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Second Congo War

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For the Civil War in Congo 1960-1965, see Congo Civil War (1960)
File:Drcongomap.jpg
The Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Congo Civil War is a conflict largely taking place in the territory of Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaïre). The widest interstate war in modern African history, it has directly involved nine African nations and earned the epithet of "African World War". According to the International Rescue Committee, 3.8 million people have died since 1998, mostly from starvation and disease brought about by what has now become the deadliest conflict since World War II. Millions more have been displaced from their homes or are seeking asylum in neighboring countries. Despite several partially successful peace initiatives and agreements, hostilities continue as of November 2004.

Origins

The war grew out of the violence of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 and related violence in Burundi which saw hundreds of thousands of Hutus flee both countries into eastern Zaïre. The resulting refugee camps quickly became dominated by the Interahamwe Hutu militias that had carried out much of the genocide supported by Hutu members of the Rwandan military.

In an effort to punish members of these militia and to prevent raids or an invasion by the groups involved, the newly Tutsi-dominated army of Rwanda entered eastern Zaïre, supported by forces from Burundi and Uganda. This intervention was strongly opposed by the government of Zaïre under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

Mobutu had controlled Zaïre since 1965 with backing from the United States, who had viewed him as a bulwark against Soviet-backed Communist leaders like Patrice Lumumba, who Mobutu had deposed in 1960 with Belgian and CIA assistance. With the end of the Cold War, both superpowers disengaged from sub-Saharan Africa. When the United States withdrew its backing of Mobutu, rebels correctly felt that he would be easier to overthrow while deprived of superpower support. The Rwandan and Burundians began to funnel weapons and money to the anti-Sese Seko Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaïre, or ADFL, under Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

The early 1990s had seen a wave of democratization in Africa. There was substantial internal and external pressure for democratization in Zaïre, and Mobutu promised reform. He officially ended the one-party system he had maintained since 1967, but ultimately was unwilling to implement broad reform, alienating allies both at home and internationally.

There had long been considerable internal resistance to Mobutu's rule. Opposition included leftists who looked back on the abortive rule of Patrice Lumumba with fondness as well as various ethnic and regional minorities opposed to the dominance of the Kinshasa region over the rest of the country. Kabila was one of these. He was also an ethnic Katangese who had been fighting the Mobutu government for decades.

Course of the war

The recent conflict may be divided into two phases: the war to overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko's government starting in 1996, and the vastly more complex conflict starting in 1998.

Phase One: The AFDL war and its aftermath

When Mobutu Sese Seko's government issued an order in November 1996 forcing Tutsis to leave Zaire on penalty of death, they erupted in rebellion. The anti-Mobutu forces combined to form the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Liberation du Congo-Zaire (AFDL). Due to the support of the leaders of African Great Lakes states, particularly Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and given no sign of foreign military assistance for Mobutu, the Zairian Army joined Kabila, and they marched from eastern DRC on Kinshasa. Resistance crumbled in front of them, and Mobutu fled the country. Kabila formally took power on May 20, 1997, and he renamed Zaïre the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

However, once Kabila was in power the situation changed dramatically. He quickly became suspected of being as corrupt and authoritarian as his predecessor. Many of the pro-democracy forces abandoned him and he began a vigorous effort to centralize control. This brought renewed conflict with the minority groups of the east who demanded autonomy. Furthermore, Kabila turned against his former Rwandan allies when they showed little sign of withdrawing from his territory. He accused them and their allies of trying to capture the region's mineral resources. Furthermore, his overreliance on the Rwandans for political and military control was a major reason for pro-democracy forces accusing Kabila of being a puppet for Kigali.

Phase Two: A multi-faceted war

In August 1998, Kabila removed all the Tutsi officials in his government and ordered all Rwandan and Ugandan officials out of the country. Almost immediately, ethnic Tutsis erupted in rebellion a second time, and Rwandan government troops joined them. To help remove the occupying Rwandans, Kabila enlisted the aid of the Hutu insurgents in eastern Congo. The Tutsi-led Rwandan government allied with Uganda, and Burundi also retaliated, occupying a portion of northwestern Congo.

