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''Effacer le tableau'' (, literally "erase the board" or "clean the slate") was the operational name given to the systematic extermination of the Bambuti pygmies by rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).


History

The extermination was carried out by soldiers from the
Movement for the Liberation of Congo The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (french: Mouvement de Libération du Congo, or MLC) is a political party in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formerly a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo that fought the govern ...
(MLC), who became known to locals as ''les effaceurs'' ("the erasers"), and troops from the
Rally for Congolese Democracy The Congolese Rally for Democracy (french: Rassemblement Congolais pour la DĂ©mocratie; abbreviated RCD), also known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy, is a political party and a former rebel group that operated in the eastern region of the ...
(RCD-N). The primary objective of ''Effacer le tableau'' was the territorial conquest of the
North Kivu North Kivu (french: link=no, Nord-Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Goma. North Kivu borders the provinces of Ituri to the north, Tshopo to the northwest, Maniema to the ...
province of the DRC and
ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
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 ''SubHuman'' is the sixth studio album by Recoil. Alan Wilder stated in a YouTube greeting that there would be a new album coming in spring or early summer 2007. On 23 April 2007, he released information regarding the album via Myspace and hi ...
", and it was believed by the rebels that the flesh of the Bambuti held " magical powers". 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 well documented, bo ...
being widespread. It is estimated 60,000 to 70,000 Pygmy were killed in the campaign. In March 2016, the International Criminal Court 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.


See also

* Outline of Genocide studies *
Bibliography of Genocide studies This is a select annotated bibliography of scholarly English language books (including translations) and journal articles about the subject of Genocide studies; for bibliographies of genocidal acts or events, please see the See also section for i ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links


Human Rights Watch report on the genocide
African Pygmies Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Genocide of indigenous peoples Genocides in Africa Second Congo War 2002 murders in Africa 2003 murders in Africa 2002 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2003 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo {{DRCongo-stub