http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Congo_War
― the valves of houston (gbx), Wednesday, 22 October 2008 19:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Rape as a weapon
Rape was used as a weapon of war throughout the conflict. In October 2004 the human rights group Amnesty International reported that 40,000 cases of rape had been reported over the previous six years, the majority occurring in South Kivu. This is an incomplete count as the humanitarian and international organizations compiling the figures do not have access to much of the conflict area and only women who have reported for treatment are included. The actual number of women raped is thus assumed to be much higher. All armed forces in the conflict are guilty of rape, though the militia and various insurgent groups have been most culpable.[15] Of particular medical concern is the abnormally high proportion of women suffering vaginal fistulae, usually as a result of being gang raped. The nature of rape in the conflict has, beyond the physical and psychological trauma to the individual women, contributed to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, in the region.
― the valves of houston (gbx), Wednesday, 22 October 2008 19:45 (fifteen years ago) link
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_fighting
― lauren, Monday, 27 October 2008 14:03 (fifteen years ago) link
I presume this bloodshed gets little coverage in the west because none of the western powers intends to do anything about it.
― Aimless, Monday, 27 October 2008 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link
because the whole continent is pretty fucked and seems to be getting worse with every passing day. i think it gets to a point where people feel like no matter what they do it will not have any sort of impact whatsoever.
― The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Monday, 27 October 2008 17:57 (fifteen years ago) link
"whole continent is fucked" = racist
i mean, not really, but that attitude underwrites most people's dismissive attitude towards african politics. "they're just gonna keep killing each other! (read: SAVAGES)"
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=5189846&story_id=12601948
the economist thinks O should do something about it. i would agree, though i can't help but think that any intervention would be motivated by a desire to plunder congo's vast natural wealth
― hyperspace situation (gbx), Thursday, 20 November 2008 19:37 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/world/africa/16congo.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=congo&st=cse
News coverage appears to be picking up. Good for exposure, bad because ppl are hella dying
― hyperspace situation (gbx), Thursday, 20 November 2008 19:41 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-how-we-fuel-africas-bloodiest-war-978461.html?
read the comments section if you feel like going to england and murdering someone
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Thursday, 15 January 2009 03:28 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/opinion/07kristof.html
― werewolf bar mitzvah of the xx (gbx), Monday, 8 February 2010 16:33 (fourteen years ago) link
we were supposed to go to bukavu :-/
― werewolf bar mitzvah of the xx (gbx), Monday, 8 February 2010 16:40 (fourteen years ago) link
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/2011511231649539962.html
jesus
― cop a cute abdomen (gbx), Thursday, 12 May 2011 17:16 (thirteen years ago) link
hey did you guys know that tyler the creator says some bad stuff in his raps
― cop a cute abdomen (gbx), Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Hey yall, feel free to help support the City of Joy if you want to do anything about this!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/09/city-of-joy-congo-women-rape/print
Every little bit helps!
http://drc.vday.org/city-of-joy
Gift registry where you can sponsor nurses and buy vocational supplies for Congolese women!
https://secure.vday.org/cityofjoy/index.php
Also, here's an awesome quote that everyone can marinate on:
But Congo is clearly not a priority for international aid: when Ensler went to talk to Michelle Obama about the cause, she got inside the White House before an aide, high up in the Obama administration, informed her that "Congo was not going to be part of the Michelle brand".
― Princess TamTam, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:13 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/7337/2011-05-08.html
During President Obama’s visit to Ghana he shared with the Africans that the United States will engage differently in Africa from previous administrations by supporting strong institutions and not strong men. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has yet to hold to this principle when it comes to Central Africa. It continues to support Central African strongmen, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda while the people of the region continue to suffer from an ongoing conflict and the pilfering of their natural resources.
In the final analysis, if President Obama can implement a No-Fly Zone over Libya, surely, he can implement Public Law 109-456 and hold accountable U.S. allies Rwanda and Uganda.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:23 (thirteen years ago) link
thx for the linx, tamtam
― cop a cute abdomen (gbx), Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:28 (thirteen years ago) link
You're welcome. Death to amerikkka.
― Princess TamTam, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:30 (thirteen years ago) link
killer White Hosue quote too.
thanks for this thread gbx
― sleeve, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:32 (thirteen years ago) link
i haven't been following the region lately :-/
― cop a cute abdomen (gbx), Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:33 (thirteen years ago) link
Ah, I was going to link to the same article as tam tam & pull out the same quote... Appears to be an atrociously difficult situation to improve.
