SUMMARY

Repeatedly conflicts have appeared in Sud Kivu Province in the DR Congo (Zaire). Many of them have been explained by the question of identity: are Rwandophones – i.e. speakers of Kinyarwanda and Kirundi legitimate members of the Congolese nation? Between the same communities, conflicts have arisen between agriculturalists and pastoralists, especially during the transhumance period (the seasonal movement of people with their livestock). Livestock has often caused damage to the farmers’ land, thereby conflicts have evolved over the access to and control of land. Similarly local conflicts over the local governance have been intermingled into the mix. At the same time, the different ethnic groups have supported and joined different armed groups and militias in the country supporting different sides in the many conflicts over governmental power that have been ongoing in the country. Similarly different Congolese armed groups have also at times allied themselves with, Rwanda, Burundi or different Rwandan or Burundian rebel groups.

The one-sided violence by Twiganeho should be understood in this context. Twiganeho is a self-defense militia from the Banyamulenge community perceived as rwandophones and foreigners to the region. In 2017, the Twiganeho the group which had been defunct for ten years re-appeared as clashes between armed militias connected to the different communities in the High Plateau of Sud Kivu clashed. In 2020 this violence escalated further and Twiganeho targeted civilians from the Babembe, Bafuleru and Banyindu communities.

The one-sided violence by Twiganeho first became active on 30 December 2020 when they killed three women and three children in Kibindibindi village in Uvira territory, DR Congo.