The Rwandan government also claimed a substantial part of eastern Congo as "historically Rwandan". The Rwandans also alleged that Kabila was organizing a genocide against their Tutsi brethren in the Kivu region.

Thus, a multi-sided war quickly began. The Great Lakes states supported various rebel groups such as the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) in a war against Kabila. This group quickly came to dominate the resource-rich eastern provinces and based its operations in the city of Goma. By the end of 1998, Kabila's government had lost control of more than one-third of the country's territory.

Broad Factions in the Congo Conflict

The many armed groups in the second phase of the conflict may be divided into four broad categories. Given the fluid nature of war, there are numerous exceptions and caveats, and groups within a single category have violently clashed in the past over resources and territory.

Tutsi-aligned forces
Includes the national armies of the Tutsi-dominated governments of Rwanda and Burundi, the militia groups created by the ethnic Tutsi Banyamulenge residing in the DRC and the Banyamulenge-dominated RCD rebel forces based in Goma. Tutsi-aligned forces inside the DRC are most active in North and South Kivu provinces, and have territory extending westward toward Kinshasa. Goals include protecting the national security of Rwanda and Burundi, defending Tutsis in the DRC, checking the influence of Uganda and plundering natural resources.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda in Washington
Hutu-aligned forces
Includes Rwandan Hutus responsible for the 1994 genocide, Burundian rebels seeking to overthrow the government, Congolese Hutus and affiliated Mai-Mai militias. The major Hutu group currently is the Forces Démocratiques de la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) operating in the Kivus. Goals include expelling foreign Tutsi forces, ethnic cleansing of the Banyamulenge, overthrowing the governments of Rwanda and Burundi, and gaining control of resources
Uganda-aligned forces
Includes Uganda's national army and various Uganda-backed rebel groups in control of much of the northeast and central north of the DRC. Goals include protecting the borders of Uganda, stopping the development of a powerful Congolese state, checking the influence of Rwanda, illustrating the power and influence of Uganda, and extracting natural resources.
Kinshasa-aligned forces
Includes the Congolese national army, various anti-foreigner Mai Mai groups, and allied nations such as Zimbabwe, Angola, Chad and Namibia. They control the east and south of the DRC. The main goal is the creation of a strong state in control of its territory and borders, and thus regaining control of the natural resources.

The ethnic violence between Hutu- and Tutsi-aligned forces has been a driving impetus for much of the conflict, with people on both sides fearing their annihilation as a race. The Kinshasa- and Hutu-aligned forces have enjoyed close cooperation as their interests in forcing the armies and proxy forces of Uganda and Rwanda dovetail. While the Uganda- and Rwanda-aligned forces worked closely together to gain territory at the expense of Kinshasha, competition over access to resources appears to have created a fissure in their relationship. There are reports that Uganda is permitting Kinshasa to send arms to the Hutu FDLR via territory held by Uganda-backed rebels as Uganda, Kinshasa and the Hutus are all seeking, in varying degrees, to check the influence of Rwanda and its affiliates.

Intervention by Third-Party States

The governments of the DRC, Uganda, and Rwanda (and to a lesser extent, Burundi) are now enmeshed in the conflict, and could extricate themselves militarily and politically only with difficulty. This is not the case with other nations who have used the conflict as an opportunity to harm a warring party, make a political statement, stake a claim to spoils, or felt compelled to get involved because the conflict had negatively affected them. Some examples are:

  • The rebel Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, made up of Ugandans is reported to have been supported by the government of Sudan, apparently in retaliation for Ugandan support for rebel groups in southern Sudan
  • Zimbabwe, led by President Robert Mugabe was lured by Congo's rich natural resources and desire to increase his own power and prestige in Africa.
  • Angola, caught up in its own 25-year-old war against UNITA rebels, also allied with Congo to eliminate the UNITA rebels in southern Congo. Chad and Namibia, as allies of Angola, joined as well.

