Democratic Republic of Congo

Holy Week was rough in Nigeria. On Saturday, April 12 “Boko Haram” invaded two villages in Borno, and killed thirty-eight people. On April 14, “Boko Haram” claimed responsibility for the bombing at the Nyana bus park in suburban Abuja that killed seventy people (official figures) or 500 (estimates from observers). A few hours later “Boko Haram” kidnapped over 200 girls from a school in Borno (the exact number is disputed). It also killed a policeman and a soldier during that operation. As of April 24, the majority of the girls have still not been found. On April 15, “Boko Haram” killed twenty in attacks on two villages in Borno; one of the victims was a traditional ruler. The same day “Fulani” herdsmen killed seven in the Middle Belt. The victims are likely to have been Christians. That incident was followed by the retaliatory killing of an additional eight (likely Muslims). On April 17, “thugs” attacked a Nigerian party congress, resulting in numerous hospitalizations but, apparently, no deaths. This carnage is the backdrop to a well-reasoned editorial in the Abuja quality newspaper, Leadership, “Our Stand-This State has Failed.” The editorial notes, inter alia, that a third of the Nigeria’s land mass has been under emergency rule for a year, and also in at least another third of the country there have been “…mass murders, kidnappings for ransom, daylight armed robberies, breakdown of law and order, and unrestrained stealing of public funds.” Leadership cites the Fund for Peace’s 2013 “Failed State Index,” which ranks the country 16th out of 178 countries. Nigeria’s ranking is slightly better than Somalia, Congo, the Sudans, Chad, and Afghanistan. “But, even in these other countries, innocent people and children don’t get killed with the reckless abandon we have seen lately in the country. And school girls don’t get kidnaped in the numbers we have been witnessing in Nigeria.” Leadership concludes, “the Jonathan regime has demonstrated a frightening incompetence in the handling of the state’s affairs. It is now beyond doubt that the regime is incapable of protecting the people.” Leadership is a respected newspaper published in Abuja but with a national audience. This editorial is another sign of the popular Nigerian loss of confidence in the Jonathan government.

For as long as a generation, parts of the eastern Congo have been hell on earth. The depredations of war lords, militias, and even the Congolese army itself, in a context of the breakdown of government and gangster-like intervention from abroad have made the region nearly unlivable. Eastern Congo has become notorious for the wholesale looting of its vast natural resources and the widespread use of rape for political ends. Under such circumstances, the announcement that a particularly vicious rebel group, M23, would end its rebellion and begin surrendering its weapons can only offer hope in what has long been a hopeless situation. This positive development appears to be the result of some reforms in the Congolese army, international pressure on Rwanda, and a much more aggressive role for the UN peacekeeping force, the world’s largest and most expensive. Human rights and other activists have been advocating this formula for years. Exploring why it has taken so long to implement this strategy would take a book – we might start with Jason Stearns’ Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa. Despite Paul Kagame’s vociferous denials, the Congolese government in Kinshasa has long maintained that Rwandan support for the rebels and warlords has played a key role in the conflict. Kinshasa has called on the international community to bring pressure on Kigali and now it has done so, particularly by cutting aid to Rwanda. There has also been pressure on the Kinshasa government to make reforms. The UN Security Council finally broadened the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force, allowing it to pursue a much more aggressive role, and at least some members of the Congolese army have seen a need for reform, according to the New York Times. M23’s surrender is not the end of eastern Congo’s travails. At best, it is no more than “the end of the beginning” in the effort to provide peace and security to a devastated region. Eastern Congo may be the region of the world that is the most wounded, with some of the worst social statistics in almost every category. Its recovery will require both the attention and the assistance of the international community. If either lapses, M23 is likely to have successors.

