A new wave of violence causes death and trauma for people living in North Kivu Province, eastern Congo

A violent attack by men armed with hammers, and the burning of a village of internally displaced people are two in a series of violent events suffered by people living in the Kivu Provinces of eastern Congo recently. The number of gunshot and rape victims being treated by medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières in its hospital in Mweso, North Kivu, has also risen in August, leading to heightened concern about the levels of violence suffered by people living in the conflict affected area.

On Thursday 26th August, Médecins Sans Frontières was alerted to a brutal attack in a small village 20 kilometres from Mweso.

“At 22:30, 25th August, 8 men entered the village armed with hammers and attacked more than twenty people”, explains Médecins Sans Frontières Medical coordinator Martins Dada, “As soon as we heard the next morning, we immediately drove to the village to provide emergency medical care. Once there, the seriousness of the situation became clear. We quickly took care of the wounded, putting in intra venous (IVs). One of the victims died on the scene. Another person had passed away before we arrived”.

15 people were admitted to the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Mweso, 7 of who were in a coma having suffered severe skull fractures and 8 others who were severely wounded. The first patient died on Friday evening: a 15 year old boy. Since then, another patient passed away, while the rest remain in a serious condition, including a pregnant woman. All patients are extremely traumatised.

“We were stitching head injuries all day”, continues Martins Dada, “Everyone is in shock. The villagers are too shattered to speak. One man is totally confused and is constantly terrified, he calls and cries and kicks and beats until we calm him down and he returns to his coma. Then he wakes and relives the entire story again”.

Just days before, Médecins Sans Frontières tended to patients wounded during the burning and looting of a camp for internally displaced persons. “170 shacks burned to the ground, and another 80 homes were looted”, tells Médecins Sans Frontières Mental Health worker Joelle Depeyrot.

Médecins Sans Frontières does not know who the perpetrators of these horrific attacks are, but is shocked by the brutality of the incidents and the ongoing level of violence suffered by the people caught up in the conflict in eastern Congo. Since May 2010, the number of rape victims being treated at Médecins Sans Frontières’ hospital in Mweso has gone up nearly two fold, with more than 40 patients being provided with treatment in August. Likewise, the average case load of victims of physical violence has doubled in August, to more than 20 cases, compared to previous months.   

“Since these incidents, other patients have come to us in a state of agitation and fear”, continues Joelle Depeyrot, “they were not there. But they have lived through other horrific events. And they have heard the stories. They report being scared, scared all the time. They spend their time wondering when they will be tortured and killed”.

Médecins Sans Frontières continues to provide much needed emergency healthcare to people in the places most affected by the conflict in eastern Congo, including emergency assistance, healthcare, treating victims of sexual violence, providing psychosocial care, running vaccination campaigns, and responding to disease outbreaks.