Genocide is a calculated and analytically carnage of people who reside to a certain racial, political, and ethnic groups (Genocide). Genocide can occur and does occur in many places around the world. One of these places it takes place in is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Since 1996 there has hardly been peace in Congo (Global Research). Over 6 million people had lost their lives in the DRC genocide and many woman had suffered from rape and are still undergo rape by rebels who use rape as their main weapon (World Relief). The main victims that have to endear the most destruction is women, children, the elderly, and the ill (Global Research). Many Organizations have been taking action to help make peace in the DRC and have ways that people should do to help create peace in the DRC.
In 1996, the Democratic Republic of Congo was mainly the start of the genocide in the DRC. There has been many rebel movements that have and are currently still creating the DRC unstable (about.com). There has been lots of catalytic destruction caused by corruption. Mobutu Sese Seko was the president in 1965 (about.com). In order to keep his position as president for 32 years, he did many sham elections and used brutal force (about.com). In 1994, Ethnic strife, civil war, corruption and an increase in refugees had been caused by Rwanda and Burundi, had led to the fall of the Mobutu regime by a rebellion that was supported by Rwanda and Uganda and was led by Laurent Kabila (about.com). Laurent Kabila had then made himself head of the state (about.com). A Split between him and his prior allies, had created a rise of a new rebellion that was supported by Rwanda and Uganda (BBC News). He was then backed up with troops from Chad, Nambia, Zimbabwe, ...
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...r 6 million lives have been taken away from them and woman had to endure and are still experiencing rape and abuse.Organizations like Peace Direct has dedicated their life to helping to erase all the destruction and to create peace in the DRC. There are still many ways that people should support and assist in creating peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Work Cited
About.com African History. About.com, 2014. Web. 30 Jan 2014.
BBC News. BBC, 2014. Web. 17 Feb 2014.
Global Research. Global Research.ca, 2005-2014. Web. 28 Jan 2014.
Insight on Conflict. Peace Direct, n.d. Web. 30 Jan 2014.
Jeser, Michael. Jewish World Watch. n.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb 2014.
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2014. Web. 17 Feb 2014.
Woman for Woman International. Woman for Woman International, 2014. Web. 30 Jan 2014.
Woman Relief. World Relief.org, n.d. Web. 20 Jan 2014.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, short DR Congo or DRC, is a country situated in Central Africa with a long history of civil unrest. The official language is French, it is supposed to be an ethnically neutral language, due to the many ethnic groups found in the DRCongo. During the Belgian colonization French and Dutch were both official languages but French was more widely spoken. Today about 30% of the population speak French either as their first or second language. The Belgian colonization played an important role in the history of DR Congo. In 1884-1885 at the Berlin West Africa King Leopold II got the rights for the Congo. The many natural resources of the Congo, such as rubber, were a way for the Belgian king to increase his wealth, but it led to brutality against the local population. The rubber brought fame to King Leopold but the Congolese population, still to this day, feel like they do not get recognized enough. The DRCongo suffered a long period of suppression, corruption and poor leadership. Even after they gained independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960, they were still described as unstable. Colonialism, however was not the only longtime cause of the weakening of the country, others were the cold war and the democratic transition of the DRC...
Since Burundi’s independence in 1962, there have been two instances of genocide: the 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated government, and the 1993 mass killings of the Tutsis by the Hutu populace. Both of these events in Burundi received different levels of attention by the international community and the western media due to a lack of foreign governmental interest, political distraction, and an unwillingness to acknowledge the severity of these atrocities in Burundi. Interestingly, events of genocide occurring at times without these distractions received more foreign attention than those ignored due to these factors. Because of this, much of the western world is unaware of the Burundian genocide and events similar to it.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, or as it has been called by the U.N as “the rape capital of the world” has been having problems since almost 1994. The armed group, M23, has committed dozens of war crimes including rape, citizen executions, and forced recruitment of children. Women, and girls have been left with burned flesh, broken bones, and even missing limbs. Even some perpetrators have even shot and stabbed these women in the vagina with shards of glass, rifles, and other objects. The violence in the DRC is unspeakable, many of the survivors have received devastating damage to their reproductive organs. Men have been held at gun point and forced to rape their own wives, mothers, sisters, and even their daughters. Throughout the entire ordeal, the government of the DRC has let many of the perpetrators of these war crimes cross over to neighboring countries, who act as a sanctuary. In turn these people have not been charged for these crimes. The Congolese army and government have been much to blame for the violence and atrocities happening in the country. Back when they made the M23 treaty, they needed to follow through with their promises to the integrated soldiers. The weaknesses in their government ruin attempts to prevent atrocities and protect civilians. With these problems affecting the population every day, they need to start getting help from other countries in order to fix its state and help its people. The Congolese army and government have been much to blame for the violence and atrocities happening in the country because they needed follow through with their promises to the integrated soldiers, the weakness in their government ruin attempts to prevent atrocities and protect civilians, and they need to stop lett...
