Second Congo War 1998-2003

Summary: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly named Zaire and before that Belgian Congo, underwent a prolonged set of conflicts from 1996-2008, involving rival ethnic groups from inside the country and also the armies of six other nations-Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, and Chad-which variously backed the government or ethnic rebels. The first war, sometimes called Africa's World War, lasted from 1996-1997; its principal event was the overthrow of Congolese president Joseph Mobutu after 30 years in office. The Second Congo War was marked by a continued rebellion in eastern Congo, where troops from Rwanda and Uganda were stationed until 2002. The conflict was also marked by brutal guerrilla warfare, including the massacre of civilians. The International Rescue Committee estimated that at least 3.8 million people died in the prolonged Congo conflicts, the majority of whom succumbed to starvation or diseases. A significant proportion of the dead were children.

Note on naming convention: The country in central Africa now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been called the Belgian Congo from the nineteenth century until its independence in 1960 as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Joseph Mobutu, who became president in 1967 in a military coup, renamed the country Zaire in 1971. Mobutu's successor, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, reverted to the name Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997. There is also a neighboring country called the Republic of the Congo. The journalistic convention is to use the term DR Congo, or DRC, to refer to the former Belgian Congo/Democratic Republic of the Congo/Zaire, and to use RC to refer to the Republic of the Congo. Some sources use the terms Congo (Kinshasa) for DRC and Congo (Brazzaville) for RC, after their respective capitals.

From 1998-2003 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was wracked by warfare that included armies of surrounding countries battling for, or against, the government of Presidents Laurent-Désiré Kabila and his son Joseph (Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001). The conflict, which claimed 3.8 million lives, including many civilians who died of starvation or disease, has been called Africa's World War. It contained elements of ethnic conflict-especially between Hutus and Tutsis in eastern DRC, and competition for DRC's rich mineral resources. The conflict eventually involved armed forces from Rwanda and Uganda (anti-Kabila) and Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Chad (pro-Kabila).

The Country: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a territory of 875,000 square miles- about the size of Western Europe, or about one-fourth the size of the United States-rich in mineral resources, notably gold and diamonds. It is situated at the center of Africa, sharing borders with the Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Sudan; it has a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. There are 200 distinct ethnic groups living in DRC, none of which comprises a majority, and all of which speak different languages. The country became known in the West thanks largely to the exploration and writing of Herbert Morton Stanley ("Dr. Livingstone, I presume"). In 1885 it became a personal possession of Belgian King Leopold II, who called it the Congo Free State. Administration shifted to Belgium's government in 1907, when the territory became the Belgian Congo. After independence in 1960 it was called Democratic Republic of the Congo until 1971, when President Joseph Mobutu changed its name to Zaire. The name reverted to Democratic Republic of the Congo after Mobutu's overthrow in 1997.

At the time of independence DRC was swept up in Cold War competition for influence over newly-independent African states. Within days of independence its mineral-rich southern province of Katanga declared its own independence with support from the Belgian Army and the apartheid government of South Africa. DRC's first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961), unsuccessfully sought help from the United States and the United Nations to suppress the Katanga revolt before turning to the Soviet Union. (Eventually U.N. troops entered the conflict to reunite Katanga with DRC.) Lumumba, a left-wing leader of the Congolese independence movement, was deposed in an army coup weeks after taking office and later murdered. After four years of internal chaos and rebellion, the head of the army, Lt. General Joseph Mobutu, seized control in 1965 and became president. Mobutu was forced out of the country in 1997 at the end of the First Congo War (see separate Background Information Summary in this database). He was replaced by the previously obscure left-wing rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who came into power in May 1997 with the help of troops from Rwanda and Uganda. In many respects the First Congo War had been an extension of the ethnic strife between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis that resulted in the mass-murder of 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. In that conflict Tutsis regained control and eventually invaded what was then Zaire to drive off Hutus who were raiding Rwanda from refugee camps in eastern Zaire.

