Twenty-year-old Lucia* became a mother at 14. She survived torture and displacement when she left her home in 2019 – following repetitive attacks by armed groups.
Now, Lucia is among some of the displaced families who have returned to the village of Mangoko, near Beni town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, despite continuing insecurity. She said carrying out daily activities such as fetching firewood and subsistence farming has meant greater risk of attack, especially sexual assault. But not going out isn’t an option.
“If we do not get firewood, we will not eat – and anything could happen in those farms when fetching wood,” she said. “When [sexual assault] happens, how do you tell your husband? You just remain silent,” Lucia said.
Lucia’s story plays out across Beni town and the surrounding area in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Years of fighting have displaced half of the more than 500,000 residents who once lived there. Yet now many, are returning to small villages like Mangoko, reclaiming properties and land and seeing hope take root.
The UN Human Rights Office in DRC has been part of this hope building exercise. The Office is part of the peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo **(**MONUSCO**). It advocates for human rights respect for all.
The situation in Beni needs to be seen not just in terms of civil and political rights, but much more holistically including gender integration, said Patrice Vahard, Senior Human Rights Officer.
“Through our work in the DRC human rights has become a bridge between and within communities. We strive to affirm the value addition of human rights to sustainable Peace and development efforts at grassroots and communal level,” he said. “Our cooperation with the military justice have advanced against impunity for violations of rights by security forces. Our outreach have given greater space to women to report rape and other forms of sexual violence.”
Going home again
In November 2019, a series of violent attacks against civilians in Beni city and Beni territory in North Kivu province triggered mass internal exodus and displacement across the territory.
Yet despite these insecurities, the families have returned to their homes, hopeful that others will join them to help rebuild.
“You can see the city is empty. We want people to come back and live in these homes,” said Cyprien Kasekera, a local elder. He said he is hopeful that the deserted homes will soon be occupied by their previous owners who left almost six years ago. People have been returning slowly over the past three to four years.
During the recent visit to the village, Vahard called it a “ghost village at a crossroads.”
“A village that was certainly quite dynamic, quite active, where the agricultural production of these brave people, who are involved in cocoa production, brought prosperity, wealth, and happiness to these people who, because of insecurity, have had to flee,” Vahard said.
Yet, these returnees have remained faithful to their land, braving the insecurity to plant cassava, guarding their homes, waiting for stability to renovate them with sheet metal.
During a visit to Beni city, UN Human Rights staff met with a 90-year-old woman who did not flee the village but stayed despite her own children running for their lives. Returnees have called her a beacon of hope and an inspiration, as she was still there through the fighting and insecurity, a reminder of past peaceful times.
However, things are still not peaceful, said Vahard. He explained how repeated attacks on returnee women who are undertaking basic tasks, has created a culture of silence, where very little is reported.
“In relation to the sexual violence of which they are often the victims – they are imposed on silence and trauma,” he said.
“You can see the city is empty. We want people to come back and live in these homes.“ Cyprien Kasekera, village elder
Imelda Kavila, a local women’s leader in Beni, told of the suffering that women continue to face due to insecurity. She said some of the women who have been sexually attacked have been infected with HIV/AIDS.
“Sometimes, you run to the neighbours garden to get food, but you could be attacked and violated,” Kavila said.
To create the right conditions for a return to normalcy, the young, displaced people reiterated the call for the restoration of peace and investment in education.
“For us, it's a feeling of satisfaction that we're going to present to the world that we've suffered enough atrocities, unjust wars that have led to the displacement of our populations,” said one male youth leader.
Vahard added: “And we know that this will contribute to finding a solution to the suffering of human lives, so that even the perpetrators who have always caused this suffering can one day find each other.”
The UN Human Rights Office is engaged in advocacy and policy development on transitional justice – aimed at ensuring accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation.
*Single name used to conceal her identity.
** MONUSCO: French acronym Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo