Democratic Republic of Congo

According to the ENOUGH Project, The Democratic Republic of Congo has been an area of turmoil for quite sometime. 5.4 million Lives have been taken thus far during this conflict. Most died from war-related diseases or malnutrition caused by displacement and lack of resources. An average of 45,000 people a month have died.

This conflict is rooted in the high unstability of the region dating back to King Leopold’s rule of the area in 1880’s; the area has faced turbulence from Kleptocratic governments since then. Being corrupt and oppressive the governments would drain the natural resources of the country to benefit a small elite within the country and inflict devastation upon average people. When the Congo was not being ruled over by this form of dictatorship; a struggle for power occured involving military force between different ethnic groups and external support from forces in Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe and Rwanda were intervening for their own benefit. This power struggle has consumed the Congo and the area has been one of constant warfare.

In the eastern province of North Kivu, a dissident Congolese General named Laurent Nkunda and at least 3,000 loyal forces are locked in a struggle with the Congolese government. The government, led by the newly elected President Joseph Kabila, wants Nkunda and his men to integrate into the national army and deploy to other parts of the country. Nkunda is an ethnic Tutsi and claims that he must remain in North Kivu to protect his people from a host of predatory militias. One of those militias is the FDLR—a force composed of more than 6,000 Rwandan Hutu rebels, many with links to the 1994 genocide. In a nightmare scenario, Congo’s weak and undisciplined army has teamed up with the FDLR to fight Nkunda’s more effective force. A stronger FDLR represents a grave threat to Rwanda, and could ignite a new regional war.

In late December, with Congo’s exhausted and depleted army incapable of launching another immediate offensive and the international eye on the Kivus humanitarian situation, the Congolese government announced another attempt at finding a political solution—this time in the form of a grand conference. The Conference for Peace, Security, and Development in the Provinces of North and South Kivu, would aim to put an end to the conflict and to put forth a plan for peace, security, and development in the region. On December 24, acknowledging the importance of the conference, Nkunda agreed to a temporary ceasefire so as to “allow the smooth running of work in a secure environment.”

After two weeks, the Congolese government, 10 armed groups from North Kivu (including Laurent Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defense of the People, or CNDP), and 13 armed groups from South Kivu signed an agreement. Tim Shortley described the deal as “a ceasefire agreement which provides a process to achieve a sustainable path to peace.”

However, the violence continues and the state of war has not ceased. Rebel groups are still fighting the government and local opposition for power. The combat that has occured has also forced hundreds of thousands to flee there homes and many have been placed in unfeasible conditions.

Rape is used on a large scale as a weapon and women and the ones that depend on them are being destroyed. This profound and extreme form of rape is used to desecrate and mutilate. It is the most extreme example of sexual violence that has ever occurred.



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