― ogmor, Thursday, 12 May 2011 20:28 (thirteen years ago) link
TamTam coming correct upthread
fwiw one of my dudes is going into surgery, and is seriously thinking about OB because of the need to repair rectovaginal fistulae
― remembrance of schwings past (gbx), Thursday, 15 September 2011 14:45 (twelve years ago) link
can't believe no one is discussing this. M23 took Goma today.
this blog has some interesting details i haven't seen elsewhere:http://congosiasa.blogspot.com
― Mordy, Tuesday, 20 November 2012 20:01 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/11/after-the-fall-of-goma-the-m23-conflicts-western-front/264935/
― Mordy, Tuesday, 20 November 2012 21:03 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ben-affleck-congo-urgently-needs-us-help/2012/11/29/828cd2c2-37ef-11e2-8a97-363b0f9a0ab3_story.html?tid=ts_carousel
Ben Affleck weighs in! He's been there.
Plus some guy on Morb's fave ultra-left site weighs in also:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/26/why-is-obama-silent-over-the-new-congo-war/
― curmudgeon, Friday, 30 November 2012 16:27 (eleven years ago) link
I wonder why most of the rebels have now left Goma?
― curmudgeon, Friday, 30 November 2012 16:37 (eleven years ago) link
I was reading Dancing in the Glory of Monsters to get some insight into the Congo situation but he made such leaden comparisons between the Congo situation and WW2 that I had to stop reading it. He kept quoting Arendt's ideas about Eichmann (banality of evil) but in a particularly ham-fisted and non-insightful way. He also doesn't seem to understand the Holocaust at all, which makes me mistrust his insights into the Congo situation. For example he writes:
In just one hundred days, between April and July 1994, over 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed. Unlike the holocaust of World War II, which had been carried out by a select group of state officials and army officers, largely away from the view of the population, Rwanda’s genocide was organized by the elites but executed by the people.Between 175,000 and 210,000 people took part in the butchery, using machetes, nail-studded clubs, hoes, and axes.2 The killing took place in public places: in churches, schools, and marketplaces, on roads, and in the fields. The entire population was involved in the drama, either as an organizer, a perpetrator, a victim, or a witness.
Between 175,000 and 210,000 people took part in the butchery, using machetes, nail-studded clubs, hoes, and axes.2 The killing took place in public places: in churches, schools, and marketplaces, on roads, and in the fields. The entire population was involved in the drama, either as an organizer, a perpetrator, a victim, or a witness.
I don't think this is true of the Holocaust though. Although many people were killed 'discretely' in death camps, a vast majority of WW2 deaths were similarly perpetrated in the middle of civilization, people murdered in holy places, schools, marketplaces, roads and fields. Plenty of organizer, perpetrators, victims, witnesses. Which is not to say that he has no insight into the Congo but it particularly grated me since this is an area that I know a lot about and if his insight is that the Congo situation is more situated in everyday life than WW2 he isn't bringing much sophistication to the table.
Maybe this Africa's World War book is good, but seems to suffer from the same issue - why do we need to discuss the Congo in light of WW2 when it is clearly its own thing? Are people afraid there will be no interest unless we explain how it's just like (or unlike) WW2?
― Mordy, Friday, 30 November 2012 19:31 (eleven years ago) link
how do you mean, its own thing?
― the late great, Friday, 30 November 2012 19:53 (eleven years ago) link
i've always assumed that references to "africa's world war" were simply to illustrate the scope of it; lots of political players, immeasurable loss of human life, and so on.
as for the rwandan genocide: haven't read that book, and certainly don't nearly as much as you about the holocaust, but you're right that
"The killing took place in public places: in churches, schools, and marketplaces, on roads, and in the fields. The entire population was involved in the drama, either as an organizer, a perpetrator, a victim, or a witness."
was very true in europe, and that not all execution took place in concentration camps or on trains or what not. but that doesn't change the fact that the rwandan genocide was very different in that nearly of the murders were perpetrated by neighbors, "civilians," by hand and in the public square, so to speak. i agree that that passage is kinda clumsy, but the take home point (it seems to me) was that the holocaust was mechanized, organized from the top-down, and that public involvement was more permissive than participatory. vs rwanda where, to oversimplify things, there was a propaganda machine that convinced people to turn on their neighbors very quickly, and very viciously.
but i also haven't been keeping up on the congo situation nearly as much as i should, so you know
― well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Friday, 30 November 2012 22:40 (eleven years ago) link
certainly don't KNOW nearly as much etc
― well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Friday, 30 November 2012 22:41 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, it's not super egregious and the Hannah Arendt stuff annoys me much more (it feels like a superficial construct to organize the book around, and especially following Bloodlands - the last book I read). I'll probably go back to it and see if it improves. I really want to read a careful analysis of the conflict, but so far the book seems to be more interested in questions of evil + banality.
