ICC Note:

People of North Kivu and other provinces in Eastern DRC have been victims of attacks and abductions by the  Islamic rebel group called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for the last two decades.  ADF is considered a terrorist organization and  originated from Uganda which borders North Kivu.  In August of this year, ADF  carried out a massacre killing at least 36 people. 

11/23/2016 DRC ( World Watch Monitor) –  A kidnapped church deacon has been released in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), following demonstrations in the village where he works as a hospital apprentice.

Godefroid Paluku was kidnapped on 18 November on the Kiwanja-Ishasha road in the Rutshuru territory of the eastern North Kivu province. He was on his way to buy medicines for the hospital in Nyamilima village.

The following morning, the inhabitants of Nyamilima took to the streets en masse, halting all the activities in town, to demand his immediate release. That afternoon, Paluku was found safe and sound. No ransom was paid.

Since early November, six others have been abducted and then freed – in exchange for ransoms of up to $1,500 – in the Groupement de Binza, a territorial division of Rutshuru Territory. The families of the abducted were each forced to sell all their possessions to achieve the sum.

With their demonstration, the people of Nyamilima wanted to not only secure the release of the deacon, but also to draw the attention of the authorities to the pattern, reported reported Fides.

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