This is a guest post by Emily Mellgard, research associate for the Council on Foreign Relations Africa Studies program. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been back in the media over the past few days with the news that the UN mission MONUSCO and the DRC military (FARDC) have succeeded in pushing the M23 rebels out of many of their fortified positions and into the jungles along the border with Rwanda. This current struggle against the M23 rebels (who take their name after the government peace agreement of March 23, 2009, on which they claim the government reneged), is only the most recent of almost continuous exploitation and violence in the region since it came under the Belgian monarchy’s rule in 1885. The violence against women has been particularly horrific. The DRC has been called “the rape capital of the world,” and “the worst place to be a woman.” Hundreds of thousands of women have been sexually harassed and raped. We have blogged previously on some of the attitudes on rape in the DRC and on its use as a weapon of war. One pioneering Congolese gynecologist and surgeon, however, has gained international accolades and domestic heroism for his work with victims of rape in his country. Dr. Denis Mukwege founded the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, near the DRC-Rwanda border in 1999. The hospital specializes in obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, surgery, and internal medicine. It has treated over 40,000 victims of sexual violence. Dr. Mukwege says: “The perpetrators of these crimes destroy life at its entry point. The women can no longer have children. Often they get infected with AIDS… Their men are humiliated. So the perpetrators destroy the entire social fabric of their enemies, their communities, their future generations, without even killing the woman. A line has been crossed here, which should have been an absolute taboo. But because those parts of the body are not usually visible, it is not as obvious as other forms of mutilation.” After an attempt to assassinate him in October 2012, Dr. Mukwege fled to Europe with his family. He returned however in January 2013 to live full time at the hospital. There was an outpouring of support from fellow Congolese after the attack on him, and local women’s groups promised that they would protect him. They volunteered to guard him around the clock in shifts of twenty women each. For his work among the victims of war and insecurity, Dr. Mukwege was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and has received the UN Human Rights Prize (2008), the Olof Palme Prize (2009), and the King Baudouin International Development Prize (2011). In 2009, the Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust named him “African of the Year.” He received the 2013 Human Rights First Award. And on 15 October, 2013, he received the Civil Courage Prize from the Train Foundation. Dr. Mukwege believes that the DRC needs “a professional, predominantly female, police force and an army that protects its people and excludes those who have destroyed the country.” Should M23 be defeated, building such institutions will be key to ensuring future stability, and the rights of all Congolese, especially women.

This is a guest post by Emily Mellgard, research associate for the Council on Foreign Relations Africa Studies program. The Australia based, Walk Free Foundation on Oct 17 published their first annual Global Slavery Index. The Index ranks 162 countries by how prevalent slavery is in each country and by absolute numbers of the population that is in slavery. They use a comprehensive definition of slavery, including: “slavery, forced labor, or human trafficking. “Slavery” refers to the condition of treating another person as if they were property–something to be bought, sold, traded, or even destroyed. “Forced labor” is a related but not identical concept, referring to work taken without consent, by threats or coercion. “Human trafficking” is another related concept, referring to the process through which people are brought, through deception, threats, or coercion, into slavery, forced labor, or other forms of severe exploitation.” This broad definition aims to encompass three widely ratified and recognized international treaties: the Slavery Convention, the Forced Labor Convention, and the Trafficking Protocol. Under this umbrella definition, Mauritania ranks highest on the prevalence of slavery in any country. Fully 25 percent of the population is deemed to be enslaved. The nine other nations with the highest prevalence are: Haiti, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Moldova, Benin, the Ivory Coast, the Gambia, and Gabon. Half of the ten countries with the highest prevalence of slavery worldwide are African. Walk Free also ranks countries by the absolute number of people in slavery. The ten countries with the most slaves are: India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. Together these countries account for 76 percent of the 29.8 million people in slavery worldwide. Countries with the lowest prevalence of slavery are: Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland. The United States ranks 134, with 57,000-63,000 enslaved people. Mauritius, with an Index rank of 143, has the least slavery in sub-Saharan Africa, Swaziland ranks 126, Angola ranks 116, South Africa ranks 115, Madagascar ranks 112, and Kenya ranks 102. The Index uses pre-existing data. Some of which were collected by individual countries and by Kevin Bales at Free the Slaves. This is the first time however, that the data were collected together into a single report to provide a global overview of modern slavery. Walk Free was founded in May 2012 by Andrew and Nicola Forrest. The aims of the foundation include: identifying countries and industries most responsible for modern slavery; identifying and implement interventions in those countries and industries that will have the greatest impact on modern slavery; and to critically assess the impact of these interventions. They believe that slavery can be, finally, eliminated with broad grassroots public support, legislative action, and socially responsible corporate policy.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reported to the UN Security Council Group of Experts, who monitor the Libyan arms embargo, that Joseph Koney and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are funding themselves through elephant poaching, as are other armed rebel groups. He commented that Libyan heavy weapons, formerly in Muammar Ghaddafi’s Libyan arsenal, and now scattered prolifically across sub-Saharan conflict areas, are making the poachers more efficient. His report added weight to the growing security concerns associated with elephant poaching, especially across Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The secretary general’s report is horrific: more than 11,000 elephants slaughtered between 2004 and 2013 in a game park in Gabon, and 33 pregnant elephants killed in a single incident in Chad. More than 300 elephants were killed during the last two months of 2012 in Cameroon. Trafficking in animals and animal parts is commonly listed as the third most lucrative illicit trade commodity in the world, behind narcotics and weapons. However, Maneka Gandhi, an Indian animal rights activist, now claims that animal trafficking has succeeded arms and narcotics. This is attracting increased participation from organized crime syndicates and rebel groups like the LRA. There are other media reports that Kony uses raw elephant ivory to bribe local officials and buy weapons and ammunition. African governments do what they can to suppress the trade in illegal ivory, and are calling for increased resources to be allocated to conservation. But many of them have little capacity to put down the trade in remote areas where there are few government officials, and those that are there are very poorly paid. There continues to be Asian (especially Chinese) demand for elephant ivory. Vietnam is the main destination for rhino horn, and many countries play a role as transit countries for both ivory and rhino horn; including the Philippines. As with the poaching of rhinos for their horns, there may be scope for an international effort to tackle the various stages of the ivory trade, ideally coordinated by the African Union and African regional organizations, to push China and Vietnam to greater efforts to suppress domestic consumption of illegal ivory.