― Mordy, Saturday, 1 December 2012 01:08 (eleven years ago) link
just heard about this on the bbc this morning:http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/african-treaty-to-aid-the-internally-displaced-comes-into-force-2-years-after-it-was-adopted/2012/12/06/03ad3052-3f9f-11e2-8a5c-473797be602c_story.html
looks great, but somalia + congo (probably two biggest internally displaced countries) haven't signed on. at the end of the report the guy being interviewed was like "well, they won't follow all the provisions, but hopefully they won't go against them either" -- good luck! okay, but it's a start, i think.
― Mordy, Thursday, 6 December 2012 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
Would totally recommend "Africa's World War" as a history of the war in Congo--doesn't spend any time comparing the war to WW2 other than to state that it involved an entire continent's worth of countries. Only strike against the book is that it can get quite bewilderingly detail-heavy. There are so many acronym-laden armed groups and splinter groups and groups recombined out of other groups that it gets to be quite an alphabet soup. But other than that I would really consider it the definitive book on the subject.
Still wondering why M23 left Goma. Definitely feels like only a tiny sliver of what's going on there is making it out to western news sources.
― bert streb, Thursday, 6 December 2012 22:12 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-05/gertler-earns-billions-as-mine-deals-leave-congo-poorest.html
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, 9 December 2012 21:34 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/06/24/the_invisible_state
― Mordy , Monday, 24 June 2013 05:00 (ten years ago) link
That piece ends in part by saying this:
But that is largely because the world has not provided any incentives to think about alternative scenarios: a Congo divided into different states, a Kinshasa with varying levels of sovereign control over different regions, more formal responsibilities for the international community in the provision of security and services, or any other idea that might move away from the 50-year fixation on aiding a failed state.
But it starts by saying that the UN peacekeepers in the Eastern part of the country outside Kinshasa are not doing anything; so isn't Congo, in a sense already divided into separate states? As for more formal responsibilities regarding security--is really possible that any country will want to have its troops involved in doing this; which also seems like a different approach than the separate state argument? I don't know enough about the rebels in the East and what granting them the authority to have a separate state would mean.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 June 2013 18:24 (ten years ago) link
I think most of the Congolese musicians I have listened to were from Kinshasa. Congo used to be the influential center of music through large parts of the continent.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 27 June 2013 14:52 (ten years ago) link
congolese rumba is one of my all time fave genres
― Mordy , Thursday, 27 June 2013 14:58 (ten years ago) link
I used to read an African music chatboard/forum whose participants were largely Congolese expatriotes and American fans of Congolese rumba and soukous. The Congolese ex-pats would only grudgingly acknowledge music from elsewhere, and insist that their rumba was superior and influenced genres elsewhere on the continent. The devastation in Congo plus changing music trends and new technology means it must be hard to be a rumba musician back home (and not move to France or Belgium like many Congolese musicians have)
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 27 June 2013 15:10 (ten years ago) link
i think my fave reissue (maybe fave album period) from this year is the Orchestra Super Mazembe 2 disc @45RPM set. they were formed in Zaire, but moved to Nairobi in 1974, so i guess congolese rumba bands have been leaving the congo for a bit now.
― Mordy , Thursday, 27 June 2013 15:20 (ten years ago) link
mainstream congolese music kind of famously started to dry up in the 80s and 90s because anyone with a reputation outside of the country would move to brussels or paris or the US. that's still true to a great extent.
kinshasa almost like a city-state... for the most part they have been spared the violence that persists in many other parts of the country.
IIRC it's either the fastest growing city in the world full stop or at least the fastest growing (quasi-)francophone city. it's huge.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:23 (ten years ago) link
So no one wants to comment on the foreign policy article? Aren't there some experts we can bring in?
