SUMMARY

Since the Rastas group has no outspoken goals it has not been possible to link their strategies of one-sided violence to any political end state. Nevertheless it has been possible to establish some of the motivations behind the actions that have been carried out by the group.

Through its actions in the eastern DR Congo’s (Zaire) South Kivu region the Rastas has become known as a ruthless organization, having committed murders, executions, mutilations, abductions, rapes, and looting. Reports regarding the group’s activities indicate that attacks on rural villages are carried out to obtain food and supplies, to abduct women for use as sex slaves, and to kidnap people to be released for ransom money.

It has also been reported that the group has attacked and killed civilians to dissuade them from cooperating with the UN and Congolese forces that wish to find and demobilize them. The group has also carried out one-sided violence in retaliation for attacks carried out by the Congolese army.

The most common modus operandi of the Rastas is to attack isolated villages during night time. Armed with firearms, machetes, and other hacking weapons the group would loot, burn and kill before making off with what they could carry, also taking with them abductees.

The Rastas first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2005, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in early April after a killing spree in late March and early April killed approximately 50 civilians.