Africa has had many secessionist movements in the post-colonial period. Only South Sudan and the Republic of Somaliland have so far been successful, and the latter lacks international recognition. Some secessionist movements never really go away. Katanga, currently the southernmost province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), established itself as a state separate from the rest of the former Belgian Congo in the years immediately after independence, allegedly with Belgian connivance. Even after it was forcibly re-incorporated into what is now called Congo-Kinshasa, it has retained a separate consciousness and there have been recurring secessionist movements. The province is relatively wealthier and has better social statistics than the rest of the country, largely because of its mineral resources. Now, an armed group called Mai-Mai Kata-Katanga is campaigning for provincial autonomy, claiming that the province has not benefited from its mineral riches. Estimates are that the group has displaced some 340,000 people. “Kata Katanga” means “cut off Katanga,” while “Mai” means water and refers to a magic potion with which they spray themselves for immunity from bullets, according to the media. In March, the insurgents attacked Lubumbashi, the provincial capital, armed with AK-47s and various traditional weapons. They were defeated by the Congolese armed forces and surrendered to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission. According to the press thirty-three were killed and sixty were wounded. Now, at least one Katanga provincial politician is calling for talks between the Mai-Mai and the Kabila government in Kinshasa. There never has been a credible political process in place to address the grievances that feed insurgencies like Mai-Mai. Meanwhile, President Kabila has removed the military commander based in Lubumbashi for “grave dereliction of duty.” The leader of another pro-autonomy group observes that Congo-Kinshasa is “a repository of unresolved conflicts, where dissatisfaction and despair have become entrenched and the most effective and sustainable solution is in the reconstruction of the entire state structure.” If he is right, the Mai-Mai group may go away, but it will likely be replaced by another group in a continuing cycle until Congo-Kinshasa’s profound issues of governance are addressed.

The celebrated historical-thriller “Argo,” directed by Ben Affleck, tells the story of the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. It has been a critical and commercial success. The film won three academy awards, including “Best Picture” at the 2013 Academy Awards in February. It is also a reminder of the reality of “Third-World Rage." The gripping opening scenes of the movie recall the role played by the United States in placing the shah on the Iranian throne and the subsequent tyranny of that regime as it became ever more distant from the Iranian people. There is a wonderful scene in which the deposed shah assures an American interviewer that the abuses of his regime, including torture, were never brought to his attention—an excuse often provided by tyrants who have lost power. Those opening scenes of the film also show the popular rage against the shah that accompanied his overthrow and the establishment of an Islamic regime. The film also depicts that rage against the United States and the American embassy as being a consequence of Washington’s largely uncritical support for the shah, crystallized by his admission to the United States for medical treatment. The storming of an embassy while the police do nothing is any professional diplomat’s nightmare. That is what happened in Tehran in 1979. To this viewer, the film accurately portrays that the attack on the American embassy was a manifestation of popular rage, even if it was manipulated by Iran’s new leadership as a tool to solidify its position. The film is thus a reminder of the possible consequences to the United States of its association and identification with tyrannical rulers ranging from the shah, to Cuba’s Batista, to Zaire’s Mobutu. Washington has too often simply looked the other way from African tyranny when it seemed to be in American short-term interest. Someday, we pay a direct price.

