Conflicts in Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Formerly called Zaire (1971-1997)• 3rd largest country in Africa (land size)• Second Congo War beginning in 1998

devastated the countryInvolved 7 foreign armiesReferred to as the African World WarWar killed 5.4 million people – world’s deadliest

conflict since WWII

• 1996 – Rwandan Hutu militia used refugee camps in eastern Zaire

• The Hutu militia forces allied with the Zairian armed forces to launch a campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire

• Rwandan and Ugandan armies invaded Zaire to overthrow the government and control the mineral resources

• The 2nd war led by rebel militias, backed by Rwanda and Uganda, began in 1998

• Democratic Republic of Congo is considered to be the richest country in the world regarding natural resources

• Among the poorest countries in the word – 2nd lowest GDP

• Fragile government has allowed continued conflict and human rights abuses

• In 2009 people in the country were reported dying at a rate of 45,000 each month

• Death toll is due to widespread disease and famine

• UN have denounced the human rights abuses but have done little to help

• Impact of armed conflict on civilians:Destruction of property

Widespread sexual violenceCivilians fleeing their homes200,000 women have been raped76% of the people in the country have

been affected in some way by the conflictCannibalism

Refugees

Burundi Civil War: 1993 – 2005

*Ethnic violence between Tutsi dominated army and Hutu rebel groups

*200,000 – 300,000 people were killed

*Over 500,000 people (9% of population) have been displaced

*Caused serious health, water, and malnutrition problems in camps for Hutus

Burundi Civil War

• Began after the killing of president Melchior Ndadaye in 1993 by a Tutsi extremist

• 85% of population are Hutu• Tutsi’s are educated – ethnic discrimination• Army was controlled by the Tutsi• Burundi is poor and densely populated• 4/5’s (80%) of the population – subsistence

agriculture/farming

• 1996 – countries put an economic embargo on exports (coffee and tea)

• Civilians (Hutu) were rounded up and forcibly moved into camps by the Burundi (Tutsi) armed forced

• The camps were breeding grounds for death, disease, and resentment

• UN workers were killed trying to provide support

• Estimated 340,000 are in Tanzania

Rwanda Genocide

Rwanda

Rwandan Genocide

• Occurred in 1994• Mass murder of around 850,000 people –

some reports have the death toll to be 1 million – 20% of the country’s population

• Took place for approximately 100 days after the assassination of the Hutu leader

• It was a conflict between the Tutsi minority group and the majority Hutu who had come to power

• 1990 – Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group composed mostly of Tutsi refugees, invaded northern Rwanda from Uganda in an attempt to defeat the Hutu-led government

• They began the Rwandan Civil War• As a result of the civil war many Hutu

gravitated toward the Hutu Power ideology • Hutu Power asserted that the Tutsi intended

to enslave the Hutu and must be resisted at all costs

Rwanda Genocide

• Many Hutu in the north were displaced• Cease fire in 1993• The assassination of Habyarimana in 1994 set

off the Hutus’ conducting mass killings of Tutsis

• Tutsis eventually defeated the government army and seized control of the country

• Created 2 million refugees

Uganda Genocide

Uganda Genocide

• The people of Uganda have suffered severe human rights violations since 1962. Between 1966 and 1986:Denied freedom of opinionMedia was state controlledCourt verdicts were not respected by the security

forces• More than 2 million people have been killed,

maimed, imprisoned, or forced into exile• Political change has come through violence

• 1966-1971: 1st Obote regime - 400-1,000 Baganda people were murdered

• 1971-1979: Amin Regime – targeted the Acholi and Langi people, thousands were killedMore than 80,000 people were forced to leave

Uganda• Many people were killed during the Tanzania

led war to oust Amin

• 1980-1985: 2nd Obote regime – caused the deaths of more than 300,000 people (Baganda’s)

• 1986-2003: More than 100,00 people living in the Acholi region were killed and more than 20,000 children abducted

Uganda Genocide Memorial

UN Report: October, 2010

• Found massacres and sexual enslavement of Congolese by the Uganda People’s Defense Force and Rwanda Patriotic Front

• Civilians were killed over the charcoal trade and taking gold, and timber

• Ugandan soldiers fired randomly in a village• Some civilians died as a result of being burned

alive in their homes• Uganda and Rwanda governments have tried to

block the UN report

Should countries get involved?