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 27 June 2013 19:44 (ten years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/23/opinion/congo-the-road-to-ruin.html
― Mordy , Wednesday, 24 July 2013 00:15 (ten years ago) link
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/08/201382815950221122.html
A United Nations peacekeeper has been killed and three others wounded in escalating violence in the eastern Congo, which also saw UN helicopters fire on rebels fighting Congolese troops.The nationality of the slain peacekeeper was not immediately known and no other details were given.The latest fighting began just before 8am on Wednesday in the hills of the Kibati area, about 15km north of the provincial capital of Goma, according to both a government and a UN spokesman.The rebels confirmed that they had been attacked by ground troops as well as from the air."There was a big offensive this morning. The government's army, helped by the United Nations, attacked our positions near Goma with aircrafts, with combat tanks and with infantry," said the president of the M23 rebel movement, Bertrand Bisimwa.Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Hamuli said the UN brigade and regular UN peacekeepers had supported government forces with heavy artillery and attack helicopters."Combat is ongoing and there has been an intense bombardment of Kibati," he told the Reuters news agency. "It's going well. We have not advanced much but M23 is gaining no territory."
The nationality of the slain peacekeeper was not immediately known and no other details were given.
The latest fighting began just before 8am on Wednesday in the hills of the Kibati area, about 15km north of the provincial capital of Goma, according to both a government and a UN spokesman.
The rebels confirmed that they had been attacked by ground troops as well as from the air.
"There was a big offensive this morning. The government's army, helped by the United Nations, attacked our positions near Goma with aircrafts, with combat tanks and with infantry," said the president of the M23 rebel movement, Bertrand Bisimwa.
Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Hamuli said the UN brigade and regular UN peacekeepers had supported government forces with heavy artillery and attack helicopters.
"Combat is ongoing and there has been an intense bombardment of Kibati," he told the Reuters news agency. "It's going well. We have not advanced much but M23 is gaining no territory."
― Mordy , Thursday, 29 August 2013 15:24 (ten years ago) link
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/09/03/congo_is_too_big_to_fail
Congo belongs to a sovereign people who are proud of their nation and its history, culture, and wealth. Taken in full measure, Congo's ethnic groups, large and small, live peacefully together. But a new crop of non-Congolese analysts peddles a Conrad-esque narrative that portrays Congo as a primitive land pulled straight from Heart of Darkness and casts the Congolese people as incapable of determining their own destiny. These analysts emphasize local conflict, militias, state failure, sexual violence, and poverty. Their essays rarely mention Congo's strong civil society and resourceful population, instead relying on surveys and rankings like Foreign Policy's Failed States Index. But Congo is not a string of statistics, and no country can be reduced to such numbers. In fact, it is impossible to get a meaningful reading of developments in Congo through indices and surveys due to lack of accurate data.
― Mordy , Tuesday, 3 September 2013 13:34 (ten years ago) link
This is just unbelievable: But each crisis has made Congo stronger and better and brings the Congolese together as a nation. Uhm... no...
― Frederik B, Tuesday, 3 September 2013 14:24 (ten years ago) link
Definately No
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 3 September 2013 14:45 (ten years ago) link
so, wow
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/world/africa/m23-rebels-democratic-republic-congo.html
― Mordy , Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:16 (ten years ago) link
whoa
― well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:33 (ten years ago) link
yes
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 5 November 2013 16:40 (ten years ago) link
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/a-congolese-rebellion-routed-a-photographers-work-continues/
― Mordy , Wednesday, 6 November 2013 16:47 (ten years ago) link
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/20/is_congo_finally_getting_its_act_together
― Mordy , Friday, 20 December 2013 23:01 (ten years ago) link
it's so sad that no matter when this thread is revived, i never have to ask, "what crisis?"
― I dunno. (amateurist), Saturday, 17 January 2015 02:06 (nine years ago) link
iirc the rwandan gov't is helping to arm these rebels right?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Saturday, 17 January 2015 02:07 (nine years ago) link
who FDLR? afaik they're looking to overthrow the rwandan govt
President Joseph Kabila's adviser, Jean-Marie Kassamba, told Al Jazeera, "The ultimatum that we gave them has expired. We have said that at any moment the Congolese army with MONUSCO will start the operations against the FDLR."This fulfilled pledges Congo signed with Rwanda and Uganda at a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia after the M23 rebels were defeated, he said.
This fulfilled pledges Congo signed with Rwanda and Uganda at a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia after the M23 rebels were defeated, he said.