Search for Common Ground, a distinguished Washington-based NGO devoted to international conflict resolution and peace building that has long focused on the Great Lakes Region, organized a special two-day meeting of the Great Lakes Policy Forum (GLPF) earlier this week–the 165th meeting of the Forum. The Council on Foreign Relations and the Nitze School of International Studies at Johns Hopkins hosted and participated, along with many other Congo-watchers from the executive and legislative branches, NGOs, and academia. Search for Common Ground arranged for the presence of experts from the Congo, and there were representatives of the Congolese diaspora in the United States. The focus was on local and regional issues on the first day, international perspectives on the second, when diplomats from Congo, Rwanda and Uganda were present. The first day was under Chatham House Rules, the second was on the record. Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson in formal remarks urged that the international community accord Congo a higher priority than it does at present, and he laid out a U.S. policy framework. These discussions took place in the immediate aftermath of the signing in Addis Ababa of a UN-sponsored framework agreement by eleven nations that aims at ending the violence in Eastern Congo. With respect to internal Congolese issues, there was a consensus on the importance of improving governance, security sector reform, and the need to develop and harness political will with respect to corruption and a host of other ills. There was also agreement on the need to review and probably expand the UN’s mandate in Congo. As for the international dimension of the Congolese crisis and the intervention of Rwanda and Uganda, there were “three different narratives” that, in effect, were irreconcilable. The Congolese participants (and UN agencies and many independent observers) argue that Rwanda and Uganda are actively involved in supporting militias and rebels in eastern Congo, while Rwanda and Uganda strenuously deny it. Assistant Secretary Carson noted that there have been more than five million deaths in Congo since the 1997 departure of Mobutu Sese Seko, a dictator who ruled and looted the country for thirty-two years. That the international community has permitted such carnage is a scandal. I find the Congolese charges against Uganda and Rwanda credible. At the very least the international community should be pressuring those two states to desist, no matter how useful their support is on other issues.

There is a useful new feature on cfr.org, the Council on Foreign Relations’ website. Ask a CFR Expert invites members of the public to submit questions on U.S. foreign policy, and CFR fellows respond to questions that pertain to their own areas of expertise and research. The following question was recently proposed to me: “What will it take for the United States and others to address the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo?” This was my response. Congo’s natural wealth makes it an African arena of competing ambitions. It is an open secret that senior political and military figures from Rwanda and Uganda sponsor irregular militias in eastern Congo to access its mineral resources for personal enrichment. Corrupt Congolese politicians similarly enrich themselves, while Congo’s government provides almost no security, health services or education. Human rights organizations credibly accuse government agents, the military, and local militias of committing atrocities to coerce the local population. The United States, Belgium, China, and African states could pressure the Ugandan and Rwandan governments to cease supporting militias. They could urge the Congo government to reform its military and the police and reduce official corruption. With its economic heft in central Africa, China could play a positive role in a diplomatic push against Ugandan and Rwandan support for the militias. But, Congo is not a high international priority, and China is reluctant to intervene in the internal affairs of their trading partners. Instead, the international response is to leave Congo to the United Nations to meet minimal humanitarian needs. Congo’s government would need international assistance for reform and to move against corruption, but it may not have the capacity to challenge the powerful individuals who benefit from the present system. In sum, the exploitation of Congo’s vast resources by competing elites and militaries for personal enrichment promotes insecurity and stymies development. Only very strong Western and African public outcry and a change in China’s nonintervention approach might open the possibilities for change. I encourage others to submit questions as well, whether they are on U.S. policy toward Africa or other areas of foreign policy.