Combatants and Main Players: The Second Congo war involved most of its neighbors as well as domestic groups aligned with foreign allies, thus earning the nickname Africa's World War. Among the major players and leaders were:

People

• DRC President Laurent-Désiré Kabila (1939-2001), leader of a rebel group in eastern Congo since the 1960s, who led Congolese forces alongside the armies of Rwanda and Uganda to overthrow long-time President Joseph Mobutu in 1997. Kabila had headed the People's Revolutionary Army, a nominally leftwing guerrilla force in eastern Zaire since the 1960s, when he was joined for six months by revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Kabila lived for an extended period in exile in Tanzania, where forces loyal to him were reputed to deal in smuggled gold, diamonds, and elephant tusks smuggled from Zaire through Burundi. By the late 1980s his guerrilla army had all but disappeared, but he emerged rather suddenly in 1996 as a Congolese leader of rebel forces advancing on the capital of Kinshasa under the banner of the Alliance des Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Congo (AFDL) with the aid of the Rwandan and Ugandan armies. Dissatisfaction with Kabila's rule as president by Rwanda and Uganda sparked the Second Congo War, during which Kabila called for help from the armies of adjacent countries, notably Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Chad. Kabila was assassinated by a bodyguard in 2001, to be succeeded by his son Joseph.
• Joseph Kabila, son of Laurent who accompanied his father on the march on Kinshasa in 1997, succeeded his father as president in 2001 in the midst of the Second Congo War. Kabila carried on where his father left off, eventually prevailing when the Lusaka Agreement of 2003 formally ended the conflict. Joseph Kabila was elected president of DRC in 2006.
• Emile Ilunga, leader of a rebel force organized by Rwanda in 1998 to overthrow Laurent Kabila. Ilunga had been the civilian leader of a militia in Angola built around the former fighters for an independent Katanga in the early 1960s. Ilunga, whose militia joined Kabila in the fight against Joseph Mobutu in 1996-1997, was promised the job of vice president, but this offer was never fulfilled, leading him to join the anti-Kabila rebels organized by Rwanda in 1998.

Groups

• Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), rebel group organized against the government of Laurent Kabila, backed by Uganda.
• Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), rebel group against Laurent Kabila, backed by Rwanda.
• Banyamulenge, the term describing ethnic Tutsis living in eastern DRC. The Banyamulenge had been critical in launching the First Congo War in 1996 by attacking refugee Hutus, an action that in turn caused the Rwandan army to intervene and eventually to lead the drive to oust then-President Joseph Mobutu, who had been allied with the Hutus. They were representative of the ethnic resentment of Tutsi among many Congolese after the First Congo War. The main goal of Congolese Tutsis in the late 1990s was affirmation of their citizenship. Although he seemed sympathetic, Kabila never made this entirely clear, which cost him the support of the very ethnic group that had started the chain of events that put Kabila into office.
• The Kadogos, a term describing young fighters recruited by Laurent Kabila on his way from eastern Zaire to Kinshasa in 1997. These fighters were regarded as poorly trained and undisciplined, and they were a source of popular discontent under the Kabila government because of intimidating the civilian population. Government attempts to control the Kadogos, such as employing them to work in "re-education camps" established for former members of the Mobutu government's army (FAZ, see below), created more resentment among military veterans in those camps. The Kadogos thus became a political liability for Kabila in the months when he was trying to establish his authority over DRC.
• Mai Mai, a name used to describe several groups of non-Tutsi in the Kivu region of eastern DRC. The Mai Mai resented the presence of Rwandans-both the Rwandan army and Rwandans in the army of the DRC-and began actively fighting to expel both. The Mai Mai thus challenged both the army of Rwanda and the army of President Kabila.
• Hutus. Despite the intervention of Rwanda in 1996, two groups of Hutus-the Interahamwe (a civilian militia active in the 1994 massacre of ethnic Tutsi in Rwanda) and the Forces Armees Rwandaises (FAR), the former Hutu-led army of Rwanda, had continued to stage attacks into Rwanda from DRC territory. These attacks served as justification for the continued presence of the army of Rwanda in DRC.
• Katanga Tigers, a militia initially organized around the remnants of the Katanga gendarmes loyal to secessionist rebel Moise Tshombe in the early 1960s and subsequently supplemented by other Congolese dissatisfied with the government of Joseph Mobutu. The Katanga Tigers had been employed by the Portuguese during the fight over Angolan independence. They joined the anti-Mobutu forces of Laurent Kabila in 1996-1997. Their civilian leader, Emile Ilunga, once promised to be named vice president under Kabila, led the Rwanda-backed, anti-Kabila Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) at the outset of the Second Congo War.
• Forces Armees Zairoises (FAZ), members of former President Joseph Mobutu's army who had been sent to "re-education" camps by Laurent Kabila. They remained a cohesive group who were mistreated by Kabila's forces-including members of the Kadogos (see above) hired to supervise them in "reeducation" camps. Rebels against Kabila freed some members of the FAZ shortly after the start of the Second Congo War, and they fought on the side of the rebels.
• MONUC (acronym for Mission de l' Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo), the peacekeeping force approved under the Lusaka Accord to oversee a truce in the Second Congo War. Often thwarted by the government of President Laurent Kabila, MONUC later became active in combating rebel warlords in the eastern Ituri region of the DRC.
• National Army of the Congo (ANC), the name of the armed forces organized by Laurent Kabila after taking power in 1997. Some units of the ANC revolted against Kabila shortly after the start of the Second Congo War in summer 1998. Their mutiny included clashes with ethnic Tutsi soldiers serving in the Congolese army.
• Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie (RCD), civilian politicians opposed to Laurent Kabila who organized the party in the first days of the Second Congo War, in August 1998.

