Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL)
Congo

[Rwanda created and armed the Congolese anti-Mobuto rebel group AFDL (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo) to spearhead the invasion, and they quickly made their way towards Kinshasa.  By mid-1997, Mobuto was overthrown and dead, and the Congolese AFDL commander Laurent-Désiré Kabila declared that the state should henceforth be known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while assuming the role of president. He swiftly assigned Rwandan Tutsies to important government roles in effort to please his former backers.]

Laurent-Desire Kabila (AFDL commander)

Most reporting from the Kivus zooms in on sexual violence and the Western media always blames the victims—Congolese soldiers caught in the maelstrom of international proxy warfare and organized crime—but we hear nothing about U.S. or Canadian or Australian mining companies—and for those rare times that we do the reportage de-links the mining from the mass murder. [2008 Dec] Merchants of Death: Exposing Corporate-financed Holocaust in Africa.  White Collar War Crimes, Black African Fall Guys by Keith Harmon Snow

[2010 June] Report of the Mapping Exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between March 1993 and June 2003 by Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
CHAPTER II. JULY 1996 – JULY 1998: FIRST CONGO WAR AND AFDL
REGIME

177. From July 1996, Tutsi/Banyamulenge¹⁵² armed units who had left Zaire to pursue
military training in Rwandan army, the APR (Armée patriotique rwandaise), in Rwanda,
along with APR soldiers, began their operations to infiltrate the province of South Kivu
via Burundi and destabilise North Kivu via Uganda. The first serious clashes between the
FAZ and the infiltrés took place on 31 August 1996 near Uvira in the province of South
Kivu. On 18 October, the conflict took a new turn when an armed movement, the AFDL
(Alliance des forces démocratiques pour la libération du Congo), was officially formed
in Kigali, asserting its intention to topple President Mobutu.¹⁵³ Under the cover of the
AFDL, whose own troops, weapons and logistics were supplied by Rwanda, soldiers
from the APR, the UPDF (Uganda People’s Defence Force) and the FAB (Forces armées
burundaises) entered Zaire en masse and set about capturing the provinces of North and
South Kivu and the Ituri district.¹⁵⁴

[2010 June] Report of the Mapping Exercise 
196. After the AFDL was officially formed on 18 October 1996, Alliance troops,
supported by soldiers from the APR and FAB (Forces armées burundaises) attacked the
village of Bwegera. On 20 October, having taken control of the village, the soldiers were
divided into two columns, the first leaving northwards towards Luvungi and the second
southwards towards Luberizi. As they advanced, AFDL/APR/FAB soldiers carried out
widespread and systematic attacks on the eleven Rwandan and Burundian refugee camps
set up in the territory. Many witnesses have confirmed that these attacks took place
within a few days of the majority of the ex-FAR/Interahamwe and CNDD-FDD units
leaving the area.

• On 20 October 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB units attacked the Itara I and II refugee
  camps near Luvungi village, killing at least 100 Burundian and Rwandan
  refugees. In the neighbouring village of Katala, they captured and killed refugees
  at point-blank range who were trying to flee. The soldiers then forced local people
  to bury the bodies in mass graves.¹⁸⁴
• On 20 October 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB units attacked the Kanganiro camp at
  Luvungi with heavy weapons, killing an unknown number of refugees, including
  around twenty in the camp’s hospital. On the same day, they also killed an
  unknown number of refugees who had been hiding in the homes of Zairian
  civilians at Luvingi. The solders then forced local people to bury the bodies in
  mass graves.¹⁸⁵
   

• On 20 October 1996, when they entered the village of Rubenga, units of the
  AFDL/APR/FAB killed an unknown number of refugees and Zairian civilians
  who were fleeing in the direction of Burundi. The victims’ bodies were then
  dumped in the Ruzizi River.¹⁸⁶
• On 21 October 1996, units of the AFDL/APR/FAB attacked Lubarika camp and
  village, killing an unknown number of Rwandan and Burundian refugees, as well
  as Zairian civilians who were trying to flee the village after the departure of the
  FAZ. The soldiers forced local people to bury the bodies in four large mass
  graves. On the same day, soldiers also burned thirty refugees alive in a house in
  the village of Kakumbukumbu, five kilometres from Lubarika camp.¹⁸⁷
• On 21 October 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB units attacked the Luberizi refugee camp
  between Luberizi and Mutarule with heavy weapons, killing around 370 refugees.
  The soldiers threw the bodies of the victims into the latrines. They also killed
  several dozen people (refugees and Zairians) at the villages of Luberizi and
  Mutarule. After the killings, the bodies of over 60 victims were found in houses in
  the two villages.¹⁸⁸
• On 24 October 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB troops attacked the Kagunga camp, where
  they killed an unknown number of refugees. One direct witness to the attack
  confirmed having seen eight bodies. Soldiers also killed an unknown number of
  refugees trying to escape in the company of Zairians at the village of Hongero,
  one kilometre from Kagunga.¹⁸⁹

197. After the capture of the town of Uvira in the night of 24 and 25 October 1996 and
the routing of the FAZ over practically all of Uvira territory, the Burundian and Rwandan
refugees fled in several directions. Some left for the territory of Fizi, then travelled on to
North Katanga, Tanzania or Zambia. Others tried to escape towards the north, passing
through the territories of Kabare and Walungu. Many Burundian refugees fled in the
direction of Burundi. Unable to cross the Ruzizi River, they were often apprehended at
the Kiliba sugar mill and the villages of Ndunda, Ngendo and Mwaba.

