“…until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; ….. Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace.”
H. I.M. Haile Selassie I Speech to the United Nations (excerpt)
New York City, NY October 4, 1963
Africa is not a continent unknown to suffering whether in the guise of colonialism, racism, ethnic or religious conflicts. And time after time we are reminded of the disrepair that has befallen the great continent. So why is it that after decades of self-rule does Africa still find itself teetering on the brink of conflict. One infamous example is the Congo war. The First, the Second, the Ituri Conflict and the Kivu Conflict. All heads of the Africa’s never ending war.
On the morning of April 6 1994, an airplane carrying Hutu Rwandan president, Juvénal Habyarimana, and Hutu Burundian president, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down in Kigali on their way from peace talks in Tanzania, leading to the deaths of all onboard. In the days that followed, the world bore witness to the swift and calculated massacre of an estimated 800,000 Tutsi and Tutsi sympathizers by Hutu power groups, Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi, in what came to be known as the Rwandan genocide. The climax of a war between the Hutu dominated government and the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), the last in a series of events hundreds of years in the making.
By July, the Tutsi dominated RPF were in control of the capital, flushing out the Hutu leaders and bringing an end to the genocide. A massive exodus into eastern Zaire ensued with refugees initially comprised of Tutsis fearing execution followed shortly by Hutus fearing retaliation. Home to ethnic tensions, a history of Tutsi oppression and to the Kanyarwandan War, in which both Hutu and Tutsi emigrants where killed but a few decades earlier not without several massacres of its own. Eastern Zaire was now also home to rebel groups opposed to the incumbent president, Mobutu Sésé Seko.
Here the ethnic violence continued with the killing of both indigenous and emigrated Tutsis concurrently with attacks into Rwanda by Hutu militias in an attempt to regain control. This ultimately culminated into the Banyamulenge rebellion of August 1996. The Banyamulenge standing for Tutsis ‘from Mulenge’, a Congolese city in the south Kivu, as opposed to Banyarwanda ‘from Rwanda’. Terms whose distinction seemed of little relevance with all Tutsi seen as foreign and referred to by the former. Fed-up with the constant attacks by their new arrivals, the Banyamulenge finally took up arms in an attempt to end the onslaught. But this struggle did not remain isolated for long. Their plight and demand for change resonated in a country long abandoned by its leaders and soon grew into a general revolution. Out of this came the birth of the AFDL (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo) with the renowned rebel leader, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, at its forefront.
Mobutu’s one man state, extravagance and indifference to the country’s hardships with public executions of his rivals made an already dire situation even more bleak. Refugees fed into eastern Zaire, with Mobutu, a former ally of the deceased president Habyarimana, granting refuge to ex government officials in Zaire including members and leaders of the Hutus militias who used eastern Zaire as a base to carry out attacks into Rwanda, threatening the security of the still frail nation. With the government unable and unwilling to control Hutu groups launching attacks into Rwanda and in some cases even aiding the perpetrators, the RPF launched an offensive into eastern Zaire. Their intentions to date are not fully clear with numerous purported hidden agendas arising to date. Including theories of fear of invasion, overthrowing Mobutu, repopulating the country and annexing a portion of Zaire considered to be part of ‘historic Rwanda’. And thus Africa was plunged further into the abyss of madness. With Uganda’s Museveni backing Rwanda and sending troops from RPF bases long established in its domain. Angola’s rebel group long supported by Mobutu, fighting for him and thus the Angolan government supporting the AFDL. Burundi that had experienced its own Tutsi massacres supporting the rebels, and Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Ethiopia and South Sudan’s rebel group SPLA supporting financially, militarily or morally. While Mobutu was backed by Sudan and the Angolan rebel group UNITA.
With all the local and foreign backing, the AFDL was able to take over the country with moderate ease leading to Mobutu escaping to Morocco and dying of cancer a few months later having embezzled between 4 to 15 billion dollars of Congolese money and Kabila instating himself as president. Now in a position of control Kabila sought to turn the country around, renaming it the Democratic Republic of Congo. But he had inherited a rundown country with huge external debts and pulling it out of its current state would be a feat under any circumstance. His dream for change was however short lived with the country spiraling further into economic crisis, disrepair, with corruption running rampant, inflation at an all-time high, currency devaluation and ethnic tensions still at play, all superseded by his unwillingness to implement democratic reforms. He quickly became unpopular, being regarded by many as a mere puppet of his former allies while simultaneously being unpopular amongst his neighbors for his inability to deal with the Hutus rebel groups. In an attempt to bolster his image, he turned against his allies by making a series of decisions that culminated in their expulsion from the DRC.
It must however be emphasized that by this point the DRC was not only home to Hutu militias but to rebel groups from several other countries including Angola, Burundi and Uganda. The rebel groups included the Allied Democratic Forces, the West Nile Bank Front, and the Lord’s Resistance Army, infamous for murder, mutilations, and child abductions in North Uganda. With each country’s security dependent on the stability of another and rebel groups exploiting the situation in the DRC ,each country’s mini war would eventually coalesce into a pool of perpetual chaos.
The call for revolution spread once again and a year later the country was at war. The revolt was from none other than the Banyamulenge and some members of the AFDL that mutinied in the east. With the backing of Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi a group called the RCD (Rally for Congolese Democracy) emerged with each country also establishing territories in northeastern DRC. To fight this insurgency, Kabila enlisted the help of the Hutus in the east. Thus bringing to head once again the Tutsi -Hutu confrontations. Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola responded to Kabila’s plea for help. Followed not long after by Chad, Libya and Sudan. Saving him just in time from the rebels at his door step. And so the fighting continued even when peace talks were prompted by Nelson Mandela and as the fight lines stabilized and the victory once thought would be swift eluded them, fracture lines begun to appear within the RCD. The group split into Rwanda controlled RCD- Goma and Uganda controlled RCD- Kisangani and eventually into even smaller factions. The two sides squared off in the ‘six day war’ peaking when Uganda’s People’s Defense Force clashed with Rwanda Patriotic Army in Kisangani. While at about the same time, Mobutu announced the reinforcement of his army and renewed his vows to liberate the country.
