Ziglôbitha, n°016, Vol.2 Décembre 2025 [MONOGRAPHIE]
Ziglôbitha, n°016, Vol.2 Décembre 2025 [Sommaire]
CONTENU
Mots-clés : Milices, Mobondo, conflit, armé, international, droit humanitaire international.
THE PHENOMENON OF THE MOBONDO MILITIAS IN THE BATEKE PLATEAU: INTERNAL OR INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT? AN ANALYSIS IN LIGHT OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
Abstract : This article analyzes the Mobondo militias phenomenon on the Plateau de Bateke by characterizing what began as a land-and-identity dispute between the Teke and Yaka communities as a non-international armed conflict under international humanitarian law and human rights law. Drawing on the TPIY’s jurisprudence and the Geneva Conventions, it establishes that the Mobondo militias meet the organization, intensity, and weapon-use thresholds required for DIH applicability. The study then exposes the Congolese State’s ambiguous role – in particular through the “Mobondo” Commission – in undermining the Bandundu Military Auditorate, creating organized impunity and violating non-repetition principles. By examining political and institutional obstacles (executive interference, local pressures and lack of protection for investigators), the article highlights the erosion of the rule of law and the breakdown of civilian–judicial trust. It concludes by calling for strengthened judicial independence, hybrid transitional justice mechanisms, and community reparations to rebuild confidence, prevent further abuses, and embed peace in collective memory.
Keywords: Militias, Mobondo, conflict, armed, international, international humanitarian law.