Outside of Africa, most states remained neutral, but pushed for an end to the violence. Non-African states were extremely reluctant to send troops to the region. A number of Western mining and diamond companies, most notably from the United States, Canada, and Israel, supported the Kabila government in exchange for business deals. These actions attracted substantial criticism from human-rights groups.

Nature of the Conflict

The Congo war has largely been one without large battles or clearly defined front lines. While significant numbers of trained soldiers from national armies have been involved, the rulers of those nations have been extremely loathe to risk their forces in open combat. The equipment and training of the national armies represents a major investment for the poor states of the region and losses would be difficult to replace.

As a result, the war has largely been fought by loosely organized militia groups. These untrained and undisciplined forces have greatly contributed to the violence of the conflict by frequent looting, raping of women, and ethnic cleansing. It has also made peace far harder to enforce as the militias continue operating despite cease-fires between their patrons. Many Congolese have been killed by these uncontrolled, armed militias and their government allies. Many more have died from disease and starvation brought about by the chaos in the region.

Estimate of territory held by factions in June 2003

Much of the conflict has focused on gaining control of the abundant natural resources of the Congo. The African Great Lakes states have largely paid their military expenses by extracting minerals, diamonds, and timber from the eastern Congo. These efforts have been directed by officers from the Rwandan and Ugandan armies who have grown wealthy as a result. Over time, the Rwandan national army has become far less interested in hunting down those responsible for the genocide and more concerned with protecting their sphere of control in eastern Congo. The occupying forces have levied high taxes on the local population and confiscated almost all of the livestock and much of the food in the region.

Competition for control of resources between the anti-Kabila forces has also resulted in conflict. In 1999, Ugandan and Rwanda troops clashed in the city of Kisangani. The RCD also split into two factions, greatly weakening the anti-Kabila rebel forces and limiting their operation to the eastern portion of the country. However, the forces loyal to and allied with Kabila were too depleted and exhausted to take advantage of this.

Lusaka Peace Agreement

These circumstances contributed to the first cease-fire of the war. In July 1999, the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement was signed by the six warring countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Uganda) and rebel groups. Under the agreement, forces from all sides, under a Joint Military Commission, would cooperate in tracking, disarming and documenting all armed groups in the Congo, especially those forces identified with the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Few provisions were made to actually disarm the militias.

The United Nations Security Council deployed about 90 liaison personnel in August 1999 to support the cease-fire. However, in the following months all sides accused the others of repeatedly breaking the cease-fire, and it became clear that small incidents could trigger attacks. In November, government-controlled television in Kinshasa claimed that Kabila's army had been rebuilt and was now prepared to fulfill its "mission to liberate" the country. Rwandan forces launched a large offensive and approached Kinshasa before being repelled.

By November 30 1999, the U.N. authorized a force of 5,500 troops, the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (known by the French acronym, MONUC), to monitor the ceasefire. However, fighting continued between rebels and government forces, and between Rwandan and Ugandan forces.

Kabila's assassination

In January 2001, Laurent Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards. It is unknown who ordered the killing but most feel Kabila's allies were to blame as they were tired of his duplicity. By unanimous vote of the Congolese parliament, his son, Joseph Kabila, was sworn in as president to replace him. This was largely as a result of Robert Mugabe's backing. In February, the new president met Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the United States. Rwanda, Uganda, and the rebels agreed to a U.N. pull-out plan. Uganda and Rwanda began pulling troops back from the front line.

In April 2001, a U.N. panel of experts investigated the illegal exploitation of diamonds, cobalt, coltan, gold and other lucrative resources in the Congo. The report accused Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe of systematically exploiting Congolese resources and recommended the Security Council impose sanctions.

Despite frequent accusations of misdeeds in the Congo, the Rwandan government continued to receive substantially more international aid than went to the vastly larger Congo. Rwandan President Paul Kagame was also still respected internationally for his leadership in ending the carnage and for his efforts to rebuild and reunite Rwanda.