• On 25 October 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB units killed an unknown number of
  refugees who were hiding in disused dwellings in sectors 3 and 4 of the Kiliba
  sugar mill.¹⁹⁰
• Between 1 and 2 November 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB units carried out the
  indiscriminate killing of around 250 civilians, including over 200 refugees and
  around thirty Zairians, in the village of Ndunda, near the Burundian border. The
  refugees were hiding in the village of Ndunda in the hope of securing the
  protection of CNDD-FDD militiamen, who had a base nearby. During the attack,
  a number of refugees drowned in the Ruzizi River as they tried to escape. The
  soldiers also killed Zairians from the village, accusing them of backing the
  CNDD-FDD.¹⁹¹
• On 24 November 1996, in the village of Mwaba, units of the AFDL/APR/FAB
  burned 24 Burundian Hutu refugees from the Biriba camp alive. On their arrival
  in Mwaba, the soldiers arrested those present in the village. After questioning
  them, they freed the Zairian civilians and imprisoned the Burundian refugees in a
  house which they then set on fire.¹⁹²

198. AFDL/APR/FAB soldiers set up a number of checkpoints on the Ruzizi Plain
around the villages of Bwegera, Sange, Luberizi and Kiliba, at the entrance to Uvira town
(Kalundu Port), at Makobola II (Fizi territory) and at the Rushima ravine (Uvira
territory). At these checkpoints, soldiers sorted the people they intercepted according to
their nationality, under the pretext of preparing for their return to their country of origin.
Individuals identified as Rwandan or Burundian Hutus on the basis of their accent, their
morphology or their dress were systematically separated from the other intercepted
people and killed in the surrounding area.

• On 22 October 1996, in the Rushima ravine between Bwegera and Luberizi, units
  of the AFDL/APR/FAB killed a group of nearly 550 Rwandan Hutu refugees who
  had escaped the Luberizi and Rwenena camps a few days before. Soldiers
  intercepted the victims at the checkpoints set up in the surrounding area. Between
  27 October and 1 November 1996, under the pretext of repatriating them to

Rwanda, units of the AFDL/APR/FAB led an unknown number of additional
refugees into the Rushima ravine and executed them.¹⁹³

• In the days and weeks that followed 25 October 1996, units of the
  AFDL/APR/FAB killed an unknown number of refugees at a place called
  Kahororo, in sector 7 of the Kiliba sugar mill. The victims had been apprehended
  in the surrounding villages.¹⁹⁴
• On 29 October 1996, units of the AFDL/APR/FAB killed around 220 male
  refugees near the church of the 8th CEPZA (Pentecostal Community of Zaire),
  now CEPAC (Community of Pentecostal Churches in Central Africa), in the
  village of Luberizi. The victims were part of a group of refugees who were told by
  soldiers that they had to be rounded up for their repatriation to Rwanda. The
  soldiers separated the men from the rest of the group and shot them or killed them
  with bayonets. The bodies of the victims were buried in mass graves near the
  church.¹⁹⁵
• On 3 November 1996, units of the AFDL/APR/FAB burned 72 Rwandan refugees
  alive at the COTONCO headquarters, one kilometre from the village of Bwegera.
  The victims had been captured in neighbouring villages. The AFDL/APR/FAB
  units had gathered the victims in the COTONCO house under the pretext that they
  would then be repatriated to Rwanda.¹⁹⁶
• On 13 November 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB units killed around 100 Burundian
  refugees in the village of Ngendo, seven kilometres from Sange in the Uvira
  territory.¹⁹⁷
• On 8 December 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB soldiers killed 13 male refugees in the
  village of Rukogero, nine kilometres from Sange in the Uvira territory. The
  victims belonged to a group of between 200 and 300 refugees that had fled the
  Kibogoye camp. After their arrest, the refugees were imprisoned in the church of
  the 8th CEPZA. The soldiers allowed the women and girls to leave but killed the

men and boys. The bodies of the victims were thrown in the latrines beside the
church.¹⁹⁸

