20110527
Reuters
MONZAYA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - The actors circle and glare in mock anger, surrounded by villagers who have come to witness a performance played out on the sandy earth in the shade of mango trees in northern Congo.




In a flurry, the performers clash, miming fighting, killing, mourning -- and eventually forgiveness.

For the spectators, this narrative is not fiction but reality, after the people of Monzaya and Enyele in Congo's northern Equateur province began a dispute over fishing rights in 2009 that killed scores and triggered a refugee crisis.

The two villages, deep in Congo's equatorial forest, are now being urged to reconcile their differences by taking part in such performances -- something seen as key to shoring up stability in the region.

Congo, a vast, impoverished but resource-rich central African state is already struggling to stamp out rebel activity in its eastern provinces left over from a 1998-2003 war that killed more than 5 million people.

The violence between the two communities in Equateur spread like wildfire to other ethnic groups in the region, forcing up to 200,000 people to flee across the border into neighbouring Congo Republic, according to the United Nations.

No official death toll exists, but one local civil society activist estimated that thousands were killed.

With partial peace restored by the Congolese army, the United Nations, working with the international NGO Search For Common Ground, is now trying to build bridges between the two communities through ceremonies and workshops.

The latest of these meetings took place in the tumbledown church in Monzaya, with 20 members from each community taking part and ending with speeches and participative theatre to spread the message of peace.

MUDDY PONDS

The process has identified key causes of the conflict and aims to give those involved ways to resolve them, according to Rigobert Luhinzo, from Search For Common Ground, who has been leading sessions between the two communities.

"Before, people from Enyele couldn't set foot on Monzaya land, and it was the same for people in Monzaya. This is the first time in five years that people from Enyele have come to Monzaya," he said, adding that the two villages had signed a non aggression pact earlier this year.

Land disputes and access to fish-rich ponds which lie in the dense, damp forest between the two communities have been at the heart of the dispute, according to Merault Ahouangansi, from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, known as MONUSCO.

Ahouangansi says biggest challenge remains managing access to these ponds, which can only be reached via flooded paths of knee-deep mud that weave through the thick foliage.

He said progress is being made, but underlying issues such as a lack of work or alternative food sources must be solved.

"The situation needs to be managed well or it will explode again," he said, adding a presidential election expected later this year could further raise tensions.

The central government sent troops to the region after fighters from Enyele launched a short-lived insurrection in late 2009 that threatened to destabilise the province.

Local administrator Desire Manyale said reconciliation is vital to encourage the refugees to return, many of whom have links with Enyele and fear retribution if the come home.

The United Nations estimates that around 120,000 people are still in neighbouring Congo Republic, with more having fled to Central African Republic or elsewhere in Congo.

Those involved in the reconciliation are optimistic that the process, watched by Congolese soldiers armed with AK 47s and rocket propelled grenades, can succeed.

"We have to have forgiveness between the two sides or the process will be useless," Evariste Mumba, the head of the Enyele delegation told Reuters, adding that problems between the two communities had been resolved although not yet the key issue of access to the fishing ponds.

Polycarpe Guine Mwiyongo, whose father was killed when fighters from Enyele attacked Monzaya, wants the families of victims to be compensated for their deaths.

"Of course I want to forgive, but compensation is a right. I can forgive but I can't forget," he said.

Mwiyongo said he hopes relations between the two communities can be restored, but that only clearly demarcated boundaries between the two villages, and sustainable development backed by the government can provide a lasting solution.

"I could never have predicted what happened here, and as for what will happen in the future, I don't know," he added.