Attempts at peace

A number of attempts to end the violence were attempted, but these were not successful. In 2002 Rwanda's situation began to worsen. Many members of the RCD either gave up fighting or decided to join Kabila's government. Moreover, the Banyamulenge, the backbone of Rwanda's militia forces, became increasingly tired of control from Kigali and constant involvement in the unending conflict. A number of them mutinied, leading to violent clashes between them and Rwandan forces. At the same time the western Congo was becoming increasingly secure under the younger Kabila. International aid was resumed as inflation was brought under control.

The Sun City Agreement was formalized on April 19, 2002. It was a framework for providing the Congo with a unified, multipartite government and democratic elections; however, critics noted that there were no stipulations regarding the unification of the army, which weakened the effectiveness of the agreement. There have been several reported breaches of the Sun City agreement, but it has seen a reduction in the fighting.

On July 22 2002, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo reached a peace deal after five days of talks in Pretoria, South Africa. The talks centered on two issues. One was the withdrawal of the estimated 20,000 Rwandan soldiers in the Congo. The other was the rounding up of the ex-Rwandan soldiers and the dismantling of the Hutu extremist militia known as Interahamwe, which took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide and continues to operate out of eastern Congo. Rwanda had an estimated 20,000 soldiers in the Congo and had refused to withdraw them until the Interahamwe militiamen were dealt with.

The Gbadolite Agreement of December 31, 2002 was signed by three rebel groups supported by Uganda: the MLC, RCD-N and RCD-ML. This obliged them to immediately stop all fighting in the Isiro-Bafwasende-Beni-Watsa quadrangle and to accept United Nations military observers in the area. It also contained guarantees of the freedom of movement of the civilian population and humanitarian organizations from one area to another. Again this treaty had limited effect.

Signed on 6 September 2004, the Luanda Agreement was a written peace agreement between Congo and Uganda. The treaty aimed to get Uganda to withdraw their troops from Congo and to improve the relationship between the two countries. Again this was not implemented.

Transitional government

In September 2004, between 20,000 and 150,000 people were fleeing unrest in the eastern Kivu province caused by an advance of government troops against break-away national army soldiers.[1]

On October 1 2004, the U.N. Security Council decided to deploy 5,900 more soldiers to the MONUC mission in Congo, although U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan had asked for some 12,000.

Rwanda invades

In late November 2004, Rwandan president Paul Kagame declared his aim to send troops into Congo. A few days later, Rwandan troops were spotted by UN personnel. MONUC chief M'Hand Djalouzi said on December 1, "Infiltration is nothing new but this is something else, it has the appearance of an invasion."

IRC criticizes world response

The International Rescue Committee has said that the Congo Civil War is killing 1000 people a day, and calls the international response "abysmal". Comparing the war with Iraq, it said that during 2004 Iraq received aid worth the equivalent of $180 per person, whilst the Congo received $3 per person. [2]

Effects

The conflict has had wide ranging effects, most negative. The war has served to destroy the economy of an already-poor region as foreign investors have fled and resources have been devoted to fighting the war. Much of the already scant infrastructure in the Congo has been destroyed. The continuation and escalation of ethnic hatreds that fueled the Rwandan genocide and quickly spilled over into Congo have made the post-colonial ethnic division of the region even more concrete and intractable.

Deaths resulting from the war are estimated at 3.8 million from surveys conducted by the International Rescue Committee. The vast majority of these deaths (80-90%) resulted from easily preventable diseases and malnurishment resulting from the disruption of health service, agriculture and infrastrucute and from refugee displacement. The 2004 IRC report also includes death toll estimates of 3.4 million and 4.4 million, a range resulting from changes in basic assumption in the model.

Effects within the DRC include the displacement of some 3.4 million people, as well as the impoverishment of hundreds of thousands. The majority of the displaced are from the eastern section of the country. Nearly two million others have been displaced in the neighboring countries of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

The war has also raised questions about Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. The increase in democratization and most notably the end of apartheid in South Africa raised great hope for the region in the post Cold War world. Some saw the prospect of an "African Renaissance." The seemingly unending violence in the Congo has dashed many of these hopes. It has hurt the reputations of a number of statesmen who were once seen as reformers.

Glossary of Armed Groups

Groups are listed under the state in which they are most active.

