44 Middle East & Africa The EconomistJuly 13th 2019
2 Patriots (upc), a Hema militia that had pre-
viously enjoyed Kampala’s support.
The tit-for-tat massacres reached a peak
as Uganda, under international pressure,
withdrew its troops from Bunia in 2003.
Lendu militiamen, some wearing human
livers round their necks, poured into the
town. The upcthen displaced them. Each
time Bunia’s civilian residents paid the
price. Child soldiers sauntered drunkenly
down streets lined with corpses that had
been half chewed by Bunia’s dogs. Ducks
gobbled up pieces of human flesh. Tens of
thousands fled to un compounds, but the
peacekeepers, lacking a mandate to protect
civilians, could do little—even when the
militiamen taunted them by tossing bodies
over the razor-wire.
With some people warning of genocide,
foreign powers were galvanised into ac-
tion. French troops cleared Bunia of the
militias. Order was mostly restored, hold-
ing for more than a decade. The Interna-
tional Criminal Court jailed Thomas Lu-
banga, the upc’s leader, for 14 years in 2012.
Bosco (“The Terminator”) Ntaganda, a
commander in the militia, may face a life
sentence after the court convicted him of
war crimes on July 8th. Two Lendu militia
leaders were also tried. One was acquitted.
Yet much was also left undone. Griev-
ances over land and marginalisation have
remained largely unaddressed. A wave of
land-grabbing in recent years has in-
creased resentment among the Lendu. Al-
though most of the militias were disband-
ed, little effort was made to reintegrate
their members into society. Drifters from
the conflict, skilled in pillage but unable to
find gainful employment (of which there is
little), have left a deep pool from which
groups like codecocan recruit.
Although there are officially no foreign
troops on Congolese soil, Ituri is in danger
of reliving its past. As in 2003, tens of thou-
sands of terrified civilians are again shel-
tering in schools, churches and a handful
of cash-strapped camps. Ebola, which
broke out in neighbouring North Kivu
province last year, is adding to the misery,
killing 136 people in Ituri. New cases were
reported in Bunia last month.
The Congolese army is a bit more disci-
plined than in 2003, when its soldiers in
Ituri sold their weapons to Lendu rebels. It
recently chased the militiamen out of their
hideouts in the woods. Halting the fighting
will be tough, however. The army has dis-
patched some troops, as has the unpeace-
keeping force in Congo, but most are
pinned down by conflicts elsewhere in the
country. The militiamen may have been
beaten back, but they are still armed and
hiding out. A desire to avenge recent at-
tacks is likely to grow. Unless the violence
can be checked, Ituri’s residents will fear
that the ghosts of their recent past are be-
ing reawakened. 7A
biy ahmed’sarrival in Asmara on July
8th last year was as colourful as it was
historic. Thousands thronged the streets of
the Eritrean capital to witness the first visit
by an Ethiopian leader since the two coun-
tries fought a bloody war from 1998 to 2000.
Both national flags fluttered along the bou-
levard from the airport; women carried
plates of popcorn which they threw over
the crowds in celebration. Eritrea’s ageing
dictator, Issaias Afwerki, beamed as he em-
braced his young counterpart and signed a
peace deal to end two decades of enmity.
“There is no border between Ethiopia and
Eritrea,” Abiy declared. “Instead we have
built a bridge of love.”
The promise of peace was tantalising.
Telephone lines and flights between the
two countries were restored. Two months
later the land border opened. For the first
time in years Eritreans could leave their
country freely. Many thought that, with the
war over, Issaias would soon enact other
reforms. They particularly hoped he would
end the system of indefinite conscription
that the un likens to mass enslavement—
and which has helped earn Eritrea the nick-
name “the North Korea of Africa”.
A year later Eritreans are still waiting.
“Nothing has changed,” says Milena, a 16-
year-old who faces being called up next
year. The government has yet to say wheth-er an old 18-month limit on conscription
will be restored. Some recruits are now
paid salaries and put to work in govern-
ment offices, rather than brutal army bases
in the desert. But there are no signs that Is-
saias will end conscription entirely.
Without explanation, Eritrea has once
more closed all its border crossings with
Ethiopia, ending a short-lived boom in
cross-border trade. Food prices are rising.
Markets in Asmara, which briefly bustled
with Ethiopian traders, are quiet. Business-
es and factories are closing, some because
of a shortage of raw materials. Some water-
bottlers, for instance, have shut for want of
imported plastic.
Local authorities have stepped up the
demolition of unlicensed homes. After the
peace some residents began renovating or
building new houses, wrongly assuming
the government would loosen rules that ef-
fectively bar private construction. They are
being bulldozed.
Even officials are perplexed. Some have
stopped coming to work because they have
not been told what to do. Their offices, in
departments such as trade and education,
stand empty. Issaias has held only one cab-
inet meeting since the peace deal.
Patience in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian
capital, is starting to wear a little thin.A
draft trade agreement was sent to AsmaraADDIS ABABA AND ASMARA
Issaias Afwerki made peace a year ago. His people want the dividendEritreaA gulag state totters
1