By PATRICK ILUNGA

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Six months after the declaration of the state of siege in North Kivu and Ituri by President Felix Tshisekedi, the National Assembly has once again extended it by 15 days. This is the 11th extension, and on its announcement on November 1, it was for the first time, strongly opposed in parliament.

Fifty-seven parliamentarians from North Kivu and Ituri said they had "noted with regret and disappointment that the security situation in North Kivu and Ituri has deteriorated further during the state of siege." The MPs and Senators said that "killings are almost permanent; and so is looting; house burning; massive displacement of the population; occupation of entities by local and foreign armed groups."

The legislators opposed any extension of the state of siege "without an exit plan." In their view, the military governors installed in the two provinces and the minister of Defence have failed in their mission. They have demanded their resignation.

"We insist on the resignation of the Minister of National Defence and the resignation of the military governors of North Kivu and Ituri who have demonstrated their limitations and their low degree of commitment to achieving the operations and objectives assigned to the state of siege.

In reality, in the two provinces under siege, the news is not necessarily good. While parliamentarians from both provinces are expressing their frustration in Kinshasa, 14 civilians have just been buried in their towns and villages. These people were violently killed during an incursion by CODECO/URDPC militiamen in Ituri, according to local sources.

These deaths add to the list of the macabre count. The Congolese government does not give the number of civilians killed but says that "the pressure remains constant on all the rebel groups who, in their rout, attack the civilian population. This is the case with the CODECO/URDPC fighters, two of whom were neutralised in the territory of Djugu, in Ituri".

According to the report of the Kivu Security Barometer, a project carried out in co-operation with Human Rights Watch and the Congo Study Group, "since the beginning of the state of siege on May 6, 2021, at least 944 civilians have been violently killed." For the Kivu Security Barometer, "there is no positive effect of the state of siege." This is also the feeling of the people of Ituri in particular.

Didyne Uweka, a student who has just returned from Ituri province, told The Eastafrican; "The state of siege has not solved anything. People are dying even more. She would say no more, saying that she was still in shock. According to the Kivu Security Barometer figures for the past six months, there are already almost 1,000 deaths, while in 2019, 1,070 were killed and in 2020, the number of people massacred in the two provinces under siege was 1,569.

Those familiar with the tumultuous life in eastern DRC say that every time there is an operation to track down rebel groups, the killings increase. Pierre Boisselet, a member of the Congo Study Group said that in the past, "military offensives have contributed to worsening the situation."

What is serious is that no one really knows who the killers are. The fighting is usually between the FARDC (Congolese army) and militias like CODECO, but also the ADF, the Ugandan rebels. The rebels often blend in with the civilian population, often in disguise with no military clothes or bearing arms after massacres. This is what Congolese officials call "asymmetric warfare."

Unknown fighters

It is not easy to defeat an invisible enemy, the Congolese authorities admit. But the political and military authorities give a glowing report on the state of siege. According to army figures provided by Gen Léon-Richard Kasonga, the state of siege has enabled the army to "clean up and liberate nearly 50 villages, formerly rebel strongholds," to "neutralise 622 enemies, capture 119 enemies and 569 others have surrendered." Gen Kasonga also said that 1,301 weapons had been recovered, 615 hostages taken and 210 rebel accomplices arrested. These figures did not convince the parliamentarians.

While receiving Gilbert Kabanda, the minister for Defence who had come to request the extension of the state of siege in the National Assembly on November 1, Jean-Marc Kabund, First Vice-President of the lower house of parliament, demanded that the minister "must bring tangible results, not speeches."

Although some may argue about the effectiveness of military action in eastern DRC, for the ministry of Defence, "the security situation remains calm and under the control of the Defence Forces throughout the country," said the minister.

According to the Congolese army and President Tshisekedi, the state of siege is the solution to the insecurity that has plagued eastern DR Congo for 25 years. The president said that "the state of siege will be maintained as long as the security situation requires it."

Six months after the imposition of the state of siege, the Defence and Security Commission of the National Assembly made a general assessment of the situation.

This Commission noted "a deficit and lack of synergy between the ministries and public services concerned by the state of siege; an absence of the military in certain villages; the complicity of certain police officers with the enemy; the corruption of military magistrates; insufficient planning of military operations; an ageing and insufficient number of military personnel in the field of operations and insufficient surveillance of porous borders."