Nyatura faction. Habarugira’s faction was known as “Nyatura Intégré” and based in Masisi. In February 2019, Habarugira was convicted for war crimes committed while he served as commander for his Nyatura unit. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Kamodoka Rucoca and Godefroid Nizeyimana (also known as Nize) were two local commanders in a Nyatura faction known as “Movement pour l’Autonomie” and utilized criminal activities including kidnapping. After Nyatura splintered into separate factions, both Rucoca and Nizeyimana continued to carry out criminal activities in their own smaller groups until Rucoca was killed during an internal skirmish in November 2015 and Nizeyimana eventually fled to Uganda.
Several groups also allied with Nyatura including: APCLS, which had been allied with PARECO previously but unlike it, APCLS did not integrate into the military; and FDLR, which was a Hutu-dominated group based in eastern DR Congo similar to Nyatura but was orientated mainly towards fighting the Rwandan government. The Government of DR Congo supported Nyatura by supplying it with weapons and the group also collaborated with the government against M23 as well as Raia Mutomboki during 2012 and 2013.
Several groups was spawn from the Nyatura when the group ceased to exist as a unitary actor, including Groupe de Sécurité (commonly known as Nyatura Kasongo), which was one of the main Nyatura elements before its disintegration, and Nyatura Domi –FPC, which emerged due to tensions with other Nyatura factions. Many Nyatura remnants, such as Nyatura Domi, went on to join the Hutu umbrella movement - CMC – but like Groupe de Sécurité, not all did.