• On 12 December 1996, AFDL/APR/FAB units killed fifteen civilians in the
  village of Ruzia, including refugees who had fled the Luberizi/Mutarule camp and
  Zairian civilians. The victims were captured during a military combing exercise to
  flush out refugees hiding among the Zairian population. Some of the victims were
  burned alive in a house; others were shot. The victims’ bodies were then buried in
  three mass graves.¹⁹⁹
• On 22 December 1996 at Ruzia, on the banks of the Ruzizi River,
  AFDL/APR/FAB soldiers killed at least 150 people, most of them refugees who
  had survived the attack on the Runingu camp. The victims were hiding in the
  forest when they were spotted by the soldiers. Their bodies were burned by the
  soldiers two days after the incident. Another source suggested a figure of 600
  victims.²⁰⁰

201. From 22 October 1996, in the face of the advancing AFDL/APR troops, refugees
from the Nyangezi and Nyantende camps began to flee towards Bukavu. From 26
October 1996 onwards, the soldiers launched attacks on the camps to the south and west
of Bukavu city. In most cases, the refugees had already left the camps before the soldiers
arrived, fleeing towards the Kashusha, INERA and ADI-Kivu camps (north of Bukavu)
and the Chimanga camp (west of Bukavu in the direction of Shabunda). On 26 October,
AFDL/APR soldiers set fire to the already abandoned camp of Muku, ten kilometres from
Bukavu in the Walungu territory.

• On 26 October 1996, units of the AFDL/APR killed several hundred refugees
  who were fleeing along the routes between Nyantende and Walungu-Centre and
  Nyantende and Bukavu. Most of the victims came from the Uvira territory and the
  Ruzizi Plain. They were shot, killed by blows from bayonets or hit by shrapnel.
  The soldiers set fire to most of the sites where refugees were located. Most of the
  victims were women, children and the elderly. According to the witness
  statements gathered, the soldiers killed between 200 and 600 people. The bodies
  of the victims were buried at the scene by the local people.²⁰⁴

• On 28 October 1996, units of the AFDL/APR from Nyangezi killed five refugees
  in the village of Lwakabiri, thirty kilometres west of Bukavu.²⁰⁵

202. After the capture of Bukavu on 29 October 1996, AFDL/APR troops continued
their operations against the camps located north of the city.

• On 2 November 1996, AFDL/APR units attacked the Kashusha/INERA camp in
  the Kabare territory with heavy weapons, killing hundreds of refugees.
  Outflanked, FAZ troops from the camp security contingent CZSC (Contingent
  zaïrois pour la sécurité des camps)²⁰⁶ fled, followed by some of the refugees.
  During the attack, AFDL/APR soldiers fired indiscriminately at the FAZ, the ex-
  FAR/Interahamwe and the refugees.²⁰⁷
• Around 22 November 1996, units of the AFDL/APR killed several hundred
  refugees in the Chimanga camp, seventy-one kilometres west of Bukavu. When
  they arrived at the camp, the soldiers asked the refugees to assemble for a
  meeting. The soldiers then promised them that they would slaughter a cow and
  give them meat so they could build their strength with a view to returning to
  better conditions in Rwanda. They then began to register the refugees, grouping
  them according to their prefecture of origin. At a given moment, however, a
  whistle sounded and the soldiers positioned all around the camp opened fire on
  the refugees. According to the different sources, between 500 and 800 refugees
  were killed in this way.²⁰⁸
• In January 1997, AFDL/APR units killed at least thirty Rwandan and Burundian
  refugees, mostly with knives, on the Bukavu to Walungu road, around sixteen
  kilometres from the city of Bukavu. The victims had been arrested as part of a
  combing operation. Before killing the victims, the soldiers often tortured and
  maimed them.²⁰⁹

204. Most of the refugees who were trapped at Nyabibwe tried to reach Bunyakiri and
Hombo via the Hauts Plateaux of Kalehe. One group moved into the makeshift camps at
Shanje and Numbi. Pursued by the AFDL/APR soldiers, many refugees were killed in
these makeshift camps and at Chebumba and Lumbishi in the Kalehe territory.

• On 21 November 1996, units of the AFDL/APR killed several hundred refugees
  and injured hundreds more in their makeshift camp at Shanje and in and around
  the Rukiga bamboo forest in the Kalehe territory. Some of the victims were shot,
  or killed by shrapnel or rockets. Others, including many elderly people, the sick
  and children, were killed along the roadside. This second group of victims were
  the survivors of the attack on the camp. The soldiers, who had asked them to
  assemble and march as a column towards Rwanda, opened fire on them along the
  way.²¹¹
• On 22 November 1996, AFDL/APR units killed an unknown number of refugee
  survivors from the Shanje camp at Lumbishi.²¹²

205. Most of the Shanje survivors fled via the Rukiga bamboo forest. At the village of
Hombo, they joined the survivors of the Kashusha/INERA camp, who were trying to
reach North Kivu by travelling through the Kahuzi-Biega National Park.

• Around 2 November and 4 November 1996, in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park,
  AFDL/APR units killed an unknown number of refugees.