SUMMARY

The Mayi Mayi group led by Commander Jean-Pierre Guena or Mbayo Mpiana Mwana Butot alias "Chinja Chinja" was active in the Katanga province in the DR Congo (Zaire). "Chinja Chinja" which literally translates into “the Ripper”, is a term used for people believed to indulge in the drinking of the blood of black people. The group was accused of making use of cannibalism and mystic rites and was responsible for killings, torture, rapes and mutilation of civilians in Katanga.

In Katanga politicians had influenced certain Mayi Mayi groups through kinship links and the delivery of weapons. Jean-Pierre Guena was reportedly related to the former governor of Katanga Ngoy Mukena. Most Mayi Mayi supported the Government of DR Congo (Zaire) in the intrastate conflict fought in 1998-2001. However Mayi Mayi - Chinja Chinja however opposed the government.

Mayi Mayi - Chinja Chinja, whose forces included 30% child combatants, resided in the Upper Lomami district in northwest Katanga. In February 2005 Mayi Mayi - Chinja Chinja agreed to negotiate the disarmament of the militia and in April Guena went to Kinshasa for negotiations. He was however arrested on the charges of war crimes and has been in provisional custody since July 2005.

Mayi Mayi - Chinja Chinja first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2004, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in January that year when at least 100 civilians were killed in Kitenge village in DR Congo.