A Hidden Genocide

A Hidden Genocide

The Profitable War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

In memory of Patrice Lumumba

Contents

1. List of Abbreviations

2. Introduction

3. Part I Conflict in the Great Lakes Region

   1. Chapter 1 Ruanda-Urundi and the Creation of Ethnic Identity

   2. Chapter 2 Bloody Belgian Congo

   3. Chapter 3 Rwandan Patriotic Front

   4. Chapter 4 History of Ethnic Violence in the Congo

   5. Chapter 5 The Congo Wars

   6. Chapter 6 “Post-Conflict” Stage

   7. Chapter 7 From the 2010s to Today’s Crisis in the Congo

   8. Chapter 8 The Rape Capital of the World

4. Part II Contributing Factors of Violence

   1. Chapter 9 Systemic Issues and State Violence

   2. Chapter 10 Political and Economic Corruption

   3. Chapter 11 The International Community

   4. Chapter 12 The Funding of Militias

   5. Chapter 13 Conflict Mineral Trade

5. Bibliography

6. Index

Abbreviations

1. ADF Allied Democratic Forces

2. AFDL Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire

3. ALIR Army for the Liberation of Rwanda

4. APR Rwandan Patriotic Army (Rwandan army from 1994 to 2002)

5. ASADHO The African Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Congo

6. AU African Union

7. BDK Bundo dia Kongo

8. CDR Coalition for the Defense of the Republic

9. CENI Independent National Election Commission

10. CNDD The National Council for the Defense of Democracy

11. CNDD-FDD National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy

12. CNDP National Congress for the Defense of the People

13. CNRD National Council for the Resistance

14. CNS National Sovereign Conference

15. CODECO Cooperative for the Development of Congo

16. DDR Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

17. DSP Special Presidential Division

18. FAB Burundian Armed Forces

19. FAC Congolese Armed Forces

20. FAR Rwandan Armed Forces (Rwandan national army until 1994)

21. FARDC Armed Forces for the Democratic Republic of the Congo

22. FAZ Zairian Armed Forces

23. FDLR Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda

24. FDU Unified Democratic Forces

25. FNI Front of Nationalists and Integrationists

26. FNL National Liberation Forces

27. FRODEBU Front for Democracy in Burundi

28. FRPI Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (mainly comprising the Ngiti/Lendu ethnic groups)

29. ICC International Criminal Court

30. ICJ International Court of Justice

31. ICGLR International Conference on the Great Lakes Region

32. ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

33. IDP Internally Displaced Person

34. IMF International Monetary Fund

35. IPIS International Peace Information Service

36. JUFERI Youth of the Union of Independent Federalists and Republicans (armed wing of UFERI)

37. KCC Kamoto Copper Company

38. LRA Lord’s Resistance Army

39. M23 March 23 Movement

40. MDR Democratic Republican Movement

41. MLC Congolese Liberation Movement

42. MONUC United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

43. MRND National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development

44. MSD Movement for Solidarity and Development

45. NDC Nduma Defense of Congo

46. OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

47. OSLEG Operation Sovereign Legitimacy

48. PALIPEHUTU National Forces of Liberation

49. PALU Unified Lubumbist Party

50. PARECO Coalition of the Congolese Patriotic Resistance

51. PNC Congolese National Police

52. RCD Congolese Rally for Democracy

53. RCD-ML Congolese Rally for Democracy – Liberation Movement

54. RNC Rwanda National Congress

55. RPF Rwandan Patriotic Front

56. SMB Societe Miniere de Busunzu’s

57. SSR Security Sector Reform

58. TFM Tenke Fungurume Mine

59. UDPS Union for Democracy and Social Progress

60. UFERI Union of Federalists and Independent Republicans

61. UNAMIR United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda

62. UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

63. UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of Angola

64. UPC Union of Congolese Patriots

65. UPD Union for Peace and Development

66. UPDF Uganda People’s Defense Forces (Ugandan army)

67. UPRONA Union for National Progress

68. ZDF Zimbabwe Defense Forces

Introduction

Foreign influence in the Central African region has forever altered its history. Beginning with European colonialism and the strict enforcement of ethnic hierarchies to the modern-day, collective decision to assassinate Patrice Lumumba, to overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko, and to place Laurent-Désiré Kabila in power and then to later assassinate him, foreign involvement in the region has placed the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a path that is impossible to backtrack on. The deliberate decision by colonial forces to solidify ethnic hierarchies produced a wedge so deep that no one could crawl out from it. This ethnic divide encompassed Central Africa and acted as a catalyst to many conflicts we have witnessed, including the Rwandan genocide, Burundi’s conflicts, and Congo’s forever war.

