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"Faces in the Forest" The Ituri Region/Dem Rep of Congo
The Ituri area is part of a vast and globally important ecosystem which lies just to the west of the Great Lakes Region and the countries of Uganda and Tanzania. It is home to many rare animals and plants, as well as numerous human cultures which remain ethnological mysteries. Some, in fact, do not even have "names!" Artistically, Ituri peoples are interrelated to such an extent that styles, shapes, and coloration tend to coalesce. Sadly, the civil unrest in the Congo will limit research and scientific inquiry, perhaps for years to come. The unifying factor in Ituri art is a naive beauty and charm, irresistible, even heartbreaking.
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The Ituri district of the DRC,
roughly defined, is in the
fertile highlands of the Western
Rift valley. The famed Ituri
Rainforest is to the west, with
Uganda to the east. Ituri covers
an area of about 20,000 square
miles, about twice the size of the
state of Maryland. The population
of Ituri, which understandably is
virtually impossible to calculate,
is estimated at between one and two
million.
"I'm fed up to the ears with the old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in," George McGovern, 1922-
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Ituri has an abundance of
natural resources. Proceeds
from the sale and export of
products such as timber,
gold, diamonds, endangered
animals, and the mineral
coltan finance arms for the
insurgents as well as luxury
items for a fat-cat group of
corrupt officers. Many Ugandan
army officers, in particular,
are accused of pocketing
income from the sale of Ituri
products.
"Join the army, meet interesting
people, kill them," Graffiti at
Bromley
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While leaders, foreign investors,
and warlords benefit from the
Ituri conflict, ordinary people
flee for their lives. More than
10,000 refugees from Ituri have
crossed the border into Uganda;
100,000 people are said to have
taken refuge in the district
capital of Bunia; and 1,000
people were reportedly massacred
in 2002 in Nyankunde, near Bunia.
"All men are brothers, like the
seas throughout the world; So why
do winds and waves clash so fiercely
everywhere?" Emperor Hirohito, 1901-1989.
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Since 1994, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo has
been devastated by civil war,
touched off by a massive inflow
of refugees from the fighting
in Rwanda and Burundi. First,
there was the rebelion against
Mobutu Sese Seko in May 1997,
led by Laurent Kabila, who became
leader. He was almost immediately
challenged by the insurgents from
Rwanda and Burundi in August,
1998. Troops from many parts of
Africa tried to help the Kabila
regime, and a cease-fire was
signed on July 10, 1999. Fighting
continued, however, and resulted
in the assassination of Kabila
in January, 2001. Laurent's son
Joseph became head of state, and
attempted to quell the unrest,
but the violence continues,
virtually unchecked, as the
death toll rises daily.
"Join the army, meet interesting
people, kill them," Graffiti at
Bromley
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It's not just people who are
suffering as a result of the
conflict in eastern Congo.
Ituri is home to the Okapi
Wildlife Preserve, the last
refuge for hundreds of remarkable
plants and animals, including the
okapi, for which the reserve is
named. South of Lake Kivu lies
part of the Virunga National
Park, the oldest and most
famous park in the DRC, home to
the famed mountain gorilla, as well
as many exotic mammal species. Both
of these parks have been devastated
by the constant fighting, poaching,
and excessive deforestation. The
flight of most of the employees from
these vital World Heritage sites has
deceased the chances that these
miraculous places can be saved. Some
workers have remained, most without
pay, but the task ahead of them is
frought with danger, with little
hope of meaningful help arriving any
time soon.
"They say that guns don't kill
people, people kill people. Well
I think the gun helps. If you
just stood there and yelled 'BANG,'
I don't think you'd kill many
people," Eddie Izzard, 1962-
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The crisis in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, and
its neighboring countries, is
so desperate and complex that
the situation is often defined
as one big, amorphous mess.
Hardly noticed, is the worsening,
bloody war-within-a-war that
continues to unfold in the Great
Lakes region. Though many ethnic
groups, some almost completely
unstudied, live in Ituri, the
two currently fighting are the
Hema and the Lendu, who have
had land disputes for many years.
The Hema, who number around
150,000, control more land than
the Lendu, who are a much larger
tribe, with almost 700,000. Based
on a recent Human Rights Watch
report,the Lendu idenify themselves
with the Hutu in nearby Rwanda and
Burundi, while the Hema reportedly
are aligned with the Rwandan Tutsis.
The Tutsi and Hutu have been at war
for years, and alliances with the
Ituri groups, along with the added
effects of warring forces from
Uganda crossing into the region,
have resulted in an enormous, almost
apocolyptic disaster.
"Never has there been a good war
or a bad peace," Benjamin Franklin,
1706-1790.
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