The 2006 election in the Democratic Republic of Congo was supposed to usher in a new period of peace and stability for the beleaguered, exhausted Congolese people. Instead, it made one of the country's most intractable problems worse.
DRC: New Violence
Published February 17, 2009
Michael Kavanagh, for the Pulitzer Center
Michael traveled to the DRC on a grant from the Pulitzer Center
The news is slowly coming in from all corners of North Kivu: Over the weekend, the FDLR stopped two buses, killed the drivers, and according to one passenger, told the people on the bus, "The RDF [Rwandan Defense Force] has come, and we're going to die. But you're going to die, too."
This weekend, in Pinga - the same town I was in only days before - the FDLR killed a village mayor for collaborating with the Rwandan Troops; the doctor whose home I stayed in said he's had 26 cases of rape.
Late last week in Minova, South Kivu, I met with crowds of the displaced (see picture) who'd fled FDLR attacks on their villages. They said the soldiers are targeting anyone they think helped the RDF.
Contributor Michael J. Kavanagh reported for Worldfocus last year on the crisis in eastern Congo. He's currently based in the DR Congo's capital, Kinshasa.
Journalist Michael J. Kavanagh reported on the Crisis in Congo for Worldfocus last year.
Gateways
Grantee
Michael J. Kavanagh is a journalist based in Kinshasa and New York who reports on conflict and post-conflict development issues around the world, with a special focus on Africa. His radio and...