  • Democratic Republic of Congo
    • Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Liberation du Congo-Zaire (AFDL): The Rwanda-Burundi backed alliance of groups that overthrew Seko and put Laurent Kabila into power.
    • Armeé du Peuple Congolais (APC): Also Armee Populaire Congolaise. The military wing of the RCD-ML.
    • Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC): The military wing of RCD-Goma
    • Banyamulenge: Ethnic Tutsis in South Kivu who were very active in the AFDL and continue to dominate much of the ANC
    • Forces Armées Congolaises (FAC): The national army of the DRC
    • Front de Libération du Congo (FLC): An alliance that Uganda attempted to form out of the MLC, RCD-N and RCD-ML under Jean-Pierre Bemba in November 2000 to centralized control of Equateur and Orientale provinces in 2000. Fell apart in August 2001.
    • Mai-Mai: An umbrella term for Congolese militia groups generally opposed to foreign occupation
    • Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC): Ugandan-backed rebel group operating in Equateur led by Jeanne-Pierre Bemba. Created 1998. Sometimes used as shorthand for Ugandan-backed rebel forces of the MLC, RCD-K/ML and RCD-N but the groups are not under a single command.
    • Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD): A name taken by numerous groups, but almost always refers to RCD-Goma.
      • RCD-Congo: Faction of RCD-Goma led by Kin-Kiey Mulumba that broke off in June 2002
      • RCD-Goma: A Rwandan-backed rebel group created in the town of Goma in August 1998 to fight Laurent Kabila. Technically, the ANC is the military wing of RCD-Goma but most writers do not make this distinction.
      • RCD-K: Ugandan-backed rebel faction led by Wamba dia Wamba that broke from RCD-Goma in March 1999. Became the RCD-ML led by Nyamwisi in September 1999. Also known as RCD-Wamba. See RCD-K/ML
      • RCD-Kisangani/Mouvement de Libération (RCD-K/ML): Refers to the RCD-K that became RCD-ML
      • RCD-ML: Ugandan-backed group led by Mbusa Nyamwisi. Active in North Kivu and Ituri. See RCD-K/ML. Is reported to be accepting arms shipments from Kinshasa, in agreement with Uganda, that are shared with the FDLR against Tutsi forces.
      • RCD-National (RCD-N): Ugandan-backed rebel group led by Roger Lumbala that split from the RCD-K/ML and is now allied with the MLC
  • Burundi
    • Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie-Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie (CNDD-FDD): Hutu rebel group fighting the Burundian government, commonly referred to as FDD. Cooperates with Babembe and Bafulero Mai-Mai near Fizi/Baraka.
    • Forces Armées Burundaises (FAB): Tutsi-dominated Burundian national army, domestically focused but cooperates with the RCD and RDF
    • Front de Libération Nationale (FLN or FROLINA): Hutu militia group led by Joseph Kalumba
  • Rwanda
    • Armée de Libération du Rwanda (ALiR): The Hutu successor organization to the Interahamwe and RDR based in the Kivus, with recruitment from Congolese Hutus. Merged into the FDLR in September 2000.
    • Forces Démocratiques de la Libération du Rwanda (FDLR): The primary Kinshasa-backed Hutu anti-Tutsi group currently operating. created in 2000 after the Kinshasa-based Hutu command and Kivu-based ALiR agreed to merge. In July 2002, FDLR units still in Kinshasa-held territory moved into the Kivus. 15,000-20,000 members.
    • Interahamwe: Rwandese anti-Tutsi Hutus responsible for the genocide who were forced into eastern Congo
    • Rassemblement Démocratique pour le Rwanda: The Hutu sucessor organization to the Interhamwe in Congo that morphed into the ALiR
    • Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF): Tutsi-dominated national military of Rwanda
    • Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA): Former name of Rwandan army, renamed Rwandan Defense Forces in June 2002
    • Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF): Uganda-based Tutsi rebel group led by Paul Kagame that chased out the genocidaire in 1994. Renamed the Rwanda Patriotic Army after the Tutsi took power.

See also

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