SUMMARY
The one-sided violence by the PARECO Mayi Mayi group was perpetrated in the Nord Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire). The Nord Kivu province is situated in the eastern parts of the country bordering Rwanda and Uganda. Much of the land in the Nord Kivu province is fertile and it is more densely populated than other parts of the country. The Nord Kivu province is and has for centuries been inhabited by a broad range of different communities: Hunde, Nyanga, Tembo, Kano, Twa, Pere and Hutu and Tutsi. Before colonization these communities were governed differently in different chiefdoms. And under the colonial administration these chieftaincies were absorbed by the new power and in some cases re-drawn into Sectors and in some cases importing new chiefs. The Belgians also made a distinction between the indigenous/autochthonous tribes of the area who were entitled to holding land and the foreigners; oftentimes being those of Rwandan descent (Hutu and Tutsi), who were not entitled to holding land. At the same time all land belonged to the colonial power and they could expropriate customary land to lease or sell it to plantation-owners.
During the colonial rule the plantation-owners needed labor on their farms. To meet this demand labor workers were recruited in neighboring Rwanda. In some areas of the Nord Kivu Province this new wave of immigration changed the ethnic balance. In total it is believed that 150 000 and 300 000 Hutu and Tutsi immigrants moved to Nord Kivu during the colonial period. After independence these shifts have been one of the roots of conflicts in the area. While the indigenous communities have kept the customary power and the right over land, the Hutu and Tutsi have been more numerous and therefore a threat in a democratic Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire). Different laws regulating citizenship have granted or ripped the Hutu and Tutsi communities of their rights aggravating the situation. Under the Mobutu Zairianisation process the big plantations were nationalized and then granted to close allies of president Mobutu according to his patronage system of ruling the country. Hutu and Tutsi elite manage to by land during this period and consequently manage to gain economic power.
In this context we should see the one-sided violence by PARECO. The PARECO Mayi Mayi group was organized as an alliance aimed at fighting the Rwandan Tutsi influence in the Kivu regions. The group was mainly active in the Masisi, Rutshuru, and Lubero territories of the Nord Kivu Province.
Although the group mainly fought the CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People) militia, they also attacked civilians especially in connection to raids on villages. PARECO typically raided a village, stealing food, animals, and other goods, raping women and killing civilians whom they accused of collaborating with the enemy.
PARECO first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2008, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. In February and March that year, PARECO conducted a number of raids in Nord Kivu villages, resulting in over 40 deaths.