Eastern Congo is notorious for rape perpetrated by Congolese soldiers and irregular militias, often as tool for terrorizing the local population. A shocking new study by Promudo and the Sonke Gender Justice Network shows that it is much more than that.  In a report issued December 4, their study shows that while sexual violence is certainly used in war, it also reflects the consequences of the general subordination of women and pervasive myths that normalize rape.  It also shows the extent to which men as well as women are victims of sexual violence. The roots, then, of sexual violence are deep, and rape occurs within households and communities to an even greater extent than on the battlefield. The report also discusses the role of profound poverty and a population often demoralized by the lack of work. In its press release, Promundo’s International Director Dr. Gary Barker observes, “the results from our study affirm that Goma and the areas around it are among the worst places in the world to be a woman or a man, and that it is only by transforming gender relations, engaging women and men…that true and lasting change will be possible…” That would be harder than restoring security in the Eastern Congo—where Africa and the international community have been remarkably unsuccessful, as the latest crisis involving the M23 rebellion/mutiny shows. Promundo is a Brazilian nongovernmental organization and research institute focused on gender issues.  In addition to Rio de Janiero, it has a presence in Washington, D.C. and in Rwanda.  The Sonke Gender Justice Network is a South African NGO that has long focused on gender issues and HIV/AIDS. Both have excellent reputations. Promundo’s work in the Great Lakes region is yet another positive example of increased Brazilian involvement in Africa that I have written about before.  Similarly, the work of the Sonke Gender Justice Network shows that South African involvement outside its southern African region is more than just economic or political.

The situation in the eastern Congo is no less obscure than before the regional leaders met for negotiations over the weekend. M23 stated they would leave the city of Goma, captured on November 20, by November 27. They are still there. Now they claim they will hold a handover ceremony and pull back to Rutshuru, their original stronghold, on Friday, November 30; but only so long as M23 troops remain at the Goma airport. And possibly, that their political wing remain in Goma itself. Rwanda and Uganda continue to vehemently deny that they back the M23 rebel group. This line becomes thinner each time they use it. Kris Berwouts provides a succinct analysis of the recent Rwandan/Congolese relationship. Another player in the arena however is the UN, who stood by after the Congo army fled and watched M23 rebels march into Goma. Many are asking why the UN Mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) doesn’t push the rebels out. After all, the Christian Science Monitor and the Economist estimate that M23 numbers in the range of only 1,000-1,500 while there are 19,000 UN troops supported by 3,800 civilian staff in Congo, including 6,700 troops in North Kivu, of which Goma is the capital. As the Economist says, “the UN…has once again been humiliated.” The answer is that pushing the rebels out is not MONUSCO’s mandate. Essentially, MONUSCO is supposed to support the Congolese army and protect civilians. But the Congolese army fled, and, apparently, M23 has not attacked civilians—thus far. The French foreign minister is calling for a “review” of MONUSCO’s mandate, noting, correctly, that future fighting could lead to civilian casualties. But, expanding MONUSCO’s mandate would require UN Security Council action. Rwanda is, at present, on the Council. I doubt that there is the political will among Security Council members to significantly expand MONUSCO’s mandate, and increase its personnel and budget. Previous humanitarian disasters, including Darfur (ongoing) and the Rwanda genocide are not hopeful precedents for greater international intervention; nor is Syria. So, the chances are good that the situation, and the violence, will continue to simmer in North Kivu. That is, unless Congo president Joseph Kabila and Rwanda president Paul Kagame do a deal that patches things up in the short term. Perhaps it will also involve Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni. On November 27, the State Department announced that Assistant Secretary John Carson would be leading a U.S./France/UK delegation to Uganda for talks with Museveni on eastern Congo.

Since I blogged yesterday about the fighting around the city of Goma between the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) supported by UN forces and the M23 rebels, the situation has deteriorated. Yesterday, the rebels had pulled back to await a response from Kinshasa to its demands that Goma be de-militarized and that a border post with Uganda be reopened. Kinshasa did not accept the M23 ultimatum, and the rebels have now occupied the city and its international and military airports for the first time since 2003. In the general melee, DRC soldiers shelled a neighboring Rwanda district, killing two, according to Rwanda sources. That same Rwanda source says, however, that Kinshasa has apologized. If so, Kinshasa and Kigali may be trying to avoid any cross border escalation, a positive development. Meanwhile the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General have again reiterated their condemnation of M23 aggression. The UN Secretary General has previously said that UN troops will remain in Goma, though it is not clear if their presence will continue now that the city has fallen. Local media is reporting that Goma residents are blaming Kinshasa for this latest reversal. Goma’s fall is bound to damage that already tattered credibility of Congolese president Joseph Kabila. Easy to overlook is the appalling humanitarian cost of the renewed fighting in Eastern Congo. Humanitarian agencies now estimate that there are 1.6 million internally displaced persons in North and South Kivu (Goma is the capital of North Kivu) out of a total of 2.4 million in the entire country. The CFR is closed for the rest of this week in celebration of Thanksgiving. So, the next “Africa in Transition” blog post will be on Monday, November 26th.