The intractable conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is inextricably linked to one of its bordering countries, Rwanda. The history of the Congo cannot be told without the history of its most impactful neighbor. The infamous 1994 genocide in Rwanda spelled a disaster for the region, but particularly for the DRC whose vast and dense forests represented a safe haven to the Rwandan génocidaires and the country’s refugees that quickly fled the country and entered Congo. The unprecedented and cataclysmic violence that led to 800,000 deaths in a matter of three months could not be contained in one, small country. The vibrations from the genocide permeated the region like a tsunami; it flowed through Burundi and the DRC, dragging its neighbors into the conflict as well. It engulfed the region while the international community stood by in horror, unwilling to intervene.

The United States’ intervention into Somalia’s conflict in 1991, which led to 18 servicemen being killed, resulted in a serious hesitancy within the United States government to become involved in other conflicts, particularly in Africa. The United Nations mission in Somalia (UNOSOM), which was ineffective from the start and ultimately ended in 1995, also led to the international community’s reluctance to act in global wars. Both of these incidents were perceived as a stain to the reputation, efficacy, and authority of the United Nations and the United States as a superpower. Instead of risking their reputation in another quagmire of a conflict, the international powers and institutions relied on whatever rebel groups seemingly ended the violence. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which fought the Interahamwe and chased them out of Rwanda, was joyfully embraced by an international community that was simply relieved to have not intervened.

Although Burundi was already experiencing a war in 1993 after the assassination of their first democratically elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, the violence happening in Rwanda only furthered its conflict. The DRC, on the other hand, was experiencing relatively lower levels of violence leading up to 1994, and when the RPF took power after the genocide, the militia-turned-political-party, along with other African powers, preceded to invade the DRC. This massive country with an endless amount of hiding places posed a threat to the new power in Rwanda, as they feared another attack from the génocidaires residing in the DRC. Rwanda and Uganda were the primary driving forces of the invasion into the DRC and organized a meeting with Mobutu Sese Seko’s numerous enemies in the African continent in an effort to overthrow the corrupt leader and take control of parts of the country. The leaders of Rwanda, Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Burundi, and Angola were all involved in the nefarious project. Through the joint creation of the militia, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), by these forces, they were ready to invade the DRC. This led to the first major conflict.

This period is commonly known as the First Congo War, which lasted from late October 1996 to May 1997, and resulted in Laurent-Désiré Kabila becoming president. Although the country was experiencing large bouts of violence before and after this timeframe of the First Congo War, it is typical to see a differentiation between the First Congo War and the Second Congo War, which is perceived as having lasted from August 1998 and July 2003. This distinction, however, diminishes the magnitude and impact of the violence that occurred outside of these timelines while, at the same time, completely disregarding the areas in the country that have rarely seen a break from any violence. Conflict has consistently plagued the entirety of the eastern part of the country, as well as some southern and northern sections, like a stubborn disease. The assertion that the Congo has experienced two separate conflicts is disingenuous; it reduces the pain and suffering of the Congolese people that lived in violence in the mid-to-late 1990s, those that were mutilated between 1997 and 1998 when rebel groups and foreign armies from neighboring countries attacked refugee and IDP camps, as well as all of the individuals that have been killed since 2003. There has not been a “first” and “second” war. There is just one, three-decade-long war that has wavered in intensity and has moved across the country, concentrating in different areas at different times but always lingering in the east.

The importance of Congo’s story is one that cannot be overstated, yet it is often forgotten. It is convenient for the international community to determine that the conflict in the Congo is over, as it grants them an excuse to not intervene or involve themselves economically and politically. The country has experienced incomprehensible suffering during and after King Leopold II and Belgian colonialism. Beginning with piles of cut-off hands that were notorious in King Leopold II’s regime to children becoming casualties in today’s conflict mineral trade, the country has seen deplorable pain. From August 1998 to April 2007, it is estimated that 5.4 million people died in the country, and to date, this figure has not been widely recognized. The conspired invasion into the Congo is also not widely recognized.