M23 was allegedly funded by rwanda
― Mordy, Saturday, 17 January 2015 02:28 (nine years ago) link
i get them mixed up :(
― I dunno. (amateurist), Saturday, 17 January 2015 03:10 (nine years ago) link
FDLR = Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, includes members of InterahamweM23 = former members of National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) who turned against DRC govt - mostly tutsis. named M23 after the 3/23/09 CNDP treaty w/ the govt where they became a political party
essentially the idea was that rwanda was funding M23 to disturb eastern Congo / Goma area and as i understand it, in exchange for the resolution of M23 (11/7/13) DRC agreed to handle FDLR which is a threat to Rwanda.
― Mordy, Saturday, 17 January 2015 03:21 (nine years ago) link
big problem w/ this agreement is that even UN+DRC has been demonstrated to be unsuccessful at holding east congo area (it was a scandal when M23 basically walked right by the UN camps) while they were fighting M23. it's unclear that anything has changed and that they can deliver FDLR.
― Mordy, Saturday, 17 January 2015 03:24 (nine years ago) link
the central authority in kinshasa has never really had much control of eastern congo since the end of the colonial period
― I dunno. (amateurist), Saturday, 17 January 2015 04:24 (nine years ago) link
or at least that control was always contingent and fragile
― I dunno. (amateurist), Saturday, 17 January 2015 04:25 (nine years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/magazine/why-not-us-women.html
― Mordy, Friday, 20 February 2015 16:36 (nine years ago) link
short piece but amazing photos in the slideshow
― Mordy, Friday, 20 February 2015 16:40 (nine years ago) link
http://congoresearchgroup.org/69-armed-groups-in-the-congo-what-next/
― Mordy, Wednesday, 2 December 2015 04:48 (eight years ago) link
https://pslarson2.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/murdockmapbound.png
― Humean froth (Sanpaku), Wednesday, 2 December 2015 14:45 (eight years ago) link
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2015/12/02/South-African-forces-attack-Congo-rebels%E2%80%9A-sparking-possible-diplomatic-row
The Ugandan separatist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have been behind a spate of massacres at schools‚ hospitals and villages in the region.
South African National Defence Force troops are in the area as part of a United Nations-backed peacekeeping mission to restore stability to the eastern DRC.
The attacks by the SANDF late yesterday were carried out despite the DRC government trying to forbid the UN's actions.
Reports indicate that the helicopters caused considerable damage to several of the rebels' bases‚ although exact losses of ADF personnel are unknown.
The attacks came as ADF forces were marching on several villages on the outskirts of eastern DRC town of Beni.
Infighting between the DRC government and the UN follows ADF fighters stepping up attacks on peacekeepers in the region
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 2 December 2015 16:17 (eight years ago) link
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/19/children-as-young-as-seven-mining-cobalt-for-use-in-smartphones-says-amnesty?CMP=share_btn_fb
The human rights groups say they traced the supply chain from these mining sites to Congo Dongfang Mining (CDM), one of the largest mineral processors in the DRC and a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese mineral company Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Ltd (Huayou Cobalt).
The report says that Huayou Cobalt sources more than 40% of its cobalt from the DRC and processes the raw mineral before selling it to battery makers, who claim to supply companies including Apple, Microsoft and Vodafone. This supply chain has not been independently verified by the Guardian.
Responding to the allegations, Huayou Cobalt told Amnesty International that “our company has not been aware that any of our legitimate suppliers has hired child labour in their mining sites or operated in unsafe working conditions …
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 20 January 2016 23:34 (eight years ago) link
Another story on it
https://www.rt.com/news/329420-amnesty-cobalt-child-labor-apple/
Amnesty International is calling out major tech manufacturers – including Apple, Microsoft, Sony and others for their alleged links to illegally-sourced cobalt in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 21 January 2016 15:35 (eight years ago) link
Will Kabila allow an election to happen?
Congo's foreign minister insists that elections will take place after technical problems are resolved.
Raymond Tshibanda, addressing the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting, said until then people should not resort to bloodshed.
Tensions have risen as indications have increased that President Joseph Kabila will stay in office after his term legally ends in December, sparking violent demonstrators.
Congo's electoral commission has said that November's scheduled presidential vote won't be possible, and a court has determined Kabila can stay in power until another election is organized.
"Any recourse to using violence should be strongly condemned and the perpetrators punished," Tshibanda said.
