Reintegration

The survey further asked respondents about their level of comfort in various situations, but this time in the presence of former combatants. (Possible affiliations of the former combatants were not discussed.) For all the situations, fewer respondents felt comfortable with former combatants compared to members of any ethnic groups. Respondents were, on average, least comfortable with having a former combatant marry a family member, share a drink (35%), or live in the same household (37%). Feelings of discomfort were expressed more frequently with regard to former combatants who committed war crimes (63%) as compared to members of any ethnic group (20%); and 22 percent said they wished they could take revenge against former combatants who committed war crimes. Generally, more respondents from Ituri felt comfortable in all these situations than those from the Kivus.

Table 19: Attitudes toward former combatants

In terms of the reintegration of militia leaders, the survey found that overall about one out of four respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposition that militia leaders have the same rights as everyone else (25%) and have the right to participate in politics and to govern if elected (27%), but these views were less shared in North Kivu. Likewise, only a minority agreed with the proposition that militia leaders should be able to participate in the national army (38%) and even fewer said those who committed war crimes could participate in the national army. In other words, respondents generally seemed to take the view that some of these rights have been forfeited by militia leaders. Again, there were regional differences, with about one in two respondents in Ituri agreeing with their participation in the national army, and only about one in four agreeing with this in the Kivus. This may reflect the more advanced stage of the “brassage” in Ituri, where this remains a difficult point in the Kivus.

Table 20: Vetting