From the time Idi Amin came to power in Uganda until the time his regime fell, his brutal rule negatively impacted Uganda in every aspect of its existence. In 1971, Idi Amin along with military support, ousted Prime Minister Milton Obote while he was out of the country in Singapore attending a Commonwealth summit meeting with many other leaders of African and European countries. Over the course of his violent reign, Idi Amin killed between 100,000 and 300,000 of his own people and doomed the economy with the expulsion of those of Asian nationality. Many of his victims were killed for no reason, or for a very insignificant action. Amin was in power from 1971 to 1979 and proved early into his dictatorship that he was very powerful. Only one week after the coup in which Milton Obote was overthrown, Amin declared himself president and took the titles of “Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces”, “Army Chief of Staff” and “Chief of Air Staff”. In 1972, Milton Obote along with roughly 20,000 Ugandans who had fled to Tanzania attempted to regain control of Uganda through a military coup, but it was not organized well and failed. Their failed attempt ultimately led to Amin purging Obote supporters, the majority of them being from the Acholi and Lango ethnic groups. Amin recruited people from South Sudan as well as those from his own ethnic group, the Kakwas. The majority of his victims were tortured before they were killed and were likely to be religious leaders, judges, lawyers, intellectuals, artists, journalists, or from other ethnic groups. The killing squads Amin formed and recruited people for were officially titled the “State Research Bureau” or the “Public Safety Unit”. Obviously these squads were quite the opposite of what their n...
... middle of paper ...
...ed States prevented further harm from being done by putting sanctions on Idi Amin and Uganda that cut off all their exports. With their main source of foreign exchange being coffee exports, if the United States had kept exporting coffee, Uganda could have ended up in much worse shape than it did. The boycott of coffee can be credited with successfully causing the fall of Idi Amin and ending his gruesome dictatorship. The lack of money left Uganda in a weakened state and Idi Amin’s army could not successfully invade Tanzania, and subsequently could not defend Kampala from Tanzania’s invasion as well. Idi Amin’s reign was over before the Tanzanian troops even reached Kampala, and although the United States did not have a physical presence in Uganda to topple Amin, Uganda’s dependency on the United States to sustain their economy eventually led to Amin’s downfall.
There was a war in Sierra Leone, Africa, from 1991 to 2002 where a rebel army stormed through African villages amputating and raping citizens left and right (“Sierra Leone Profile”). Adebunmi Savage, a former citizen of Sierra Leone, describes the reality of this civil war: In 1996 the war in Sierra Leone was becoming a horrific catastrophe. Children were recruited to be soldiers, families were murdered, death came easily, and staying alive was a privilege. Torture became the favorite pastime of the Revolutionary United Front rebel movement, which was against the citizens who supported Sierra Leone’s president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
During the 1900’s two deadly wars were raging on, the civil war in Sierra Leone and the genocide in Rwanda. The civil war in Sierra Leone began in March 1991, while the genocide began in 1994. Combined these two wars killed upward of 1,050,000 people, and affected the lives of all the people that lived there. The conflicts in Sierra Leone and Rwanda occurred for different major reasons, but many little aspects were similar. Politics and Ethnicity were the two main conflicts, but despite the different moments rebellions and the murder of innocent people occurred in both places.
Killing Squad were also called death squads, mobile killing units, and Einsatzgruppen. The killing squads were often made of the German S.S. and police personnel (USHMM). This means that the killing squads did have some military experience. Killing Squads act swiftly, usually tanking the Jewish population by surprise (USHMM). This is also why they were called mobile killing units.
The state-sponsored massacres of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated Burundian army in 1972 was one of the most significant post-Holocaust genocides and as such received appropriate levels of international attention due to a lack of political distractions within western nations. The genocide broke out as a Hutu-lead rebellion in which Hutu insurgents massacred Tutsis and resisting Hutus in the lakeside towns of Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac. As many as 1200 people killed in this initial incident, the Tutsi-dominated government responded by declaring martial law and systematically proceeded to slaughter Hutus (Totten 325). After hundreds of thousands of Hutus had been massacred by the Burundian government, the neighboring nation of Zaire aided the Hutus in a counteroffensive attack on the Tutsi-controlled army. Having succeeded in their effort, the genocide was quickly brought to international attention within a few days. The United Nations invested $25,000 from the World Disaster Relief Account’s fund...
