The
Population, Taken Hostage by Fighting
Last December, hundreds of thousands of people fled the fighting and violence
by armed groups in the Congo Republics capital. The total population of the
country is 2.8 million people. More than 10% of the population has been forced to leave
their homes and the capital. While 70,000 people found refuge in the relatively safe
northern part of the city, most of the displaced went to the Pool, a tropical forest zone
south of Brazzaville. For several months, these refugees have lived without any resources,
prisoners of the militias, with aid organizations unable to provide them assistance.
The displaced people who made it back to Brazzaville say that they were not
able to leave the Pool region because of violence, and the control the Ninjas
have of the zone. Repeatedly forced to flee, they first lived in villages, where locals
helped them. With the continuing fighting, they dispersed to seek refuge in the forest.
They all tell of extremely difficult survival conditions (absence of food, hygiene,
medical assistance) and speak of "epidemics of swollen feet" (a symptom of
kwashiorkor, a very serious form of malnutrition), and of numerous deaths among children
and elderly people.
According to testimonies collected by Doctors Without Borders,
villages were deliberately targeted by one or the other party to the conflict, and
sometimes even bombarded by helicopter. Some displaced confirm that they were strictly
controlled by the Ninjas, who increased their pressure as the government troops got
closer. Some say they were used as human shields.
> Massive Volations of Human
Rights
About 200,000 people have returned from the Pool to Brazzaville since last May.
During the last several weeks, 1,000 to 2,000 people have been arriving in the capital
every day.
The flow of the displaced returning to Brazzaville started at the beginning of
May, after the government army conquered cities south of Brazzaville and
officially reopened the southern parts of the city. The size of the movements back to the
capital have been proportional to the violence in the Pool region, and to the progress of
government troops in the south toward the main strongholds of the opposition.
New arrivals in Brazzaville tell of abuses and acts of violence
perpetrated by both the Forces Armées Congolaises (FAC) or the Cobra militias, and the
rebel Ninja militias. Government troops and militias supervise the convoys of internally
displaced people (IDPs), and control the military roadblocks on the road going from
Kinkala to Brazzaville. The IDPs call this road the Corridor of Death: young
mensuspected of being Ninjasare arbitrarily executed, and acts of violence and
robberies are regularly reported. This violence continues today.
Scores of rapes of women and very young girls have been reported.
Since April 30, more than 500 cases have been reported at the Makelekele hospital and at
the Sports Center (now transformed into a transit center) where the Doctors Without
Borders teams receive the displaced. This figure is thought to be very low compared to the
true incidence of rape. It only includes the women who acknowledge having been raped on
the road to Brazzaville by Cobra militiamen and government troops. It does not include the
cases of sexual violence during their stay in the Pool region, or the cases not declared.
> An Exceptional Medical and
Nutritional Emergency
Humanitarian organizations are facing an exceptional medical and nutritional
emergency in Brazzaville: since May 1999, out of 200,000 people who returned from
the Pool, 14,700 suffering from serious malnutrition have been taken into nutritional
centers set up by humanitarian organizations. Among those treated were more than 3,300
children under age 5. A further 31,000 are suffering from moderate malnutrition.
Among the children under 5 coming back from the Pool, more than 20% are
suffering from severe malnutrition, and 40% from moderate malnutrition. Many
adults are also suffering from malnutrition. Various types of serious anemia have been
registered, as well as respiratory infections, malaria, and septic dermatosis.
One-hundred percent of the malnourished children being treated in Doctors
Without Borders feeding centers are internally displaced persons (IDPs) coming back from
the Pool. With each new wave of IDPs returning, the feeding centers run by
Doctors Without Borders teams are seeing an increase in the number of malnourished
children.
In order to properly to take care of the returning displaced persons, Doctors
Without Borders has progressively implemented four feeding centers of which the
latest was opened in October. That so many adults and teenagers are also malnourished is a
sign of the seriousness of the situation.
Because of their poor health and the acts of violence against them, many people
are still dying during their trip back to Brazzaville, or soon after they arrive.
In the southern part of the country, where fighting continues, as well as in the regions
of Niara, Lekoumou, and Bouenza, civilians are still dying without humanitarian
organizations being able to assist them.
> A Forgotten Conflict
The testimonies collected by Doctors Without Borders volunteers during their medical
and nutritional work tell of massive human rights violations and acts of violence
by the various armed forces, in the Pool region or on the way back to Brazzaville.
However, the crisis in Brazzaville still has not received media coverage or
attention from the international community. Furthermore, there is little hope
today of a rapid and negotiated solution to the conflict, and both sides reject
responsibility for acts of violence committed.
Since last July, the capital and its periphery have been relatively calm. However,
despite this apparent appeasement, and an effort from the government to regain control and
limit the violence committed by the militias, the Pool region is still not
accessible to humanitarian organizations without military protection.
Several hundred thousand civilians are still caught up in the fighting. Based on the
stories told by the displaced who managed to reach Brazzaville, the worst is feared: they
are without food or health care and are victims of violence.
As for the resident population (estimated at 240,000), little information is
available as to their fate, but they might very well be going through the same situation. Over
the past few weeks, Doctors Without Borders teams have witnessed a new phenomenon: of the
refugees who have come to Brazzaville, 30% were originally residents of the Pool region
itself. This means that residents are also suffering from the conflict, and are forced to
seek help in the capital.
As the security situation outside Brazzaville and in most parts of the country is
extremely hazardous, Doctors Without Borders does not have access to the Pool region.
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