Write a 5 page essay on Unreported conflict : The North Kivu.Download file to see previous pages... This further compounded the delicate situation of security in the entire Kivu region. One of the mos

Write a 5 page essay on Unreported conflict : The North Kivu.

This further compounded the delicate situation of security in the entire Kivu region. One of the most critical fights occurred in July 2010 when fighting between FARDC and ADF-NALU contributed significantly to the refugee and IDP situation inherent in North Kivu. Armed groups located in North Kivu continue to engage in many, serious abuses with abject impunity. Some of these abuses even constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. These acts include unlawful killings, mass rape, torture and disappearances. Moreover, these armed groups are known to recruit, train and retain child soldiers and engage forced labour.

However, despite the prevalence of incidences and heinous acts, little information is provided by the media. The stories continue to be unreported or underreported by the media. This paper will examine the conflict in the North Kivu of Congo that has been unreported by the media for many years. The paper will focus intently on the chief reasons of the conflict and the reasons the media keep silent regarding the situation of even misinform the public about the conflict.

The ensuing violence experienced in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is bewildering, particularly with regard to its complexity as a result of the multitude of grievances, which elicit conflict outbreaks such as local, cross-border, financial and political conflicts and the profusion of armed factions. The North Kivu province continues to be the epicentre of war in the Congo, which has realised numerous armed groups, with nearly 20 groups emerging over the last 15 years. It was in North Kivu that the precursors to most of the Congo wars started with ethnic-based violence in the year 1993 (Biebuyck 1996, p. 81). Additionally, it was in North Kivu that the strongest challenges to the country’s stability are still around to date. The Congolese government continues to encounter substantive challenges in North Kivu, particularly in the southern part of the province. These territories include Rutshuru, Walikale and Masisi. Although most of the armed groups that sprouted in North Kivu have various characteristics in common, there is currently no comprehensive theory, which can explain these groups explicitly. All armed groups in North Kivu draw on three significant foundations of instability: regional, national and local. The Congolese state is decaying and biased towards private interests. This means that the country neither has a viable rule of law to ascertain property rights nor the might of the law to deter the progression of armed rivals (Severine 2009, p. 49). This inherent weakness affirms the conception that the only way to defend individual freedoms, as well as property, is via armed force. As a consequence, the violence in North Kivu has aggravated the tension between local communities, especially creating a rift between indigenous groups whose presence is most prevalent and the Tutsi and Hutu populations who are immigrants. These immigrants arrived in the course of the colonial and post-colonial years. Most of the conflict witnessed today in North Kivu draws directly on this rift, which has been widened by decades of murders on both fronts. Moreover, local political and economic elites, particularly in Goma and Kigali have established stakes in the armed groups, which they consider as critical to the maintenance of their interests.