The war in the heart of Africa has claimed more lives than any other conflict since World War II, but it is not given a fraction of the attention. This is intentional. It is strategic. The abundant minerals that lie beneath the Congo’s surface—cobalt, coltan, cassiterite, and tantalum—are imperative for the items that we use every single day. This includes batteries, cellphones, laptops, and other technologies that we glue ourselves to. Although multinational corporations claim that they adhere to international human rights standards and are taking steps to ensure a safe supply chain, these so-called initiatives have yet to be properly implemented.

Technological corporations, such as Apple, Google, and Samsung, have all been linked to conflict minerals in the DRC. When attention was drawn toward the Congo’s conflict mineral trade in 2017, some corporations paused their purchasing of minerals from artisanal and small-scale miners. However, these practices resumed as the conversation died down. Profits are prioritized over the compliance of human rights standards, humane working conditions, child labor laws, and environmental protection. While those profiting from the mineral trade are enjoying their multi-million-dollar summer houses and yachts, the miners are being paid one to two dollars a day and exposing themselves to toxic minerals that will eventually become their death sentence. It will lead them to their graves. Miners will either die slowly from the horrendous conditions and the exposure of toxic minerals that only bring cancer and complex health conditions, or they will die in the crossfire from rebel militias attempting to take control of the lucrative mines.

The foreign governments and leaders involved in the Congo’s mineral exploitation are also to blame, as they have created corporations themselves or funded rebel militias that extract the minerals. The countries neighboring the DRC have persisted in their creation and support of rebel militias that fight for unilateral control of these mining areas. Every entity—whether a corporation, a government body, or an individual—participating in this trade has a vested interest in concealing the violence that surrounds these minerals, as it all contributes to maintaining their bottom line.

My aim with this book is to bring a mirror to the international community. Although this story is not mine to tell, as I do not come from the region, I feel compelled to inform. The world has actively ignored this conflict; many have, instead, profited from it. Despite the Congolese government urging the International Criminal Court in 2004 and 2023 to investigate the crimes being committed in the DRC and Rwanda’s funding of an extremely violent militia that has consistently wreaked havoc throughout the decades, there has yet to be a resolution. Although there have been several prosecutions against war criminals and rebel leaders in the Congo, they are “low hanging fruit,” and the main culprits behind this war, such as Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni, have been allowed to walk free. Even now, the push for a comprehensive and detailed investigation into these crimes is comparatively weak.

It would be easy to blame conflict minerals and the DRC’s neighbors as the sole reason for the conflict. To summarize the conflict in the DRC in a few words is not a simple task; in fact, it is impossible. The vast majority of people who have asked about what this book is about desire a short, elevator pitch. The Congo is much more complex than that. I cannot provide a single answer that is neatly tied up in a bow. This country is an incredibly vast place, housing hundreds of different ethnicities, languages, backgrounds, and rebel groups. The conflict within the DRC cannot be boiled down to just conflict minerals, ethnic violence, foreign intervention, or political corruption. Choosing only one of these four factors does not allow for a comprehensive understanding of this complex and multifaceted conflict. Instead, this conflict finds itself struggling with all of those factors and many others—all at once. The fight for conflict minerals, the ever-present ethnic tension in the eastern part of the country, the continued intervention and manipulation of the conflict from the DRC’s neighbors, political and economic corruption within the state, repressive tactics from government forces, and the lack of concern and attention for this conflict from the international community are all reasons that we see violence happening in the DRC to this day.

· 1 · Ruanda-Urundi and the Creation of Ethnic Identity

Rwanda and Burundi are composed of three main ethnic groups: the Hutus are the largest, encompassing 85 percent of both populations, the Tutsis, encompassing 14 percent, and the Twa, the smallest minority, accounting for 1 percent in each country. Before Germany and, later, Belgium colonized the region, the Tutsi population were already in positions of local authority and governance. Although there were a few Hutus in positions of power in Ruanda-Urundi, which would later become Rwanda and Burundi, there were not nearly as many as Tutsis. Once colonial forces took control of the country, they deposed the few Hutu leaders and replaced them with Tutsis, solidifying their power.

This informal ethnic hierarchy became universally and strictly enforced throughout the state. European racism is partially responsible, as Belgians perceived the Tutsis as appearing closer to “white.” With their high cheekbones, long noses, and skinny facial features, Tutsis appeared more similar to white Westerners than Hutus and were favored as a result. When the European colonizers arrived, they asked the Tutsis to give them an account on their history. The inaccurately recounted history described the following: