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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Killings and repression of defenders · DR Congo · 1975–2024

Kahuzi-Biega National Park: Batwa evictions and killings

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • More than 6,000 people were displaced or listed for relocation.
    Batwa evicted at the park's 1975 expansion without food, support, compensation or resettlement.
  • At least 20 people died.
    Killed in three operations in 2019–2021, per MRG (April 2022), via Mongabay.
  • 29 people died.
    Batwa reported killed in 2017–2022 (University of Arizona page).
  • 1 people died.
    A 17-year-old Batwa shot dead by patrolling rangers on 26 August 2017; his father was wounded in the arm.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured · 5 disputed · 2 unclear See the gaps

Batwa were evicted without compensation when Kahuzi-Biega National Park in DR Congo was expanded in 1975. In April 2022 Minority Rights Group reported that park guards and soldiers killed at least 20 Batwa in 2019–2021.

at least 20Batwa killed in 2019–2021 park operations, per Minority Rights Group (April 2022)
Figure reported by an advocacy group via press coverage. Another account counts 29 Batwa killed in 2017–2022 (different period).

Status As of November 2024: the African Commission's 19 recommendations had not been implemented and the government had not responded; no proceedings against the park's funders were found.

What?
Batwa were evicted from the land of the park in 1975 without compensation. MRG reported that park guards and soldiers killed at least 20 Batwa in 2019–2021. Mongabay
Where?
Kahuzi-Biega National Park and nearby villages, South Kivu, DR Congo. University of Arizona (Indigenous peoples resource page)
When?
Eviction in 1975; operations in 2019–2021; MRG report April 2022; African Commission decision 2022, published June 2024. Mongabay
Who?
Gained
Lost
Harmed
  • Batwa villages — At least 20 killed, 15 raped, two burned alive and hundreds displaced in 2019–2021, per MRG. Mongabay
  • A 17-year-old Batwa — Shot dead by rangers on 26 August 2017 while gathering medicinal plants. Survival International
Why?
The 1975 eviction accompanied the park's expansion. The sources reviewed give no official reason for the 2019–2021 operations. University of Arizona (Indigenous peoples resource page)
How?
Park guards and FARDC soldiers carried out the operations, per MRG. The park is funded by KfW, GIZ, USAID and WCS. Mongabay
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Kahuzi-Biega National Park in South Kivu, DR Congo, was founded in 1970. In the park's 1975 expansion, more than 6,000 Batwa, a forest people, were evicted without food, support, compensation or resettlement, according to a University of Arizona page. Some returned to ancestral land in October 2018.

The park's funders include Germany's development bank KfW (since 2008), on behalf of the German development ministry (BMZ), together with the German agency GIZ (since 1983), USAID and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). KfW and GIZ funding is reported as €66 million since 2008 across six reserves including Kahuzi-Biega. WCS took over management of the park in April 2022 under a partnership agreement.

In April 2022 Minority Rights Group (MRG) published the report "To Purge the Forest by Force", based on about 600 sources including more than 550 eyewitnesses. It reported three operations in 2019–2021 against at least seven Batwa villages by park guards and soldiers of the Congolese army (FARDC): at least 20 people killed, 15 raped, two burned alive and hundreds displaced. A separate account by the University of Arizona page counts 29 Batwa killed in 2017–2022. In August 2017 a 17-year-old Batwa was shot dead by patrolling rangers while gathering medicinal plants at the park boundary; his father, who was wounded, complained to KfW and GIZ in September 2017.

WCS denied involvement in military operations. KfW asked the Congolese parks authority ICCN to investigate and said it funds no weapons or ammunition. BMZ paused support to ICCN in 2019–2020 after reporting in the German daily taz and resumed it in May 2020. In 2020 a military court in Bukavu convicted 10 ecoguards from Kahuzi-Biega and Salonga parks of murder, rape and torture. ICCN's inquiry commission, funded by Germany, rejected most of the allegations in 2022.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, in Communication 588/15, found that the 1970s eviction violated the African Charter. It made 19 recommendations, including return of titled land, compensation and a public apology. The recommendations are not binding. As of November 2024 they had not been implemented and the government had not responded. A land case has been before the Congolese Supreme Court since 2013.

  1. 1970Kahuzi-Biega National Park founded
  2. 1975Park expanded; more than 6,000 Batwa evicted without compensation or resettlement
  3. 2008KfW begins funding the park (GIZ since 1983)
  4. 2013Land case filed before the Congolese Supreme Court (reported ongoing)
  5. 2017A 17-year-old Batwa shot dead by rangers (26 Aug); father complains to KfW and GIZ (Sep)
  6. 2018Some Batwa return to ancestral land (Oct)
  7. 2019Three operations by park guards and soldiers begin (2019–2021, per MRG); BMZ pauses support to ICCN (2019–2020)
  8. 2020BMZ resumes support (May); Bukavu military court convicts 10 ecoguards
  9. 2022MRG report (Apr); WCS takes over park management (Apr); ICCN commission rejects most allegations; African Commission decision
  10. 2023France reported to drop a funding plan (Jul)
  11. 2024Commission decision published (Jun); recommendations unimplemented as of Nov

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“underwritten by the German and US governments”

Minority Rights Group, April 2022 report, describing the 2019–2021 campaign (as summarised by Mongabay) · April 2022 · Mongabay

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Were the 2019–2021 operations against Batwa villages organised violence, and by whom?
Communities and civil society
Minority Rights Group

Reported three operations in 2019–2021 against at least seven Batwa villages by park guards and FARDC soldiers: at least 20 killed, 15 raped, two burned alive, hundreds displaced.

