Congo Background
The Numbers
•5.4 million civilians killed by war-related violence, hunger and disease since 1998
•Up to 45,000 continue to die each month
•Hundreds of thousands of women and girls have reportedly been raped in a systematic campaign to
destroy entire communities by using women’s bodies as battlegrounds.
•2 million internally displaced, often uprooted several times by various warring factions
•900,000 civilians newly displaced just since January 2009.
Democratic Republic of Congo’s five-year war officially ended in 2003, but the country is still regularly listed
as the site of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Congo should be rich from its gold, diamonds
and minerals, yet millions of its people suffer from a lethal combination of disease and hunger caused by
ongoing conflict and displacement.
The country formerly known as Zaire now has a democratic government – led by President Joseph Kabila, a
former guerrilla – but insecurity continues in the remote, resource-rich provinces near the eastern border.
The world’s largest peacekeeping mission – a U.N. force of 17,000 soldiers and police – struggles to prevent
violence and protect the population of almost 60 million. About 5.4 million people in this vast country have
died from war-related hunger and disease since 1998, according to aid agency International Rescue
Committee, which calculated in 2007 that as many as 45,000 people were dying every month.
Conflict-Driven Humanitarian Crisis (2006-Present)
A History of Exploitation
King Leopold II of Belgium
Congo has a long history of exploitative leaders. In the 1880s, King Leopold II of Belgium took control of a
vast territory in Central Africa that he named “Congo Free State” – there was nothing free about it, save the
wanton abandon he showed in pillaging Congo’s natural resources – primarily rubber. Under his rule, 10
million people died from violence, forced labor and starvation. His destruction of Congo for his own
personal wealth set the stage for decades of exploitation by future leaders.
An international human rights movement raised awareness of Leopold’s reign of terror and pressured him
to hand Congo over to the Belgian government in 1908. While the humanitarian situation improved under
Belgium’s rule, the colonizing government created no democratic institutions and the governor general
imposed a sort of apartheid on the native population, with curfews and de facto segregation. Eventually
Congolese nationalism won out, and Belgian Congo was granted independence in 1960.
Mobutu Sese Seko
The nascent government in Congo faced political instability almost immediately upon independence.
Colonel Joseph Desire Mobutu began his 32-year rule of Congo in 1965 when he took power in a coup. His
rule was supported by both Belgium and the US, who used Zaire as a springboard against Soviet-backed
Angola. He renamed the country Zaire, ostensibly to shake off the last vestiges of colonial influence, and
renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko – the first part of a full name which, translated, means “the allpowerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest,
leaving fire in his wake.”
Mobutu’s rule has been defined as a “kleptocracy,” or rule by thieves. Following King Leopold II’s example,
Mobutu systematically used Congo’s mineral wealth to enrich himself and his allies. He is conservatively
estimated to have stolen at least $5 billion from his country.
First War (1996 – 1997)
Rwandan Refugee Camp in Zaire, 1994
The current crisis in Congo has its roots in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide. As Hutu perpetrators
of the genocide fled following the collapse of their regime in Rwanda, Mobutu provided shelter for them in
Zaire. He turned a blind eye as they continued to kill Tutsis fleeing from Rwanda across the border. The
overspill of the Rwandan Genocide sparked the first war, as Rwanda and Uganda invaded Zaire in an effort
to root out the Hutu perpetrators. The war ended in 1997 with the overthrow of Mobutu and the accession
to power Laurent-Désiré Kabila, backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Kabila renamed Zaire as Democratic
Republic of Congo, the name it holds today.
Second War (1998 – 2003)
Joseph Kablia
Not long after coming to power, Laurent Kabila broke ranks with Rwanda and Uganda and expelled his
Rwandan advisors. Kabila was fearful that Rwanda was plotting a coup against him, in hopes of installing an
ethnic Tutsi leader who would report directly to the Rwandan leadership. Rwanda invaded again in 1998,
and other nations quickly joined in. Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi joined forces to fight Kabila’s DRC, while
Kabila found support from Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia. Multiple rebel groups and militias, some homegrown, some sponsored by invading countries, also joined in. The ensuing regional war raged from 1998 to
2003. Nearly all of the combatants aimed to gain control of Congo’s vast natural resources, which include
diamonds, gold, and minerals used in electronics.
