Kidote, also known as Kidoti, is a small village situated in the middle plateaux of

Lemera Lemera is one of the ''groupements'' ( groupings) within the Bafuliiru Chiefdom, located in the Uvira Territory of the South Kivu Province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is situated in the northwestern par ...

, within the

Bafuliiru Chiefdom The Bafuliiru Chiefdom (French language, French: ''Chefferie de Bafuliiru''), formerly known as ''Chefferie des Bafulero,'' is a Chiefdoms and sectors of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, traditional administrative unit located in the Democrat ...

of the

Uvira Territory Uvira Territory is a territory in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, th ...

in the

South Kivu Province South Kivu (''Jimbo la Kivu Kusini'' in Swahili language, Swahili), (french: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital city, capital is Bukavu. History South Kivu Province was created from Sud-Kivu ...

in the eastern region of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC). It also serves as a camp for

Internally Displaced People An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...

(IDPs) from various regions of Bwegera, as well as many nearby villages encompassing the vicinity of Lemera.

History

Kidote was traditionally inhabited by the Fuliiru people, as well as a small

Vira Vira may refer to: Places *Vira, Ariège, a commune in the Ariège department, France *Vira (Gambarogno), a municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland *Vira, Kutch, a village in Kutch district of Gujarat, India *Vira, Pyrénées-Orientales ...

population that share strong cultural connections with the Bafuliiru community. During the onset of the

First Congo War The First Congo War, group=lower-alpha (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa's First World War, was a civil war and international military conflict which took place mostly in Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), with major spillo ...

, Kidote served as a

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

for the

Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFLC; french: Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre; AFDL) was a coalition of Rwandan, Ugandan, Burundian, and Congolese dissidents, disgruntl ...

(''Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo;'' AFDL). On 6 October 1996, Kidote was attacked by the AFDL, which resulted in more than 50 fatalities. The victims were mainly

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatan ...

s. Some met their demise due to shrapnel injuries, while others were brutally executed after being coerced into digging

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of executi ...

s, wherein their bodies were callously discarded.

Security problems

For decades, the region remained plagued by persistent insecurity.

Armed conflict War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regu ...

, clashes between various armed groups, and inter-communal violence have all contributed to uprooting communities from their homes. Armed groups operating in the region, such as rebel factions or

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non- professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

s, carry out attacks, looting and intimidation aimed at both civilians and rival factions. In the early months of 2022, the resurgence of the

March 23 Movement The March 23 Movement (french: Mouvement du 23 mars), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (''Armée révolutionnaire du Congo''), is a rebel military group that is for the most part formed of ethnic Tutsi. ...

, sparked tensions in Lemera. Consequently, a large number of civilians took refuge in Kidote, fleeing other conflict-affected areas. The Espace Amis d'Enfance (EAE), a local

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

, received nearly one hundred displaced children in search of help and shelter.

References

{{Reflist Uvira Kivu conflict South Kivu Congo Crisis

History

Security problems

See also

References