Mongabay
Communities and civil society
Survival International

Reported that the MRG report described the operations as an institutional policy approved and planned at the highest level of park management.

Survival International
Communities and civil society
Wildlife Conservation Society

Denied involvement in military operations.

Mongabay
Government and regulators
ICCN inquiry commission

Rejected most of the allegations in 2022.

University of Arizona (Indigenous peoples resource page)
Courts
Bukavu military court

Convicted 10 ecoguards from Kahuzi-Biega and Salonga parks of murder, rape and torture in 2020.

University of Arizona (Indigenous peoples resource page)
Do the park's foreign funders bear responsibility for the operations?
Communities and civil society
Minority Rights Group

Said the campaign was "underwritten by the German and US governments" and WCS.

Mongabay
Government and regulators
KfW

Asked ICCN to investigate and said it funds no weapons or ammunition.

Mongabay
Government and regulators
BMZ

Paused support to ICCN in 2019–2020 and resumed it in May 2020.

Mongabay
How many Batwa were killed?
Communities and civil society
Minority Rights Group

At least 20 killed in 2019–2021.

Mongabay
Researchers
University of Arizona page

29 Batwa reported killed in 2017–2022.

University of Arizona (Indigenous peoples resource page)
Will the African Commission's recommendations be implemented?
International bodies
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

Found the 1970s eviction violated the African Charter and made 19 recommendations, including return of titled land, compensation and a public apology.

Mongabay
Government and regulators
Government of DR Congo

Had not responded as of November 2024.

Mongabay

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site (inscribed 1980)
    UNESCO World Heritage listing

Recorded

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: EUR · Window: since 2008. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Wildlife Conservation Society (2022): Denied involvement in military operations. · Mongabay
  • KfW (2022): Asked ICCN to investigate and said it funds no weapons or ammunition. Said it finances only on the basis of applicable law. · Mongabay
  • German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) (2019–2020): Paused support to ICCN in 2019–2020 after reporting in the daily taz, and resumed it in May 2020. · Mongabay
  • ICCN (Congolese parks authority) (2022): Its inquiry commission, funded by Germany, rejected most of the allegations. · University of Arizona (Indigenous peoples resource page)
  • Government of DR Congo (November 2024): Had not responded to the African Commission's recommendations. · Mongabay

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2020Claimant won
    Conviction of 10 ecoguards from Kahuzi-Biega and Salonga parks
    Bukavu military court · Criminal · State prosecution (not detailed in the sources) → 10 ecoguards from Kahuzi-Biega and Salonga parks (unnamed in the sources)

    The court convicted 10 ecoguards of murder, rape and torture. The sources do not say which incidents the convictions covered or how many related to Kahuzi-Biega. University of Arizona (Indigenous peoples resource page)

  2. 2022 (published June 2024)Claimant won
    African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Communication 588/15
    African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights · International court · Batwa evicted from Kahuzi-Biega → Government of DR Congo

    The Commission found that the 1970s eviction violated the African Charter and made 19 recommendations, including return of titled land, compensation and a public apology. The recommendations are not binding; none had been implemented as of November 2024. Mongabay

  3. 2013–Ongoing
    Land case concerning Kahuzi-Biega
    Supreme Court of DR Congo · Civil · Not stated in the sources → Not stated in the sources

    The land case has been before the Congolese Supreme Court since 2013; no ruling is recorded.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Batwa evicted in 1975
6,000+
Evicted at the park's expansion without compensation or resettlement (University of Arizona page)
Killed in 2019–2021 operations
at least 20
Reported by Minority Rights Group, April 2022; figure as reported by Mongabay
Proceedings against funders
None found
Ten ecoguards were convicted in 2020; no proceedings against the park's funders were found

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling existsCase pending / contestedDisplacement reportedDeaths reported

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Accounts

  • Disputed Were the 2019–2021 operations against Batwa villages organised violence, and by whom?
  • Disputed Do the park's foreign funders bear responsibility for the operations?
  • Disputed How many Batwa were killed?
  • Disputed Will the African Commission's recommendations be implemented?
  • None on record Government of DR Congo: Had not responded as of November 2024.

Record

  • Disputed Counts of Batwa killed differ by period: at least 20 in 2019–2021 (MRG) and 29 in 2017–2022 (University of Arizona page).
  • Unclear Whether the father of the 17-year-old shot in 2017 also died: a 2018 UN communication cited by the University of Arizona page records that he did, which conflicts with the record of his September 2017 complaint to KfW and GIZ.
  • None on record The date of the African Commission's decision: recorded as 2022 (published June 2024) in one account and as 2022 or 2024 in others.
  • None on record No proceedings against the park's funders (KfW, GIZ, USAID, WCS) were found.
  • Unclear No ruling is recorded in the land case before the Congolese Supreme Court, pending since 2013.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a claim that half of the Batwa evicted from the park died within twenty years; it could not be traced to a primary source.

Did the harm stop?

No end to the harm is recorded. The African Commission's recommendations, including return of titled land and compensation, had not been implemented as of November 2024.

Who paid?

Batwa communities: evicted from the park's land in 1975 without compensation and, per MRG, subjected to killings, rapes and displacement in 2019–2021.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

Researchers

  1. Kahuzi-Biega National Park
    University of Arizona (Indigenous peoples resource page) · undated

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Insurance

Underwriter
An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.

Law and courts

Trustees (natural resource)
Government agencies that act on behalf of the public to recover and spend damages for harm to natural resources.

Institutions

OECD complaint
A complaint filed with a government's National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; the process is mediation, not a court.
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