The Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma (, known as RCD-Goma) was a faction of the
Congolese Rally for Democracy, a rebel movement based in
Goma
Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the North Kivu, North Kivu Province; it is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with the Bukumu Chiefdo ...
,
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
(DRC) during the
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...
(1998–2003). After the war, some members of the group continued sporadic fighting in
North Kivu
North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...
as the Congolese National Army (ANC). The movement also entered mainstream politics, participating in democratic elections with little success.
Civil war
The RCD, operating in the east of the DRC, was a major factor in launching the
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...
(1998–2003), a rebellion against the government of
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila (; 27 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) usually known as Laurent Kabila or Kabila the Father (American English, US: ), was a Congolese rebel and politician who served as the third president of the Democratic Republic of t ...
. At first the RCD was led by Professor
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba.
A split developed in the RCD between November 1998 and May 1999 as it became clear that some Rwanda-backed members based in Goma simply wanted to remove Kabila, rather than to introduce democracy. Several attempts were made on Wamba dia Wamba's life, and in May 1999 he was ousted from the leadership.
Wamba dia Wamba established a new group based on the town of
Kisangani
Kisangani (), formerly Stanleyville (), is the capital of Tshopo, Tshopo Province, located on the Congo River in the eastern part of the central Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the country's fifth-most populous urban a ...
, supported by Uganda, that became known as the
RCD-Kisangani (RCD-K) or later the RCD-Liberation Movement (RCD-LM). Dr.
Emile Ilunga was named leader of the mainstream Rwanda-backed faction known as the RCD-Goma from its base in the town of Goma.
[
By June 2000, the RCD-Goma had taken control of Kisangani, supported by Ugandan and Rwandan troops.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1399 was adopted unanimously on 19 March 2002. The Council condemned the capture of the town of Moliro by the RCD-Goma, describing it as a major violation of the ceasefire.
Stressing that no party would be allowed to make military gains during the peace process, the UN demanded that the RCD immediately withdraw from Moliro and Pweto and for all other parties to withdraw to defensive positions called for in the Harare disengagement sub-plans.]
Recalling that Kisangani
Kisangani (), formerly Stanleyville (), is the capital of Tshopo, Tshopo Province, located on the Congo River in the eastern part of the central Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the country's fifth-most populous urban a ...
also had to be demilitarised, the resolution reminded all parties to comply with the Ceasefire Agreement and called on Rwanda
Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...
to use its influence to ensure that the RDC implemented the current resolution.
The RCD said it welcomed the resolution and pledged to hand over the towns to MONUC control.
In May 2002, the RCD-Goma was harassing civilians and conducting extrajudicial executions in Kisangani.
The RCD-Goma attempted to ban the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
and to expel several members of the United Nations peacekeeping force ( MONUC) from areas under its control, drawing another condemnation from the UN Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
.
On 21 June 2002, child soldiers of the pro-government Mai Mai
The term Mai-Mai or Mayi-Mayi refers to any kind of community-based militia group active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that is formed to defend local communities and territory against other armed groups. Most were formed to resis ...
militia entered Pweto, and RDC officials hastily left.
Later that month the Rwandan-backed RDC-Goma forces again took control of Pweto, threatening the peace agreement under which Pweto was declared a demilitarized zone.
Towards the end of the war, the RCD-Goma was thought to have between 20,000 and 30,000 troops. The RCD-Goma did not provide any security to civilians within the territory they controlled. Their troops, mainly of Banyamulenge ethnic group (Tutsi
The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...
s originally from Rwanda), committed abuses against non-combatants. RCD-Goma officials demanded that their home constituents produce a certain number of recruits, and reportedly recruited children by force.
Post-war ongoing conflict
The civil war officially ended with a power-sharing agreement between the government and rebel movements.
RCD-Goma Chairman Adolphe Onusumba Yemba signed a peace pact in Sun City, South Africa, on 2 April 2003.[
Later that month the RCD/Goma launched a military offensive against the RCD-K/ML positions, occupying more than two thirds of the Lubero Territory.
The advance was halted after signature of an agreement in ]Bujumbura
Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In la ...
on 19 June 2003.[
Following the cease-fire, the RCD-Goma continued to undertake offensives, drawing international condemnation for violating the cease-fire and threatening the political process.
Under the terms of the ceasefire the RCD/Goma had to withdraw to their former territory.
However Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC) troops, the armed forces of the RCD-Goma, continued to occupy the city of Kanyabayonga along with local mostly Hutu militias created and directed by the North Kivu Governor Eugene Serufuli.][
In September 2003, the spokesman of the newly formed Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Vital Kamerhe, accused members of the RCD-Goma of fomenting a new rebellion. He based this on a copy of internal RCD-Goma correspondence that had been leaked to the media. The correspondence said President ]Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination o ...
was continuing to support the Interahamwe, a group of Rwandan Hutu militias who fled to Congo after having played a major role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...
.
On 10 and 11 October 2004, hundreds of mostly young students from primary and secondary schools took to the streets of the city of Kanyabayonga to protest against the increase in crimes against civilians by RCD-Goma forces.
ANC troops violently broke up the demonstration and instituted a reign of terror.[
Laurent Nkunda was an officer in the RCD-Goma. In 2003, with the official end of that war, Nkunda joined the new integrated national army of the transitional government as a colonel and was promoted to general in 2004. He soon rejected the authority of the government and retreated with some of the RCD-Goma troops to the Masisi forests in Nord Kivu.
This was the start of the long-running Kivu conflict.]
A warrant for Nkunda's arrest on charges of war crimes was issued in September 2005.
In January 2006, his forces attacked and occupied several towns in Rutshuru Territory in North Kivu
North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...
province including Tongo, Bunagana and Rutshuru. The troops looted the towns and raped or killed civilians who were unable to escape.
In February 2006, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
accused the government of doing nothing to capture Nkunda despite knowing of his location.
Democratic process
Under the power-sharing accord that ended the civil war, Kabila remained president, with four vice-presidents.
One vice-president came from Kabila's political movement, one from the unarmed political opposition, one from the rebel Movement for the Liberation of the Congo, backed by Uganda and controlling much of the north of the country, and one from the RCD-Goma. Azarias Ruberwa Manywa, secretary-general of the RCD-Goma, was named his movement's candidate for vice-president in a two-year national transition government.
The RCD-Goma held 94 out of 500 seats in the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
.
Ruberwa ran for President in the July 2006 general elections, coming sixth with only 1.7% of the vote. The RCD won 15 seats in the new 500-seat Assembly.
In the 19 January 2007 Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
, the party won seven out of 108 seats.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma
Factions of the Second Congo War
Rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
History of Goma
1998 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo