Kinshasa: Here Come the Gun-Toting Kidogo, Watch Out!

My trip to Brazzaville and Kinshasa in October 1997 coincided not only with the turmoil in the Republic of Congo, but also instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Zaire. While I was there, US special envoy (and current Democratic Presidential candidate) Bill Richardson was expected in Kinshasa to press Congolese authorities into allowing UN human rights investigators to probe alleged massacres in the east of the country by troops of the rebel alliance that toppled former President Mobutu Sese Seko. Local human rights activists welcomed Mr. Richardson's scheduled visit. But they said there were other aspects of the troops' day-to-day behavior that also deserved attention.

Residents of Kinshasa call them the "kidogo" -- a Swahili word meaning the "little ones." Many of them are child soldiers, most from the eastern portion of the country formerly known as Zaire. They were the backbone of the rebel army that pushed Mobutu Sese Seko into exile and swept Laurent Kabila into power.

Now they patrol the streets of Kinshasa and guard such strategic locations as government ministries and diplomatic missions, as well as hotels and other major businesses.

Some people contend they have made the city a safer place than ever before. One man says, "you can walk about with money and goods -- even late at night -- and you don't worry about getting robbed -- not like before under Mobutu."

But Pascal Kambale Kalume, vice president of the Kinshasa-based human rights group "Azadho," paints a different picture of the soldiers' activities.

“Killing, stealing money from civilians, (breaking) in houses at night -- all of these now they do.”

Mr. Kalume contends the new national army's behavior is not much better than that of Mr. Mobutu's poorly disciplined troops.

“We have experienced under the Mobutu regime that the "ex-FAZ," the former national army, were responsible for maybe 60 or 70 percent of gross human rights violations in the country. We hoped with the new army, the so-called liberation army, would put an end to this kind of bad behavior. But according to reports we are receiving right now, the reality is far from what we hoped.”

Those who run afoul of the "kidogo" have found their reaction is likely to be swift, unforgiving and, possibly, quite brutal.

One foreign aid worker says he was taking what he characterizes as tourist-style photos in the streets of Kinshasa one day when the little ones objected. They seized his camera, bashing him in the head with it as they wrenched it from around his neck. The aid worker was detained and questioned for several hours before he was finally released -- minus his camera.

Another man, a Congolese language teacher, tells of being stopped in his car by soldiers who jammed the muzzles of their gun in his face and demanded he turn the vehicle over to them. He says he persuaded the "kidogo" to simply let him take them where they wanted to go.

But he and other residents of Kinshasa contend there have been cases where people have been intimidated into giving up their vehicles. They never get them back.

One man says, "sometimes it seems as if they are still fighting the war." He complains the "kidogo" are uneducated, unsophisticated and out of place in Kinshasa.

Because most of them only speak Swahili, the mainly French or "Lingala" speaking residents of the capital say most people can't even talk to them -- never mind reason with them.

Authorities in the Kabila government say cases of undisciplined behavior by soldiers are taken seriously and the offenders are punished. But many Congolese say they are not sure whether the soldiers really suffer any consequences.

Another man says, "there is a big gap between what the new government says and what it actually does."

Other than human rights activist Kalume, no one interviewed for this report would allow themselves to be identified by name for fear of possible repercussions.

Mr. Kalume and others say freedom of expression appears to be a problem under the country's new leadership. They contend there are cases of people being barred from speaking with journalists and of journalists being prevented from reporting on certain subjects. They note the editor of one publication that has been critical of the Kabila government was arrested two months ago and still remains in prison.