Paramilitary forces of Zaire

In addition to the myriad intelligence agencies and branches of the armed forces that he has at his disposal, President Mobutu also employs several paramilitary forces and militias, none of which are officially acknowledged by the government. Although their equipment and training standards do not match the "official" armed forces, they enjoy far more impunity, and are infinitely more brutal and ruthless in crushing resistance. In addition to former Rwandan Hutu génocidaire militias, Mobutu's private paramilitary forces include a contingent of UNITA guerrillas (a gift from Jonas Savimbi, in return for Zaire's help in bringing him to power), and JMPR militias.

Rwandan paramilitaries

Interahamwe

One of the primary architects of the shocking genocide that gripped Rwanda in 1994, the Interahamwe (Kinyarwanda: "Those Who Stand Together," or "Those Who Fight Together") enjoyed tacit, covert support - both moral and military - from the Mobutu regime both prior to, during, and after the genocide. The Hutu power government which orchestrated the genocide was armed by Zaire, and after the génocidaires were defeated by Paul Kagame's RPF and forced to leave the country, they were given sanctuary in eastern Zaire, from whence they continued their attacks (ultimately setting the stage for the Great Central African War).

Staunchly pro-Mobutu, the Interahamwe is now a private army used by Mobutu to maintain control over his puppet states in Rwanda and Burundi. The Interahamwe's leadership is constantly rotated, members suspected of "disloyalty," are constantly purged, and members enjoy high pay; due to these and other factors, the loyalty of the Interahamwe is rarely in question. There are today between 40,000 and 50,000 Interahamwe on Mobutu's payroll.

Impuzamugambi

The Impuzamugambi (Kinyarwanda: "Those who have the same goal" or "Those who have a single goal"), is a Hutu militia created in 1992. Like its larger counterpart, the Interahamwe, it was trained and armed by the Rwandan armed forces; also like the Interahamwe, it participated in the Rwandan genocide, albeit playing a smaller role.

They are currently tasked with patrolling the Burundian-Tanzanian border and Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, in concert with former Burundian Hutu death squads loyal to Mobutu. There are about 22,000 members of the Impuzamugambi.

UNITA

UNITA, short for União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (Portuguese: National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) is an Angolan guerrilla army/political party founded in 1966 by the current Angolan President, Dr. Jonas M. Savimbi. Trained by Chinese advisors and provided arms and money by the United States, apartheid South Africa, and Zaire, it fought a long, hard, and costly (but ultimately successful) guerrilla war against the Marxist government of Angola, finally managing to topple the authoritarian regime of President dos Santos in 1999 (with help from Zaire and Parthia). The party's ideology incorporates democratic socialism and non-alignment, but is nominally pro-Western, and staunchly anti-communist. In return for Mobutu's many years of friendship and aid, President Savimbi gave Mobutu 3,000 of his best guerrillas as a personal gift. These guerrillas assist the National Immigration Agency in patrolling the Zairian-Zambian border.

JMPR

Having recently undergone political and (rudimentary) paramilitary training, several branches of the JMPR have been molded into pro-government militias that are provided with small arms and given the government's blessing to terrorize its opponents to their heart's content. Several suspected "deviationists," "counterrevolutionaries," and "subversives," have been beaten, tortured, and mugged by JMPR youth brigades.