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| Effacer le tableau | |
|---|---|
| Part of theSecond Congo War andViolence against pygmies and theIturi conflict | |
_-_Ituri.svg) Map ofIturi Province within theDRC. | |
| Location | Mambasa and theIturi rainforest,Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Date | October 2002 to January 2003 |
Attack type | Genocidal massacre,Ethnic cleansing,cannibalism,war rape[1] |
| Deaths | 60,000[1][2] to 70,000[2] (40% of the Eastern Congo's Pygmy population killed)[N 1] |
| Victims | Bambuti pygmies |
| Perpetrators | Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (Jean-Pierre Bemba) Rally for Congolese Democracy |
| Motive | Territorial conquest of theNorth Kivu province of the DRC |
Effacer le tableau (French pronunciation:[efɑselətablo],lit. 'erase the board' or'clean the slate') was a military operation carried out during theSecond Congo War by theMovement for the Liberation of the Congo andRally for Congolese Democracy-National between October 2002 and January 2003 against the government-aligned Rally for Congolese Democracy-Movement for Liberation. The goal of the operation was to capture the town ofMambasa,Ituri District, along with the areas to the south and southeast, ultimately aiming to seize the city ofBeni inNorth Kivu.
Using terror as a weapon of war, the operation included serious human rights violations, including arbitrary executions, rape, torture, and forced disappearances. While the campaign affected the civilian population as a whole, it specifically targeted theBambuti pygmies for mass killing and the severe deprivation of other fundamental rights, which may "support a possible prosecution for genocide", according to theMinority Rights Group International. Summary executions also targeted members of theNande people.[3]
In 2002,Mambasa was a town of about "20,000 to 25,000 inhabitants."[4] A Congolese town near the borders of Uganda and South Sudan, it lies in the eastern part ofIturi, whichHuman Rights Watch described in 2003 as "the bloodiest corner" of the DRC.[5]
The extermination was carried out by soldiers from theMovement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), who became known to locals asles effaceurs ("the erasers") and led by PresidentJean-Pierre Bamba,[6][7] and troops from theRally for Congolese Democracy (RCD-N), led byRoger Lumbala.[8][9][7][6]
The primary objective ofEffacer le tableau was the territorial conquest of theNorth Kivu province of the DRC andethnic cleansing of Pygmies from the Congo's eastern region whose population numbered 90,000 by 2002.[1] The Bambuti were targeted specifically as the rebels considered them "subhuman", and it was believed by the rebels that theflesh of the Bambuti held "magical powers". Senior officers justified these beliefs with Bible passages (such asDeuteronomy 20:13–20:17).[10]
There were three separate military operations in Mambasa:
Commanders Ngalimu and Masamba both reported to GeneralConstant Ndima Kongba, according to the UN-mandated mission.[12] The latter officer is nicknamed "Effacer le tableau"[13][14] and was part of a group bearing the same name.[12] However, the MLC claimed in 2021 that Constant Ndima did not take part in these operations.[13]
There were reports ofcannibalism being widespread.[9][15] It is estimated 60,000 to 70,000 Pygmy were killed in the campaign,[2] and over 100,000 more were displaced.[16] Investigations found that beyond theeffaceurs, attacks on and the killing of the Bambuti became common among all forces during the Second Congo War.[9]
In March 2016, theInternational Criminal Court foundJean-Pierre Bemba guilty ofwar crimes andcrimes against humanity in the Central African Republic. Bemba was the vice president of the DRC, and leader of the MLC during the year-long extermination campaign.[17] He was fully acquitted by the ICC's appeal court in June 2018.[18]
Between October 2002 and January 2003, two the rebel groups, the MLC and RCD-N in the East of the Congo launched a premeditated, systematic genocide against the local tribes and Pygmies nicknamed operation "Effacer le Tableau" ("erase the board"). During their offensive against the civilian population of the Ituri region, the rebel groups left more than 60,000 dead and over 100,000 displaced. The rebels even engaged in slavery and cannibalism. Human Rights Reports state that this was due to the fact that rebel groups, often far away from their bases of supply and desperate for food, enslaved the Pygmies on captured farms to grow provisions for their militias or when times get really tough simply slaughter them like animals and devour their flesh which some believe gives them magical powers. 11. Fatality Level of Dispute (military and civilian fatalities): 70,000 estimated.