Two weeks in the life of . . .

Anyone who’s heard Gerard Hoffnung’s story about the bricklayer, which he told to the Oxford Union in 1958, will remember the helpless laughter created by the absurdity of the situation in which the man is caught in a sequence of extraordinary and inevitable accidents. The fact that one is laughing at the man’s expense, and can’t help doing so, seems to make it even funnier. Hoffnung’s trick, in telling the story, was to tell it in a dead pan way.

Well, there are stories of horror coming out of the Congo every day, but it is the dead pan way in which they are told that would be very funny if only it wasn’t true. Here, (see also Stability, 18^th October, for other news from Bukavu) I am quoting from the fortnightly report written by the head of our office in Bukavu.

“We received a little alarm from notables living in the Shabunda district about butchery which had lasted several days culminating in the events of the night of 3^rd/4^th January. They talk of 42 dead, throats slit by machetes and knives, many women raped and others carried into the forest like looted goods or as instruments of sexual satisfaction. It was reported that a pregnant woman was disembowelled and her dead baby thrown into the bush. Today there are reports that the people carried into the forest were killed. The motivation for this carnage is revenge for attacks against the Interahamwe (the Rwandan Hutu genocide army who are still operating in the Congo), and that the local people voted for Kabila.

“About 40 people who were injured in the attack are in Bukavu hospital in harsh conditions due to the number. They can only eat thanks to Christians who take it in turn to feed them.

“From 18th December until 5th January there were about 18 killed in ethnic clashes in Mwenga District. Six customary Chiefs have come to Bukavu to plead for help from the Government. This area is outside the control of the government and the guns of demobilised soldiers are now on the shoulders of shepherds and cowherds.

“Soldiers in Bukavu started a sit-in on 6^th January, in protest at not being paid for three months, and had blocked all cars and pedestrians during the afternoon. By the small hours of the morning they had been paid, but continued to protest, demanding to be officially pardoned for their strike action. On 9^th January other troops were brought in to end the protest and three soldiers were injured.

“On Saturday 31^st December one of the high profile prisoners in Bukavu prison, who shot a human rights activist with a hail of bullets five years ago, escaped with two others. He was dressed as a beautiful woman, complete with make up on his face and a wig. The next day, a gang came to the front gate of the prison with a hand grenade, hoping to blow down the gate and allow a mass escape. Unfortunately for them, the grenade went off too early and seven of the gang were killed and 49 were wounded.

“Meanwhile cholera is rife, and in the same District where the massacres took place, 370 cases were reported on Friday 13^th January, with 32 dead.

“Impact on our work

“We had to stop our office meeting on 5^th January because our hearts were in our mouths due to shooting by rebellious soldiers. Otherwise work continues normally.