A ceasefire agreement was reached and signed in Lusaka in July 1999. Although a UN peacekeeping force,
known by its French acronym, MONUC, was authorized to monitor the agreement, the conflict continued as
all sides violated the accord. President Kabila was assassinated in January 2001 and his son, Joseph Kabila,
assumed the presidency.
Joseph Kabila immediately called for multilateral talks with all parties and began negotiating peace. By
February 2001, a peace deal had been brokered between Kabila, Rwanda and Uganda, leading to
withdrawal of foreign troops and the installation of a UN peacekeeping force.
Transitional Period (2003-2006)
Kabila Supporters Rally During Election
By 2003 all foreign forces had left the DRC and Kabila had set up a temporary power-sharing government
with four vice-presidents, two of them from former rebel groups. Kabila officially won presidential elections
– the first ever in 40 years – in 2006. Over 25 million citizens—85% of those eligible—participated in the
elections.
While this landmark election was largely free of major violence and serious irregularities, the country still
has many challenges to surmount. The new government is weak and barely functioning in many respects,
and faces persistent political and security challenges. Predatory armed groups, including Rwandan rebels
and the Congolese army, continue to prowl eastern Congo with impunity. Congolese women and girls in
particular bear the vicious brunt of this crisis.
Current Situation: Conflict-Driven Humanitarian Crisis (2006-Present)
The democratic election did not ensure peace in DRC. Despite peace accords and the presence of the
world’s largest peacekeeping mission, the fragility of the state and its institutions has allowed conflict and
human rights abuses to continue, particularly in the eastern provinces. Conflict mostly focuses on
exploitation of the region’s significant mineral resources, including diamonds, copper, zinc, gold, and
several minerals used in today’s electronics. As a result, women and children bear the brunt of this
violence. Hundreds of thousands of women have been violently raped, many not surviving the attacks.
Because children are often kidnapped, drugged, and turned into child soldiers for the warring groups,
Reuters has named the DRC the worst place in the world to be a child.
Laurent Nkunda Former Leader of CNDP
For several years, the main conflict in Congo has been focused in the provinces of North and South Kivu,
two extremely resource-rich areas. The conflict has mainly been between the government of Congo –
Kabila’s government and his army – and the rebel movement CNDP. The CNDP, a rebel group until recently
led by the Congolese Tutsi general, Laurent Nkunda, was originally supported by the Rwandan government.
The CNDP’s main argument against the Congolese government was its support of the rebel group FDLR, a
militia made up at least in part by former perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide. Ostensibly to protect
Congo’s very small Tutsi minority, Nkunda’s forces have maintained their rebellion in the east. In truth, the
continued existence of the FDLR has likely been only a convenient excuse to continue exploitation of Kivu’s
mines by both the CNDP and Rwanda.
The Congolese government and army has, in fact, been supporting the FDLR, often supplying them with
weapons and other equipment in order to launch joint attacks against the CNDP. The Congolese army is a
very disparate group – made up of both government soldiers and integrated members of former rebel
groups from Congo’s civil wars, the soldiers often complain of being underpaid. They have been little match
for the well-organized and unified CNDP. As such, the Congolese government has supported the FDLR
specifically because the CNDP continues to exist in the East.
Nkunda has absolutely refused to negotiate with the Kabila government – even after being offered the post
of general in the Congolese army during the political transition period. Despite a ceasefire signed by
Nkunda’s forces and Kabila’s government in January 2008, Nkunda was clearly hungry for power and
unwilling to make peace. In August of 2008, he and his forces advanced on the regional capital of the east,
Goma – stopping just kilometers outside its borders as a signal to the Kabila government that he demanded
power. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were newly displaced in the wake of his advancing troops.
