SUMMARY

Repeatedly conflicts have appeared in Sud Kivu Province in the DR Congo (Zaire). Many of them have been explained by the question of identity: are Rwandophones – i.e. speakers of Kinyarwanda and Kirundi legitimate members of the Congolese nation? At the same time conflicts arise between agriculturalists and pastoralists, especially during the transhumance period (the seasonal movement of people with their livestock). Livestock has often caused damage to the farmers’ land, thereby conflicts have evolved over the access to and control of land. At the same time, the different ethnic groups have supported and joined different armed groups and militias in the country supporting different sides in the many conflicts over governmental power that have been ongoing in the country.

In the outbreak of the 1998 RCD war against the government of DR Congo (see Government of DR Congo [Zaire] - RCD, the rebel group was seen as a pure Banyamulenge or as a Rwandese invasion. RCD rapidly managed to take control over Bukavu, Goma and Uvira. After a few days government forces supported by Burundian FNL rebels and Mayi Mayi militias managed to regain control over Uvira. The pre-existing tensions between the different ethnic groups in the area were brought to a boiling point by the war and in late August the local population in Uvira killed approximately 250 Banyamulenge.

The non-state conflict between Bafulero, Bavira and Banyamulenge is first included in UCDP data in 1998. Fierce fighting during a week in mid-August of that year resulted in 250 battle-related deaths.