SUMMARY
The Cobras fought the Government of Congo in 1993 and again in 1997, when the group succeeded in seizing power (see Government of Congo - Cobras. During the chaotic year of 1997 Cobra fighters carried out one-sided violence.
Cobras' targeting of civilians reflected the ethnic nature of the conflict. The Cobras mainly represented the northern ethnic group Mbochi (and the political party PCT, Parti Congolais du Travail, Congolese Labour Party), while its opponents in government were of sub-groups of the Bacongo ethnic group, living in the southern provinces of Niari, Bouenza, and Lékoumou. In September 1997 the government was expanded to also include a political party that represented another sub-group of the Bacongo, living in the Pool region, surrounding the capital. With Congo being one of the most urbanized countries in Africa, the population of Brazzaville, the capital, includes all these contending groups. After the initial fighting in 1993, neighborhoods in Brazzaville had been ethnically cleansed, whereby close to ethnically homogenous zones were created. These remained after the fighting had died down and when the conflict resumed in 1997 Brazzaville became a micro-cosmos of the conflict, with the city being carved into different war-zones, pitting the forces of the two sides against each other.
The Cobras controlled areas such as Poto-Poto, Talangaï, Ouenzé, and Mpila, all of which are districts located in the northern part of the city. Within this zone the Cobras killed unarmed civilians either because they were suspected of being infiltrators from areas controlled by rival groups, and thus of another ethnic affiliation, or simply because they were supposed to be supporters of another party than PCT. Criteria used to identify potential infiltrators included a person’s spoken language, their hairstyle, and type of clothes. If a person spoke one of the languages from southern Congo, had a shaved head, or wore jeans he was regarded as a Ninjas or a Cocoyes, militias belonging to the government side in the conflict.
Furthermore, simply being from a rival ethnic group was likely to render a person killed. Within their zone of control, Cobras set up barricades and road-blocks and stopped civilians to check their identity cards. People who did not have one were asked to speak in their first language in order to find out their ethnic group. Many members of the ethnic group of the opposing side were immediately killed. During the fighting the Cobras, as well as the other parties to the conflict, systematically looted Brazzaville’s neighborhoods. One-sided killings were carried out also in this context, as some civilians were arbitrarily killed when they refused to allow Cobras fighters to take their property.
The group carried out one-sided violence mainly in Brazzaville, but also in Pointe-Noire, the country’s second-largest city, located on the Atlantic coast and in Cuvette province, north of Brazzaville.
The Cobras first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1997, when the one-sided violence resulted in more than 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in early September that year when the group's attacks on civilians had resulted in 25 deaths.
