Situation Report: Tension in Ituri - An Update on the DRC, Henri Boshoff

Between 16 March and 3 April 2003, one thousand people, mostly belonging to the Hema ethnic group, were brutally murdered in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic ofCongo (DRC). The massacre of hundreds of Hema at Drodro town and 14 surrounding villages on 3 April 2003 sent shockwaves across the world. The international community, in particular those countries and organisations actively involved in peacemaking and peacekeeping in the DRC, was left wondering whether this would irrevocably derail the Inter-Congolese peace process that was beginning to show some positive results after months of painstaking effort. Perhaps more significantly, the massacres in Ituri resurrected the spectre of war between Rwanda and Uganda in this region of the DRC.