As of March of 2008, a total of 300,000 people have died in Darfur, Sudan due to genocide. That is equivalent to the entire population of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Genocide started back in February of 2003 in Darfur, Sudan. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines the liberties set for everyone in the World. Established in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights displays the rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled to. The situation in Darfur, Sudan is known as Genocide, Genocide is defined as a systematic extermination or attempt at exterminating a national, political, racial or cultural group. The Darfur Genocide has violated Article #3, Article #5 and Article #9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Darfur Genocide violates article #3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article #5 has been violated by the Genocide in Darfur. Article #9 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been violated by the Darfur Genocide. Attacks in Darfur are mostly by a group called the Janjaweed which are an Arab based group supported by the Sudanese Government, to carry out attacks on people with different religious, economic and political views. The Darfur Genocide violates the rights of its citizens; steps should be enforced by United Nations and it allies.
The RPF decided to create a government consisting of a Hutu and a Tutsi holding the highest government positions. As the RPF took control of the government, “some two million Hutus – both civilians and some of those involved in the genocide – then fled across the border into DR Congo… fearing revenge attacks”(“Rwandan Genocide: 100 days of slaughter”). However, the violence did not stop here. The RPF then became angry at the Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming that the Democratic Republic of Congo “letting[let] Hutu militias operate on its territory” (“Rwandan Genocide: 100 days of slaughter”). As a result of the RPF’s claims about the Democratic Republic of Congo, they have invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo two times(“Rwandan Genocide: 100 days of slaughter”). The problems of the Rwandan Genocide has led to chaos in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has caused around 5 million deaths(“Rwandan Genocide: 100 days of slaughter”). In an attempt to punish those who were involved in the genocide, a large number of people have been sent to court. This genocide goes to show you how seemingly small problems between two groups can grow over time if not addressed, and cause major problems in the
With so many Hutus along with perpetrators of the genocide in Zaire the fighting between the RPF and the Hutus still continued in Zaire. In response the new Rwandan government, aided by the Ugandan government, invaded Zaire (Baker). The head of the Rwandan army, Laurent Kabila, was meet with little resistance, so he claimed Zaire of his own. Kabila was then made president and renamed the country to the Democratic Republic of Congo or DRC (US Holocaust). Ever since 1996, fighting in the DCR has continued killing an estimated 5.4 million people (“Rwanda
Packham, Eric S. The U.N. Intervention in the Congo After Independence. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 1998.
Genocide is the “deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.” (Dictionary.com, 2010) In 1924, after World War I, Belgian colonists entered Rwanda and allowed the Tutsi dynasty to remain in power. However, after World War II concepts of right and wrong changed. Since the Belgians had been favouring the Tutsis, this change in ethics caused the Belgians to have compassion on the Hutus and promote the Hutu cause, creating tension. (Thompson, 2007) It was the Belgians who cre...
Before the Rwanda massacre in 1994, the East had seen more violence and inter-ethnic disputes than the rest of the Congo. Though, the deracination of around one million conquered Hutu from Rwanda into the DRC distressed the political and ethnic stability of power in the Kivus, as previous Rwandan army units used their refugee camps as bases to attack Rwanda. Rwanda and Uganda attacked the Congo in 1996, in order to remove the uprising camps formed in the Congo by eviction from all three of these states. As a smokescreen for their take over, Uganda and Rwanda helped establish a Congolese rebellious motion, the ADFL, soon to be led by Laurent Kabila.