First, The United States had no intentions of intervening in another country's problems because they saw no reason to make another countries problems one of their own. Once the United States realized that the allied powers were struggling they knew that in order to protect world democracy they would have to intervene. It was expected that a victorious Germany would be more aggressive and formidable against the United States1. One of the main reasons the United States intervened was because it wanted to protect the rights of smaller nations and end international militarism. Another reason is that progressives realized that the war provided an opportunity for reform at home and the triumph of a liberal international postwar order. Intervening meant that America had an opportun...
Every year, more and more money is donated to Africa to promote democracy in order to get rid of the powerful coups in many countries through out the continent. While the coups are declining and democratic governments are being established, the economic growth and development of Africa is not anywhere it should be considering the abundant natural resources and coastline that the continent possesses. Even though countries, like the United States of America, donate millions of dollars they are a large reason why Africa is underdeveloped economically. The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade is the most devastating event in the history of the world. Nearly 14,000,000 men, women, and children were displaced, sold into slavery, and killed by the trade routes.(
Reagan’s foreign policy intention was to eliminate the efforts of the Soviet Union to prolong its domination and from this time, he opted for the formulation of his doctrine to aid the rebels who in various countries of the world who were attempting to overthrown the Soviet regimes (Carpenter, 1986). Relative to this point, it must be mentioned that in distinction to the earlier Cold War doctrine of “inclosing”, Reagan’s Doctrine projected “American moral and material backing for rebellious actions trying to oust Soviet-backed regimes in various Third World nations” (Carpenter, 1986). Additionally, it must be stated that the Reagan Doctrine came into being as the outcome of the thwarting of the U.S. administration over the Soviet progresses in Africa, Central America, and Central Asia. “Just as the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and Chinese leader Mao reinforced armed revolutions against colonial or U.S.-aligned states, American power would now reassure and upkeep rebels against communist states” (“The Reagan Doctrine”,
Raffaele, Paul. "Uganda: The Horror." Smithsonian (Vol. 35, No. 11). Feb. 2005: 90-99. SIRS Issues
For decades, Uganda’s economy has suffered through disappointing economic policies and instabilities. These setbacks have been put forth by a chronically unreliable government, leaving it as one of the world’s poorest countries. Uganda’s weak infrastructure and corrupt government are two of the primary constraints against a continuation of economic growth. Uganda has ongoing military involvement in the War on Congo, wrongly taking money from the already deprived country and into the war. Many villages in Uganda also have to waste their precious money and time in pursuit of hiding places. They are faced with a group known as, The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). LRA is infamous for their twenty years of massacre and slaughter in Uganda, causing an estimated 1.5 million internally displayed persons. Several people are questioning why the LRA is still terrorizing the country and criticizing the government’s commitment to putting an end this horrific group. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) ...
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
The acts of violence that were performed by rebels in Africa were horrific. Adults and children were murdered, mutilated, tortured, and raped. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone performed despicable acts of cutting off a people's body parts with machetes to instill fear in the community. If you were working in the diamond mines and not performing up to the standards of the rebels you would lose a body part as punishment. Rebels would continue to do this from one village to another in order “to take control of the mines in the area” (Hoyt). It is estimated that in Sierra Leone that over 20,000 people suffered mutilation. The acts that the rebels performed to these innocent victims was clearly a violation to their human rights. The RUF collected 125 million a year to fund their war on the government and the people of Sierra Leone.
The analysis of the genocides that took place both in Rwanda and Sudan’s Darfur region exhibit some similarities as well as differences. The character of violence was similar in both cases, but in Rwanda the violence was more intense, participatory, and extraordinary. The violence in these two places took place in an environment that had experienced civil wars. It was a period of political transition which was further aggravated by ethnic nationalism and a conflict of ethnic populations that were living in close proximity. However, in the Rwandan genocide, the state is more centralized, compact, and effective. This is what explains the intensity and variation. The international response to these genocides through observers emphasized on using the genocide label to create domestic constituencies especially in the Rwandan case.
Kamola, Isaac A. "The Global Coffee Economy And The Production Of Genocide In Rwanda." Third World Quarterly 28.3 (2007): 571-592. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Sept. 2013.
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.
Throughout history the region of Africa, presently known as Rwanda has seen a major rivalry and political instability. From the early 14th century to the 20th century the Hutu’s and the Tutsi’s were foraged into the perfect ingredients for a ticking time bomb. The political structures set up along the way by the earliest settlers and the German and Belgian colonists ultimately lead to a divide and hatred between the two groups. This hatred built up and eventually caused a massive genocide. This genocide could have been prevented if the political structures didn’t bring on favoritism and political divide.