“Africa is not underdeveloped. Africa is over-exploited.”

As the world focuses on presidential elections and trade wars, several African nations have been struggling through revolutions with varying motives and methods. From environmental causes to rape awareness, in regions like the Ivory Coast down to South Africa, these are the main revolutions that have been re-shaping the continent in 2020.

Part 2: The War(s) in the DRC. #CongoIsBleeding

Since 1996, violence in the DRC has killed over 6 million people with the First and Second Congo Wars, vicious conflicts that continue to be felt today. The wars are sometimes referred to as the “African World Wars” due to the fact that multiple countries are involved in the area, including Rwanda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Libya, Angola, and many more. The struggle is mainly political, with some countries intervening in favor of the government and others in favor of opposition groups.

Due to this instability, it has been estimated that there are around 100 rebel groups in the DRC and surrounding areas. The continued killing and abuse of the Congolese population, mainly women and children, have only been worsened by the exploitation of Congo’s natural resources. In the country’s eastern region, there are numerous mines that are home to almost 40,000 child laborers. Some of the mining industry is even controlled by rebel groups, something that has not stopped giant corporations like Apple, Google, and more, from operating as usual.

The contribution of the DRC’s resource wealth to the conflict is undeniable. There is an estimated $24 trillion of untapped mineral resources in the country, a trade that supplies the economic means for armed groups to continue operating and purchase/traffic illicit arms. In 2010, the U.S. authorized legislation meant to decrease the purchase of these “conflict minerals” and ultimately stem the funding of militias, but little has changed in the country. From this illegal flow of arms, numerous companies from around the world have stopped buying minerals from the DRC altogether, leading to mass unemployment and benefits for armed groups.

The First Congo War began in 1996, with Rwanda’s invasion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaire. Rwanda’s motives were to remove rebel groups taking refuge in the area, an invasion that drew out forces from neighboring Uganda, Angola, Zambia, and more armed groups. The next year, Zaire formerly becomes the DRC after the gradual end of the First Congo War.

Less than two years later, in 1998, the Second Congo War begins after ethnic Tutsi minority forces began a rebellion in the DRC’s eastern region, fueled by Rwandan support for a march westward. Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, among other countries, support Laurent Kabila’s forces. In 2003, “peace” is achieved, however long-lasting effects of the war continue in the form of ethnic violence, authoritarian leadership, extreme poverty, and overall instability.

The March 23 Movement (M23) emerged quickly after the Second Congo War. M23 is now of the most prominent rebel groups to come out of this conflict, mainly consisting of the ethnic Tutsis allegedly supported by the Rwandan government. The group rebelled agents Congo’s government, provoking a response from the UN Security Council in which they authorized an offensive brigade under the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC. Although M23 was defeated in 2013, smaller and more widespread groups have since surfaced.

In 2012, an ongoing conflict in the Kasai region exploded, resulting in what is now the DRC’s most recent large-scale humanitarian crisis. Jean-Pierre Pandi became chief to the Dibaya territory in Kasai, a crucial spot for the main political opposition party, that same year. The position of “chief” isn’t political, however they are extremely influential with large amounts of administrative power and are recognized by the government.

However, President Joseph Kabila never formerly recognized Pandi’s position, heightening pre-existing tensions between Kasai and the central government. Years later, Pandi was killed in the middle of clashes between government forces and his fighters, provoking a full-on conflict. Since the eruption of this situation, around 1.4 million people in Kasai alone have had no other option but to flee their homes.

Aside from the internal conflicts the DRC has had historically, the majority of experts attribute current violence to the immense refugee crisis emerging from the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. Those fleeing persecution in Rwanda went west to the DRC and formed armed groups, including the previously mentioned Tutsi groups. The government in Congo was unable to control and suppress the rise of these militias, leading to the current wars.

The poor governance and the influence armed groups carry in the region have led Congolese civilians to become victims of broad sexual violence, grave violations of human rights, forced displacement, and extreme poverty. The international community has failed on repeated occasions to formally address the threats rebel groups pose and to help sustainable development. Concerns that the violence in the country may ultimately spill into Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, are not uncommon, and they are not wrong either.

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