SUMMARY

The conflict between the Bahemba and the Bambuti should be seen in a larger context as part of the conflict between Bantu groups (such as the Baluba, Banande, Batabwa, and Bahemba) and Pygmies (such as the Batwa and Bambuti). Pygmies are thought to be the original inhabitants of the DR Congo (Zaire), and live as nomadic hunters and gatherers. When agriculturalist Bantu groups migrated into the region, the Pygmies were displaced into remote areas. The Bantu then started to exert control over land and established power structures that excluded Pygmies, and the Bantu still maintain control over all levels of local administration. The reasons for the Bantu-Pygmy conflict can be summarized as a combination of this prejudice by the Bantu against the Pygmies, the general lack of security and access to justice in Tanganyika province, and the larger economic context of exploitation which rewards land grabs and extraction of natural resources.

The non-state conflict between the Bahemba and the Bambuti took place in 2016 in Tanganyika province of the DR Congo. The reason for the clashes was that the Bambuti felt threatened, despised and objectified by their Bantu Bahemba neighbors. The Pygmy Bambuti are hunter-gatherers who live in and depend upon the forests for their way of life. A majority of these forests are now controlled by the agricultural Bantu Bahemba, which resulted in violent confrontations between the two groups.

Weapons such as bows and arrows, spears, machetes and tree branches were utilized during the clashes. Many Bahemba dwellings were burned, and therefore a few hundred have been displaced and are living outside.

The non-state conflict between the Bahemba and the Bambuti is first included in UCDP data in 2016. Sometime between the beginning of the year and the end of September violent clashes took place in Tanganyika province, resulting in over 25 battle-related deaths.