SUMMARY

The one-sided violence perpetrated by Mayi Mayi Mazembe and NDC-R could be seen with a lens of inter-community tensions between the Nande, Nyanga and Hutu communities. A conflict between the Hutu and the Nande had been present in the Nord Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) for decades. 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, Nande, Nyanga, Tembo, Kano, Twa, Pere and Hutu and Tutsi the latter two also known as Banyarwanda. Before colonization these communities were governed differently in different chiefdoms. Under the colonial administration, these chieftaincies were absorbed by the new power. Some areas were re-drawn into new administrative units, sectors, 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. Simultaneously 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 wave of immigration changed the ethnic balance of the area. In total it is believed that between 150 000 and 300 000 Hutu and Tutsi immigrants moved to Nord Kivu during the colonial period. After independence these shifts in balance 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 to the indigenous/autochthonous power in a democratic system. 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 managed to buy land during this period and consequently managed to gain economic power. The tension between these communities had given rise to a number of different militias. Mayi Mayi Mazembe, NDC-R and CMC were among the more prominent in the region in 2017 when this massacre occurred.

In the evening of 17 February 2017 a coalition between Mayi Mayi Mazembe and NDC-R perpetrated a massacre of Hutu civilians in an area controlled by Nyatura fighters connected to the CMC alliance. The coalition attacked Mutanda commune in the Rutshuru territory of DR Congo the massacre resulted in 27 deaths.