The Second Congo War. At the end of the First Congo War Laurent-Désiré Kabila was installed as president in Kinshasa largely thanks to the armies of Rwanda and Uganda. When he took office the head of the Congolese army was a Rwandan (second in command was Laurent Kabila's son Joseph, then in his 20s), as was the secretary general of Kabila's nominally Congolese rebel force, the Alliance des Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Congo, (AFDL). Kabila faced a host of problems establishing his authority in a country as large and ethnically diverse as DRC.

Early on a major issue became the role of Rwandans-and specifically, ethnic Tutsis-in his government. Tutsis in eastern DRC had long occupied an ambiguous position, viewed as foreigners by some while constantly striving to have their citizenship and recognition as Congolese accepted. The fact that the Tutsi-dominated army of Rwanda had played the major role in overthrowing ex-President Joseph Mobutu, and continued to play a key role in the government of Kabila, became a source of popular discontent. The Tutsis, whether Rwandan or Congolese, presented Kabila with a dilemma: on one hand he depended on their support, on the other hand they were the source of domestic discontent with his government.

At the same time the original cause of the First Congo War-incursions into Rwanda by Hutu refugees-remained problematical. The incursions did not stop under Kabila, and in June 1998 Rwanda accused the Kabila government of training members of the Interahamwe (the Hutu civilian militia blamed for many deaths of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994). Other groups opposed to the government of Uganda also continued to use eastern DRC as a staging point, which caused Uganda to keep its forces there.

Adding to Kabila's domestic problems were the Kadogos, the name applied to young men recruited in Kabila's rebel army while it advanced on Kinshasa in 1996-1997 during the First Congo War. These young men were largely untrained and undisciplined, and caused widespread resentment among the civilian population. Some Kadogos had been sent to guard members of the army of former president Joseph Mobutu, and their treatment of these prisoners created resentment that resulted in some of these prisoners who later joined the anti-Karbila forces.

Faced with growing resentment over the role of foreigners, especially Rwandan Tutsis, on July 27, 1998, Kabila ordered all foreign armies to leave the country. This primarily meant the Rwandan army. His order was widely ignored. On August 2, 1998, troops of Kabila's army, which included many Rwandans, mutinied, and fighting broke out throughout the country. Rwanda, as if to create a rerun of the First Congo War, organized a new rebel group, the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), which began advancing on Kinshasa in a re-run of the First Congo War. It was led by Emile Ilunga, formerly the civilian leader of the Katanga Tigers, a militia formed around former soldiers loyal to Katanga rebel Moise Tshombe in the early 1960s, who had subsequently been joined by other Congolese dissatisfied with the government of Joseph Mobutu.

President Kabila called for help, and the governments of Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and later, Chad, responded. Angolan troops attacked the advancing Rwandans and drove them towards the capital of Kinshasa, where they were attacked by civilians and suffered heavy casualties. A few days later troops from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Chad arrived in Kinshasa to support Kabila.

Kabila also began publicly training and arming the Hutu Interahamwe-civilians prominent in the 1994 massacre of Tutsis in Rwanda who had long been launching raids into Rwanda.

Thanks to the intervention of other armies, the Rwandan army was forced back east, where they continued to control the territory for the duration of the war.

In February 1999 Uganda reentered the fray by organizing its own rebel force in DRC (Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo, Congolese Liberation Movement, or MLC) which included many veterans of the former army of Zaire (Forces Armees Zairoises (FAZ) who were still loyal to the exiled ex-president Joseph Mobutu. Together Ugandan and Rwanda-backed rebels controlled the northern third of the DRC.

