(, ) was the operational name given to the

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

of the Bambuti pygmies by rebel forces in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

(DRC).

Background

In 2002, Mambasa was a town of about "20,000 to 25,000 inhabitants." A Congolese town near the borders of Uganda and South Sudan, it lies in the eastern part of

Ituri Ituri Province ( in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the Subdivisions of the DR Congo#New provinces, 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces ...

, which

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

described in 2003 as "the bloodiest corner" of the DRC. The extermination was carried out by soldiers from the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), who became known to locals as ("the erasers"), and troops from the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD-N).

Massacre

The primary objective of was the territorial conquest of the

North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...

province of the DRC and

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

of Pygmies from the Congo's eastern region whose population numbered 90,000 by 2002. The Bambuti were targeted specifically as the rebels considered them " subhuman", and it was believed by the rebels that the flesh of the Bambuti held " magical powers". Senior officers justified these beliefs with Bible passages (such as ). There were also reports of

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...

being widespread. It is estimated 60,000 to 70,000 Pygmy were killed in the campaign, and over 100,000 more were displaced. Investigations found that beyond the , attacks on and the killing of the Bambuti became common among all forces during the Second Congo War.

Aftermath

In March 2016, the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

found Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of human rights violations in the Central African Republic. Bemba was the vice president of the DRC, and leader of the MLC during the year-long extermination campaign, but was fully acquitted by the ICC's appeal court in June 2018.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Human Rights Watch report on the genocide
African Pygmies Discrimination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Genocide of indigenous peoples in Africa Massacres in 2002 Massacres in 2003 Massacres of ethnic groups Racially motivated violence Second Congo War 2000s massacres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2002 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2002 murders in Africa 2003 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2003 murders in Africa {{DRCongo-stub