The U.N. Security Council earlier this week urged all parties in Congo to end violent clashes and open a peaceful political dialogue on the holding of elections.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-france-fighting-syria-cease-fire-42310346
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 24 September 2016 10:36 (seven years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/opinion/a-foolish-power-grab-in-congo.html
Under the Constitution, Mr. Kabila is supposed to vacate the presidency when his mandate runs out, on Dec. 19. But his ruling coalition and part of the opposition agreed last month to delay a presidential vote until at least April 2018, citing logistical problems in registering millions of voters. Under their plan Mr. Kabila would remain in office until that election... As pressure mounts on the government, Mr. Kabila has done what embattled governments often do: crack down on the media that provide citizens with their most reliable news. Radio France International and the United Nations-funded Radio Okapi have both had their signals jammed recently. Also, increasing numbers of political activists have been arrested.
African nations can fight back against Mr. Kabila’s dangerous power grab by joining Security Council members in sending a forceful message that the president must leave office on Dec. 19, as originally planned...
― curmudgeon, Monday, 21 November 2016 16:36 (seven years ago) link
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/protesters-defy-congolese-president-as-he-attempts-to-extend-rule/2016/12/20/35c308f9-aceb-440f-84a8-c225e9d2bc44_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.d15868146a8f
What a mess. I don't think Congo has ever had a peaceful transition from one president to another
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 21 December 2016 20:05 (seven years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/world/africa/congo-kasai-kabila-militia-graves.html
― Mordy, Friday, 28 July 2017 17:53 (six years ago) link
In the town of Nganza, in the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the dead have been decomposing for months. Now it may be too late to identify them. The ground that covers them has turned almost smooth again. The only sign that there are people buried here are the government soldiers in red berets and aviator sunglasses, posted nearby with AK-47s.They are deployed not for protection but to stop anyone from investigating witnesses’ claims that the security forces went door to door here in March, gunning whole families down in their homes and then closing the doors behind them.The slaughter in Nganza was part of a wider conflict that has engulfed the Kasai, a region in the center of this vast country, where government forces are fighting a militia opposed to President Joseph Kabila. The violence, rooted in political and economic grievances, was ignited last August when troops killed the group’s leader, a hereditary chief who went by the name of Kamwina Nsapu (pronounced ka-MEE-na SA-poo) meaning “black ant.” His followers, many of them children, retaliated, and the conflict spread like wildfire.The Roman Catholic Church, one of the few institutions in the country that provides reliable statistics, estimates that at least 3,300 people have been killed in the region since October. More than 1.4 million people have been displaced internally or are flooding into Angola.
They are deployed not for protection but to stop anyone from investigating witnesses’ claims that the security forces went door to door here in March, gunning whole families down in their homes and then closing the doors behind them.
The slaughter in Nganza was part of a wider conflict that has engulfed the Kasai, a region in the center of this vast country, where government forces are fighting a militia opposed to President Joseph Kabila. The violence, rooted in political and economic grievances, was ignited last August when troops killed the group’s leader, a hereditary chief who went by the name of Kamwina Nsapu (pronounced ka-MEE-na SA-poo) meaning “black ant.” His followers, many of them children, retaliated, and the conflict spread like wildfire.
The Roman Catholic Church, one of the few institutions in the country that provides reliable statistics, estimates that at least 3,300 people have been killed in the region since October. More than 1.4 million people have been displaced internally or are flooding into Angola.
― Mordy, Friday, 28 July 2017 17:55 (six years ago) link
did you know that ilx does not have a thread for rwanda?
this ep of afropop worldwide is v relevant imo and devastating: http://afropop.org/audio-programs/kizito-mihigo-and-the-politics-of-music-in-post-genocide-rwanda
― Mordy, Wednesday, 29 November 2017 01:06 (six years ago) link
This interview with Andrew Mitchell, former Secretary of State for International Development, was revealing of the UK government's attitude to Paul Kagame:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N046fZRGK3U
Gavin Davies: "In the last two elections he's been over 90%, is that a true reflection of public support for him?"
Andrew Mitchell: "I really think it is".