Lusaka Accord. In July 1999 the countries with troops in DRC-Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Chad-and the DRC government participated in a peace conference in Lusaka, Zambia, resulting in the Lusaka Accord. The Lusaka Accord had four main provisions: a cease-fire, deployment of United Nations peacekeeping force (MONUC, the French acronym for Mission of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo), withdrawal of foreign troops, and an "inter-Congolese dialogue" meant to form a transitional government before elections. None of these provisions was immediately implemented. Fighting continued, foreign armies remained in the country, the government of Laurent Kabila blocked deployment of UN troops, and the internal dialogue produced no power-sharing agreement as envisioned.

A few months after the conference in Lusaka the two rebel groups, MLC and RCD, also signed onto the agreement, although this did not mark the end of their rebellion either.

Despite the Lusaka Accord fighting continued between the army of the DRC and the two rebel groups, who by that time were also fighting one another. In 2000 the United Nations approved a peacekeeping force to monitor the Lusaka Accord.

In January 2001 President Laurent Kabila was assassinated by a bodyguard. His son Joseph succeeded him as president and began implementing many provisions of the Lusaka Accord. In February 2001 Joseph Kabila met Rwanda's president in Washington, and shortly afterwards Uganda and Rwanda both agreed to withdraw their troops from eastern DRC. (In fact, Rwandan troops remained in DRC until well into 2002.)

By then a private American humanitarian agency estimated the death toll from fighting in DRC had reached 3.5 million, including people who died of starvation or disease during mass dislocations.

After another year of fighting, in April 2002, the government in Kinshasa signed a peace agreement with the rebels of the MLC, backed by Uganda, under which the MLC leader would become prime minister. The Rwanda-backed RCD rebels initially refused to accept the peace plan. Three months later, in July 2002, the presidents of DRC and Rwanda signed an agreement for Rwanda to withdraw its troops, in exchange for DRC disarming and arresting Hutu rebels using DRC as a base to stage attacks into Rwanda. In September 2002 the DRC signed a peace agreement with Uganda under which Uganda agreed to withdraw its troops. By October both Uganda and Rwanda announced they had withdrawn most of their troops.

Talks on a power-sharing arrangement among competing factions in DRC-the Inter-Congolese Dialogue envisioned by the Lusaka Accord-resumed in South Africa in October 2002, ending with an agreement signed in December under which the main rebel groups were given positions in the DRC cabinet.

The political agreement was ratified by all rebel groups in April 2003, when President Kabila also signed a new constitution that provided for democratic elections after an interim period of two years. The new constitution marked the "official" end of the Second Congo War, although not the end of conflict in eastern DRC. In December 2004 fighting resumed in eastern DRC between the government and renegades linked to former Rwanda-backed rebels of the Rally for Congolese Democracy. The government of Rwanda denied any involvement. The next year, in September 2005, Uganda threatened to return to DRC after a faction of Ugandan rebels, the Lord's Resistance Army (see separate Background Information Summary in this database), was reported to have moved into DRC from its sanctuary in Sudan.

Strategic Implications. The African countries armies involved in the Second Congo War were not only concerned with the survival of the governments of Laurent and Joseph Kabila. The governments of all forces involved also had other political concerns, as well as economic interest.

A major issue for Rwanda, Uganda, and Angola was the presence of guerrilla groups opposed to their governments in adjoining areas of DRC. In the case of Rwanda these were Hutu groups still battling the dominant Tutsi. For Uganda it was several groups opposed to the government. In the case of Angola, it was UNITA, a long-standing group opposed to the central government.

Economically the invading countries were able to take advantage of the lucrative trade in Congolese natural resources from nearby areas, including gold, diamonds, and rare metals in eastern DRC, oil in southern DRC near Angola, and copper and cobalt mining in Katanga, near Zimbabwe.

The Second African War marked the first time that conflicts on the continent were not reflections of Cold War rivalries. No non-African countries were actively involved in the conflict.

Bibliography

Breytenbach, Willie, Dalitso Chilemba, Thomas A Brown and Charlotte Plantive. "Conflicts in the Congo: From Kivu to Kabila." African Security Review 8:5 (1999). http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/ASR/8No5/ConflictsInTheCongo.html

"Democratic Republic of the Congo." UN Chronicle. 343:2 (1997) 2p. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=9709280772&site=isc-live

Mabry, Marcus and Tom Masland. "Back to the Congo." Newsweek. 129:21 (May 26, 1997( 3p.

Weiss, Herbert. "War and Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." American Diplomacy 5:3 (Summer 2000). http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/AD%5FIssues/amdipl%5F16/weiss/weiss%5Fcongo1.html