In 1960, the Congolese finally became independent. They were no longer under Belgian rule. They finally got control over their own government, education, and resources. However, they did not have any political structure. They did not have agreeing institutions. They did not want to work together which led to a lot of civil war. The villages in the Congo are divided and don’t agree which leads to these wars. It is all because of the Belgian’s who ruled before. Many belgian’s still have high roles in the government and military of the Congo.
... attention allowed economic exploitation in the Congo and its people devastated by human rights abuses, and even today the lack of international attention has caused many conflicts in and around the Congo. The economic exploitation of the Congo during colonial times robbed the country of wealth which could have been used to develop the land, and the lack of wealth has contributed to Congo’s poor standing in the world today. Lastly, the human rights abuses in the Congo Free State contributed to economic and political troubles during the colonial period and has continued into the present day, as human rights abuses are still prevalent in that region of Africa. Due to the lack of international attention, economic exploitation, and human rights abuses, the Congo Free State was harmful to the Congo region of Africa and its legacy continues to harm that region of Africa.
This project contains material from a variety of sources. Two of these sources include a newspaper article from the New York Times and a document found on the database ELibrary. The newspaper article, titled Congo’s War Turns to Brutal Killings on City’s Streets, is a primary source that was created by Norimitsu Onishi at the New York Times newspaper with the intention of informing people about the wars in the DRC. It was published August 28, 1998, the day after the events written about occurred. This document exists to inform the readers of the New York Times about the events happening in the DRC at the time of publication. The author thought that men and women over the age of about 25 would be reading this. In general, most people do not have the interest in
The Democratic Republic of Congo has a population of 58,317,930 citizens (CIA-The World Fact book). Out of the 58,317,930 citizens 3.8 million of them have died through starvation, disease, and fighting (UNICEF). The death toll of Congo has been labeled genocide. The war in Congo drew in the armies of five other African nations. Neighboring Rwanda, Uganda, and allied Congolese rebel groups held control of the east and northeast. The government held the west. The problems of Congo lay in the United Nations hands. The UN peacekeeping force needs the help of other countries. France has prepared the way for 1,000 French troops that would lead a United Nations force to halt the violent conflict in the region (Talbot). Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain has thought of the possibility of sending troops to Congo (Talbot). One question the world asks is where the United States in this situation is. Does the United States have the responsibility to help Congo? The UN cannot sustain violence alone with the help of France. The Democrats and Republicans believe the war in Iraq has crossed out the possibility of intervention in Congo. Human-right groups believe the U.S. should send a small portion of troops to help. Helping Iraq have freedom is important, but Congo is in worse condition. If you look at the conditions in Iraq and the conditions in Congo, you will see that many more people have been lost and still will be lost in years to come. The citizens of Congo cannot afford to lose any more hospitals or schools. Lives need to be spared. Aside from the killing in Congo, women are abused and rapped. I believe the United States should intervene we can no longer watch as poor women and children suffer in their own homes. We can no longer sit around as 15 and 16-year-old boys are drafted away from their parents and family to fight (CIA-The World Fact book). Rwanda and Uganda that have substantial military power are helping and risking their own citizen’s lives. France a much closed-minded country has even recognized the major massacre going on in Congo. It is clearly understandable that the war in Iraq has taken a great toll on America but, the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken much larger toll on Africa and we need to lower the stress for them.
The recent Civil War in Congo has been a bloody flight, causing more then 3.3 million deaths in just 4 short years.1 Various rebel and ethnic groups have have been involved in the violence, fighting over Congo's rich natural resources or engaged in a bitter ethnic war. With so many opposing factions, it has made reaching a solution difficult. While a rough peace treaty has been established, sporadic fighting pops up in the country everyday. The people of Congo are being pushed farther into poverty and starvation can't handle the fighting for very much longer. I propose that the solution to the post-Civil War violence in Congo is to rid the country of all foreign nations and their problems, namely the Rwandans, and to get combatants inside of the country to hold a summit and find a peaceful and fair resolution to the problem, with a superpower like the United States acting as host and mediator. Once all quarrels are amended, the Congolese can start to focus on a economic strategy for rebuilding the country.
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.