― Action of Boyle Man Prompts Visitor to Stay (Tom D.), Wednesday, 29 November 2017 08:46 (six years ago) link
three killed during protests against kabila's refusal to vacate officehttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/world/africa/congo-protest-joseph-kabila.html
― Mordy, Sunday, 31 December 2017 16:40 (six years ago) link
not crisis related just some amazing photos of mountain gorillas mostly in congo and some in rwanda (and Uganda - the reserve is on the border w/ DRC). i'd love to visit one day
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/mountain-gorillas-at-home/549962/
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/photo/2018/01/gorillas/g21_92935161/main_900.jpg?1515444786
― Mordy, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 16:36 (six years ago) link
what a place
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/photo/2018/01/gorillas/g08_92945996/main_900.jpg?1515438934
― ogmor, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 19:27 (six years ago) link
My impression has always been more:
https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/0*dSW6nP7nemg4iG0p.jpg
― Sanpaku, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 21:06 (six years ago) link
mama and baby gorillas <3
― khat person (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 9 January 2018 21:07 (six years ago) link
it's a country of great pain and great beauty xp
― Mordy, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 21:08 (six years ago) link
a land of contrasts.................
― ogmor, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 21:33 (six years ago) link
Kabila leaving presidency after 17 years. I wonder what the catch is.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 9 August 2018 15:07 (five years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/world/africa/joseph-kabila-congo.html
Ebola still a problem though too
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 9 August 2018 15:09 (five years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/world/africa/congo-election-tshisekedi-fayulu.html
never ending :/
― Mordy, Friday, 11 January 2019 15:17 (five years ago) link
obviously any political change is likely to be fraught at best but is this necessarily a bad thing long term?
― ogmor, Friday, 11 January 2019 16:22 (five years ago) link
hopefully it doesn't devolve into violence. generally speaking yeah i feel like peaceful transitions of power are a sign of a stabile society. but whether it remains stable is the key.
― Mordy, Friday, 11 January 2019 16:40 (five years ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/12/raf-veteran-admitted-killing-un-secretary-general-dag-hammarskjold-in-1961
― ogmor, Saturday, 12 January 2019 19:26 (five years ago) link
If anyone knows of any reading that deals with the later colonial period up to mobutu's takeover I'd be grateful for some recommendations
― ogmor, Sunday, 13 January 2019 22:56 (five years ago) link
― ogmor, 12. januar 2019 20:26 (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
The director is Danish and I hate his latest films so much and have planned to write a character assassination piece for years when I got the chance. But it sounds like he has figured out why he went wrong lately and actually made something really important. And it pisses me off :(
― Frederik B, Monday, 14 January 2019 10:02 (five years ago) link
(Reuters) - Conflict and escalating violence have uprooted a record 6.9 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, mostly in the east of the country, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday.
Years of rebel conflict and recurrent natural disasters have helped fuel one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.
Most of those forced to flee their homes live in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika, according to the data collected by the United Nations.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 19:47 (six months ago) link
https://www.africanews.com/2023/10/30/un-says-record-69-million-people-internally-displaced-in-the-dr-congo/
Tutsis and militias loyal to government are fighting again
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 19:50 (six months ago) link
Been seeing more social media posts about Eastern Congo issues but not any new ideas about what to do
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 1 November 2023 20:09 (six months ago) link
What is happening in the Congo is a proxy war waged by regional and external powers...watch here 👇🏿 https://t.co/PUiKUuvoqk— K.Diallo ☭ (@nyeusi_waasi) November 11, 2023
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 11 November 2023 12:33 (six months ago) link
The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) armed forces repelled an attempted coup d'etat involving Congolese and foreign fighters on Sunday morning, a DRC army spokesperson said in a televised address..The army announces the arrest of American mercenaries. pic.twitter.com/Lfsv5FvINw— African News feed. (@africansinnews) May 19, 2024
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 19 May 2024 17:21 (four days ago) link
A fringe Congolese politician and his United States business partner in mining and cannabis ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique apparently led a foiled coup in the early hours of Sunday.
Christian Malanga, 41, leader of the US-based United Congolese Party, was killed as his band of 20 armed men reportedly tried to force entry into the Palais de la Nation, the complex that is home to President Felix Tshisekedi's government.
Malanga's right-hand man was Benjamin Zalman-Polun from Maryland (US) identified in earlier reports as an American cannabis entrepreneur.
Both Malanga and Zalman-Polun were partners in mining ventures and the fast-growing electronic cigarette liquids sector.
― omar little, Sunday, 19 May 2024 17:48 (four days ago) link
Finally some good news
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Sunday, 19 May 2024 17:52 (four days ago) link
It just keeps getting better!
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 19 May 2024 18:13 (four days ago) link
This makes me wonder suddenly who runs The Wagner Group now. I'm assuming it wasn't disbanded, and they've been active in DRC.
― paisley got boring (Eazy), Sunday, 19 May 2024 18:27 (four days ago) link