Bosco "the Terminator" Ntaganda
In January 2009, Nkunda was ousted by General Bosco Ntaganda, Nkunda’s former military chief of staff,
who took command of the CNDP. The rebel group under its new leadership quickly pledged to abandon its
four-year insurgency and integrate into the Congolese armed forces, raising fresh hopes for peace. Later
that month, Nkunda was arrested in Rwanda on charges of war crimes. Some of these alleged crimes have
been documented by New York-based Human Rights Watch which says his troops have carried out
numerous killings, torture and rapes. See its October 2007 report. Ntaganda himself, however, has been
indicted by the International Criminal Court for recruiting child soldiers to fight in Ituri province in 2002 and
2003. Despite this, he is playing a prominent role in the Congolese army’s offensive against the FDLR
according to Congolese army documents seen by Reuters in April 2009.
Unfortunately, the war in the Kivus is far from over. The joint Congolese-Rwandan operation against the
FDLR is known as Kimia II (Kimia means “calm” in Kiswahili) and is backed by the UN. But in many places,
government army units collaborate with the FDLR in commercial dealings, sharing mines and taxation and
smuggling opportunities with their former allies – sources from within MONUC have reported that the FDLR
still at times procures arms and ammunition from the Congolese armed forces.
The FDLR in turn has taken revenge on the civilian population for the attacks on its forces. Nearly 800,000
civilians have been newly displaced since January 2009, bringing the total internally displaced population in
Congo up to 2 million people. Fighters from the FDLR are destroying communities, killing scores of civilians
and raping many women. While MONUC officials state that civilian protection is their top priority, entire
communities have been uprooted in the wake of Kimia II, recruitment of child soldiers has increased and
certain areas have seen incidences of sexual violence double or even triple. Despite assertions by Rwanda
and Congo that the FDLR has been routed, the 6000 strong militia is incredibly powerful; though it was
scattered, few of its leaders have been arrested.
DRC STATISTICS
Location- Central Africa
Population- 68,692,542 (July 2009 est.)
Area- 2,345,410 sq km
Ethnic Groups- As many as 250 ethnic groups, the most numerous are the Kongo, Luba, and Mongo
Languages- French, Lingala, Kikongo (Kituba), Swahili, Tshiluba
Women Under Siege
The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is formally over, but women and girls remain targets for
violence. Today, all warring parties in Congo routinely use sexual violence as a weapon of war and a tool of
social control. The actual number of women and girls raped in eastern Congo is unknown, but experts say
the scale is enormous (hundreds of thousands have been reported).
Rape as a Weapon of War in DR Congo
Michael J. Kavanagh and Taylor Krauss, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
Mass rape – along with other mass human rights violations – continue in Congo because they can. Weak
governmental institutions and a corrupt and ineffective judicial system foster a culture of impunity that
leaves an open space for the frequent and unabashed destruction of women’s bodies. Incidence of rape is
increasing, and impunity is so ingrained that violence against women is being used by civilians to
demonstrate power relations.
Women’s Bodies as Battlegrounds
Women are at the center of the community in Congo. Warring parties rape women in order to destroy the
communities they live in – through this whole-population terrorization these warring parties can control
valuable territory – and the vast mineral wealth beneath the ground.
Rape traumatizes girls and women, humiliates their husbands, and breaks up families. Women become
fearful of working in the fields and taking goods to sell at market, reducing family incomes. If they have
been badly injured they may not be able to have more children. Many who are raped are divorced by their
husbands and lose their home. In some cases armed men brutalize villagers for food and loot, in others
they use rape as a weapon of war to force locals to accept the power and authorities of a particular armed
group. Men and boys have also been raped as violence in the Congo increases.
Child Solders
Children are particularly vulnerable during conflict – and nowhere in the world is this more true than in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. One of the most devastating issues in this conflict is the frequent and
ongoing abduction of children – some as young as nine – into armed groups.
All the armed groups in Congo are guilty of forcibly recruiting children into their ranks – including the
Congolese army itself. Once abducted, the children are brutalized and forced to serve as soldiers, porters
and, in the case of thousands of abducted girls, sex slaves. Children are programmed to lie about their age
and abduction, and often kept compliant with a steady supply of drugs.
Since 2004 there has been an effort to demobilize many of these children. About 31,000 children have been
demobilized from Congo’s battlefields since 1999, but at least 8,000 are still being used as combatants,
porters and sex slaves.
The reintegration process is difficult – many of the children face ostracization from their families or society
at large, many suffer from drug addiction – some have actually wound up returning to armed groups. It is
estimated that around 3,500 children are still with armed groups in Congo.