On the 16th of January 2001, president Kabila was shot dead by one of his child soldiers, leaving his son the reins of power. His son was subsequently eased into his new position by high placed officials hand-picked by his father and sworn in as president within two weeks of his father’s death at the tender age of 29. Unlike his father, Kabila made true on his promise to develop the country and even sought to mend relationships with Uganda, Rwanda as well as the international community. While this happened, the unity within the RCD further disintegrated with disagreements over the control or mineral rich regions and the unending war. Losing more support from the populace due to the increased taxes imposed on occupied territories and the human rights abuses carried out by their soldiers, to the economic and infrastructural boom in Kinshasa.
The Banyamulenge were now clashing with the Rwandans that had once backed them. The Rwandans continuingly clashing with Ugandans. And the Ugandans even letting Hutu militia supply lines run through their territory. All happening as each group pillaged the land, stealing all the minerals and resources. Tacitly supported by foreign companies ever eager to exploit the situation and supply themselves with the untapped resources of the Congo by making large payments to local groups. Further funding the war which has recruited tens of thousands of children as young as seven years of age as soldiers and leaving refugees once again fleeing helter skelter between Zaire, Burundi and Rwanda and some even to Tanzania and Uganda. And when the children were not fighting as soldiers, they were working steadily in mines extracting coltan, a compound used by major mobile companies to produce mobile phones, uranium, a large portion of which some decades earlier is said to have been sourced for the production of the Hiroshima Nagasaki atomic bomb, as well as diamonds and copper. With educational and medical institutions scarce if at all existent and with low wages in inhumane conditions living in an economy with ballooning inflation, a large percentage of the population died not just from the war but from hunger, malnutrition and lack of access to medical care.
In 2002 the Pretoria Accord with Rwanda, followed by the Luanda Agreement with Uganda and the Global All Inclusive Agreement with all Congolese parties and agreed on the formation of a transitional government as well as the conduction of legislative and presidential elections within two years. And thus the second Congo war was officially brought to a conclusion.
So, what has changed since then? A number of organizations have been created to monitor the actions of these foreign companies like: Publish What You Pay, and Transparency International, forcing them to take corporate social responsibility. To encourage the formation of policies that would prevent the reoccurrence of further conflicts, the African Centre for Peace and Cooperation was established as well as the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfer to limit the availability of arms and ammunition in these areas. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was established and prosecuted top officials for their role in the genocide. The United Nations passed the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 15 Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict 18. Along with carrying out sanctions on countries for going against Child Soldiers Protection Rights.
The UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide was formed as well as the Advisory Committee on the Prevention of Genocide. And the drawing up of an Outcome Document during the United Nations 2005 Summit stating amongst others that, “The international community has a responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other means to protect populations from these crimes. If a State is manifestly failing to protect its populations, the international community must be prepared to take collective action to protect populations, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.” And the identification by the office of the special adviser of eight factors that cumulatively increase the risk of genocide. A list including, ‘Tense inter-group relations, including a record of discrimination and/or other human rights violations committed against a group’, ‘Weak institutional capacity to prevent genocide…. protecting vulnerable groups, and a lack of impartial security forces and media.’, ‘The presence of illegal arms and armed elements’, ‘Underlying political, economic, military or other motivation to target a group.’, ‘Triggering factors, such as elections.’
But to say that the genocide or any of the Congo wars was due simply to ethnic tensions would be a huge overstatement. For even during the First Congo war, Kagame sought the help of the Hutus by recruiting former soldiers of the Hutus militias into the RPF and key Hutus into the local government to reduce the support for those carrying attacks into Rwanda. Or the fact that the two tribes have been discovered to be closer than previously thought, with evidence showing that this division in race may have even been coined by colonialist not necessarily on account of ethnic origins but on economic status. With Tutsi and Hutu synonymous to nobles and the serfs respectively.
But underneath the genocide and wars lies and even deeper problem. An aspect of human nature that is as inexplicable as it is insidious. Our need to identify with a category of individuals and our ability to be swayed into teams and manipulated into action to prove our devotion to an entity and for the fear of discovery as a charlatan. The neorealism of society. And although inequality is a major factor in all conflicts. Our ability to fuel them by partaking in them rather than offer neutrality and equity is the ultimate culprit. From the discord between the Kikuyu-Kalenjin, The Hausa-Ibo, Upper-Middle class, Christian-Muslim, Shia-Sunni, Republic-Democratic and the resultant violence, conflicts and insurgencies, has arisen a window of opportunity to a select group of individuals and groups. Groups that fan the waves of discord into their favor. As pretext to achieve their egoistic, self serving goals. It can not be described any better as by Global Security, a non-profit think tank that states , ‘Armed conflict has allowed elites and political factions to gain power and positions in the state through non-democratic means’.
Now as the DRC approaches elections, a country that has never known a president live long enough to see retirement, the world braces for the worst. With Kabila seeking an unconstitutional third term and delays in the November 2016 elections, the Congolese people become disquieted. In a region swept by the fever of ‘Stayism’ and a good number of countries that have amended their constitutions to allow then to run for a third term, like Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville and Paul Kagame of Rwanda. We wait to see not if, but just how hard Kabila will cling on to power.