Congos+Major+Recent+Issues

Valinda Browne

=﻿ The Congolese anticipation for the removal of Mobutu Sese Seko created a period of horrendous conflict with other nations. = = ﻿ = = First Congo War = = Down with Mobutu = = After Mobutu Removal = = Second Congo War- The Great Arican War =
 * Rwanda became concerned of the cross-border raids
 * The new Tutsi-government protest this violation and the Democratic Rally for Rwanda's militia invasion and began to give arms to Tutsi's of eastern Zaire
 * Tutsi's opposed Mobutu
 * Mobutu had opened support for Rwandan Hutu extremist responsible for the Rwandan genocide
 * Revolution goal was to replace President Mobutu Sese Seko
 * The Rwanda genocide sparked a massive refugee crisis
 * The Great Lake refugee crisis: over two-million Rwandans moved to other countries
 * Rwanda Hutu militia forced fled Rwanda following the rise of the Tutsi-led government
 * October 1996 Rwandan troops (RPA) entered the DRC with an armed coalition led by Laurent-Desire Kabila, known as AFDL (non-Tutsi militia Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo)
 * Mobutu and Kabila had a failed peace talk
 * 1997- President Mobutu leaves the country; Kabila decalres himself president
 * Mobutu died from prostate cancer in 1997
 * Kabila ordered a violent crackdown to restore order
 * Kabila renames Zaire; the Democratic Republic of Congo [[image:http://en.valka.cz/files/thumbs/t_kabiladesi_435.gif width="178" height="230"]][[image:http://www.afrol.com/images/maps/drc_conflict.gif width="253" height="288"]][[image:http://blog.psaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/congo2.jpg width="288" height="325"]]
 * A rift betweem Kabila, Rwanda and Uganda sparked a new rebellion
 * Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe took Kabila's side
 * The Great African War (August 2, 1998- July 2003)
 * It has been the world's deadlist war since World War II
 * About 8 nations involved, and 25 armed groups

= Foreign Support = = Attempted Peace Treaties = = Man Down! = = Cease-Fire =
 * Rwanda's imported conflict **
 * Kabila was accused of organizing a genocide against their Tutsi brethren by the Rwandans
 * Congolese Tutsi and government of Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda relied on the Rwanda military in DRC for protection against hostile groups in eastern DRC
 * 1998- Kabila ordered all foreign troops (Rwandan and Ugandan) to leave the DRC
 * Rwandan troops wanted to replace Kabila with Rwandan-rebel group RCD (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie)
 * Campain failed when other nations militia intervened on behalf of DRC
 * Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia
 * After the Cold War, DRC ceased to be of interest to the US
 * However, USA, Canda, Australia, and Japan supported the Kabila government in exchange for Business deals in both wars
 * Lusaka Accord called for ceased-fire, the deployment of an UN peacekeeping operation, withdraw of foreign troops and launched 'Inter-Congolese Dialouge' to form a transitional government leading the election
 * Kabila drew increasingly international critisim for blocking full deployment of UN troops
 * Each side in the conflict repeatedly accused the other of violating the Lusaka Accord
 * Failed Attempts to Sign the Accord; 1999 and 2000
 * Kabila was assassinated by his body guard in 2001 in Zimbabwe
 * They were tired of his duplicity
 * His son succeeded him, Joseph Kabila Jr.
 * 2002 Rwanda's situation began to worsen
 * July 2002- Rwanda and DRC signs a peace deal called The Pretoria Accord
 * Withdrawal 20,000 Rwandan soliders
 * Rwanda refused to withdrawal
 * Luanda Agreement formalized peace between Congo and Uganda
 * The treaty aimed to get Uganda to withdraw their troops to improve relationship between the two countries
 * UN Steps in, MONUC [[image:UN_Help.jpg align="right"]]
 * United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
 * MONUC, confirmed the departure of over 20,000 Rwandan soliders
 * July 18 2003- Transitional Government of the DRC took power, thus officially ending the war
 * Agreement obliged parties to carry out a plan to reunify the country, disarm and integrate war and hold elections
 * Regardless of the new system, hostilities countinue to this day
 * Kabila Jr. a hero in the east
 * Many died from disease and mulnutrition
 * Rape as a weapon



Research: 1. Anup Shah. (August 21, 2010). The Democratic Republic of Congo. In Global Issues. Retrieved January 5, 2011, from [|www.globalissues.org/article/87/the-democratic-republic-of-congo]. 2. Print Editor. (July 4, 2002). Africa's great war. In The Economist. Retrieved January 5, 2011, from []. 3. Filip Reyntjens. (March/April 2010). The Great African War: Congo and Regional Geopolitics, 1996-2006. In Foreign Affairs. Retrieved January 8, 2011, from []. 4. Unknown. (December 11, 2010). Democratic Republic of Congo country profile. In BBC News. Retrieved January 8, 2011, from []. 5. John Pike. (September 14, 2010). Congo Civil War. In Global Security. Retrieved January 10, 2011, from [].