Effacer le tableau
| Effacer le tableau | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Second Congo War and Violence against pygmies and the Ituri conflict | |
Map of Ituri Province within the DRC. | |
| Location | Mambasa and the Ituri rainforest, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Date | October 2002 to January 2003 |
Attack type | Genocidal massacre, Ethnic cleansing, cannibalism, war rape |
| Deaths | 60,000 to 70,000 (40% of the Eastern Congo's Pygmy population killed) |
| Victims | Bambuti pygmies |
| Perpetrators | Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (Jean-Pierre Bemba) Rally for Congolese Democracy |
| Motive | Territorial conquest of the North Kivu province of the DRC |
Effacer le tableau (French pronunciation: [efɑse lə tablo], lit. 'erase the board' or 'clean the slate') was a military operation carried out during the Second Congo War by the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo and Rally 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 of Mambasa, Ituri District, along with the areas to the south and southeast, ultimately aiming to seize the city of Beni in North 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 the Bambuti pygmies for mass killing and the severe deprivation of other fundamental rights, which may "support a possible prosecution for genocide", according to the Minority Rights Group International. Summary executions also targeted members of the Nande people.