Minova

Minova is a strategic town in the Kalehe Territory, South Kivu Province/ Eastern-DRC and is an important business center for Farm-Fishery Products in the Kivu Province.It is very close to Idjwi Island, Masisi Territory, Lake Kivu on its North Western shore and is only 45 km from the Goma city.The development of this place is linked with an important refugee's history [ those from Rwanda in 1994, those from Masisi in 1992–1997, and other surrounding areas.][1] in northern South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.[2] It is known for atrocities committed there in 2012.

For the mining technology company "Minova", see Orica.

Minova
Minova
Coordinates: 01°42′25″S 029°01′09″E
Country DR Congo
ProvinceSouth Kivu
TerritoryKalehe
ChiefdomBuhavu
Time zoneUTC+2 (Central Africa Time)

History

Minova is clearly one point of the Buhavu Chiefdom, headed by the Mwami Ntambuka dynasty, in the Kalehe Territory. But the migrations of refugees and Humanitarians made this place to be developed, added to the recent activity of mining/minerals discovered in the surrounding mountains of Minova[ Rubaya Mountains, Numbi Mountains, Nyabibwe Mountains,Kalungu Mountains,....] where Colombo-Tantalite and other minerals were discovered and extracted recently. Normally people from Minova are Havu, Hunde, Bashi or Shi, Banyarwanda and Nyanga ethnic groups. They live in a community of farmers, fishermen and small business entrepreneurs. The main products[beans, bananas, pineapple, Cassava bread,Fish, Coffee,Minerals, ...] are commercialized with Idjwi, Kibuye, Bukavu,Kabare, Walikale, Masisi, Goma and Gisenyi inhabitants. People here are mostly Christians and Catholicism is very vivid. There is a catholic parish here [Paroisse catholique de Bobandana] and a General Hospital managed by the Catholic church[ Hopital General de Minova] together with Kirotshe General Hospital managed by the DRC state and CEMUBAC as its partner.There are many schools, primary and secondary schools, including College Charles Lwanga which is held by the catholic church. Some Guest Houses and Hotels are just being built, with many NGOs implementing their operational bases here.

There was international outrage and UN condemnation of these actions against hundreds of Congolese civilians. In 2014 the DRC Army conducted the "Minova Trial", at which numerous women testified. It was the largest rape tribunal in DRC history. In the end, only junior officers were convicted at the trial. An international summit was held in London in 2014 to work on actions against rape in warfare. But the women of Minova are still at risk, and many were attacked again as area violence continued.[3]

Since 1994 Minova has grown from a village to a large town, primarily due to the influx of refugees[from Rwanda in 1994, from Masisi in 1991-1996 and other surrounding areas] and from the fighting associated with the First and the Second Congo wars, and subsequent continued fighting in this eastern area.[1][4][5][6] As of 2012 Minova had grown to incorporate the former village of Butando and Buzi-Bulenga to the northwest.[7]

On June 13, 1999, the fugitive, Valérie Bemeriki, genocidaire and former Radio-Télévision Libre des Milles Collines animatrice, was arrested in Minova.[8]

For three days in 2012, troops of the DRC committed systematic rapes and atrocities against refugee women and girls, who had been run out of Goma, then controlled by M23 rebel troops.[3] Among the perpetrators were members of the US Special Forces-trained 391st Commando Battalion.[9]

Geography

Minova is located in northeastern Kalehe Territory at the head of a deep bay, Kabuno Bay, on the western shores of Lake Kivu.Minova is linked to Bukavu by road[75 km ] and Lake Kivu, to Goma [about 40 km] by road and Lake Kivu, to Kibuye and Gisenyi by Lake Kivu, and to Masisi by road. [10] The bed rock consists of metamorphic schists and quartzites.[11]

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as tropical wet and dry (Aw).It is characterized by a very long rain season and a moderate dry season. This is a mountainous tropical climate and the temperature is under 30 Celsius degrees for the whole year.[ between 16 and 29 degrees Celsius]. [12]

Climate data for Maiduguri
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25.2
(77.4)		 24.8
(76.6)		 24.7
(76.5)		 24.5
(76.1)		 24.6
(76.3)		 25.3
(77.5)		 25.3
(77.5)		 25.1
(77.2)		 24.7
(76.5)		 24.8
(76.6)		 24.9
(76.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 19.4
(66.9)		 19.4
(66.9)		 19.6
(67.3)		 19.4
(66.9)		 19.4
(66.9)		 18.7
(65.7)		 18.6
(65.5)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.4
(66.9)		 19.4
(66.9)		 19.1
(66.4)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.3
(66.6)
Average low °C (°F) 13.8
(56.8)		 13.8
(56.8)		 14.1
(57.4)		 14.1
(57.4)		 14.1
(57.4)		 13
(55)		 12.6
(54.7)		 13.3
(55.9)		 13.5
(56.3)		 13.7
(56.7)		 13.5
(56.3)		 13.8
(56.8)		 13.6
(56.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 117
(4.6)		 100
(3.9)		 128
(5.0)		 156
(6.1)		 144
(5.7)		 63
(2.5)		 35
(1.4)		 75
(3.0)		 132
(5.2)		 160
(6.3)		 150
(5.9)		 147
(5.8)		 1,407
(55.4)
Source: Climate-Data.org (altitude: 1464m)[12]

Representation in other media

The American documentary The Testimony (2015) was made about the women and their testifying at the Minova trial.

Notes
  1. "HOT Activation, South and North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo". Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. 16 December 2012. Archived from the original on 8 January 2013.
  2. Minova (Approved) at GEOnet Names Server, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
  3. Mark Townsend, "Revealed: how the world turned its back on rape victims of Congo", The Guardian, 13 June 2015; accessed 15 November 2017
  4. "Increase in forced labor, rape and harassment in eastern Congo". Oxfam International. 13 November 2008. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  5. Delay, Jerome & Gouby, Melanie (26 November 2012). "Congolese town allegedly looted by gov't troops". The Guardian. Manchester, UK. Archived from the original on 8 January 2013.
  6. Prekabo, Vicky (26 December 2012). "DRC: Helping displaced communities in Goma". United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Archived from the original on 8 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  7. "Minova, Sud-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo" (PDF). Reférential Geographique Commun, République Démocratique du Congo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 January 2013.
  8. "Valerie Bemeriki". TRIAL (Swiss association against impunity). Archived from the original on 8 April 2013.
  9. Whitlock, Craig (23 May 2013). U.S.-trained Congolese troops committed rapes and other atrocities, U.N. says. Washington Post. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  10. Territoire de Kalehe: Zone de santé de Minova (PDF) (Map). UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 3 June 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2014.
  11. Simplified geological map of Kabuno Bay, (Map). Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. from Smets, Benoit; et al. (2016). "The role of inherited crustal structures and magmatism in the development of rift segments: Insights from the Kivu basin, western branch of the East African Rift". Tectonophysics. doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2016.06.022.
  12. "Climate: Minova - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
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