The massacres of the CODECO militia in Ituri, a province of the DRC, continue to shed blood. The attack perpetrated on June 11, 2023 against a camp for displaced people left 46 dead and many injured, arousing the indignation of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office. This tribal militia, among the deadliest in the east of the country, is accused by the UN authorities of being responsible for a possible genocide.
Created in the 1970s as a cooperative association of Lendu peasants, CODECO gradually evolved towards a military stature by acquiring an arsenal and taking part in the ethnic war between Hema and Lendu in the 2000s. Following the arrest and conviction of Bernard Kakado, its founder, in 2010, CODECO militias awoke in 2017 to fight against the Hema community, devastating entire villages with cries of “protection of the Lendu”.
If CODECO does not directly threaten the authorities in place, its bloody power of nuisance arouses indignation. However, she remains unknown to the majority of Congolese, who are unaware of her name. The Congolese authorities, who remain silent in the face of the crimes of the militia, as well as the international community, seem to show culpable indifference.
This tragedy underlines the security and humanitarian challenges that persist in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 120 armed groups operate, thus arousing the concern of the population and international observers