Breaking down Africa’s breakdown

Anatasia Ndaonduye was recently interviewed by a BBC correspondent in a displaced persons camp in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“The fighting began near our home in the middle of the night,” she said. “There was a lot of gunfire and ‘mabombi’ – explosions. Some people were caught in the middle of the fighting. I saw them die, and after seeing them die, I knew we had to run away or else we would die with them.”

With her husband and four children, Anatasia hurried down the rocky road toward the camp where she now lives. She left all of her material belongings behind. And after a 20 km trek, her family arrived at the camp to find a lack of shelter and sustenance.

“We keep being told (the aid agencies) are bringing food,” she told the BBC. “But up till now it hasn’t arrived.”

Cases of cholera have sprung up in dozens of camps throughout the region.

Providing for themselves isn’t always a possibility. Anatasia’s husband travels to Goma, the provincial providence, every day in search of labor.

“If he finds work, he buys food for us, but if he doesn’t, we just go to sleep hungry,” Anatasia told the BBC. She is aware that all the belongings she left behind have been looted by the passing army, but she is most concerned about her sewing machine.

“I am a tailor, a dressmaker,” she said. “But not anymore.”   

So what events led to these atrocities?

The background

The conflict can be traced to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

In 1994, the international community remained on the sidelines while more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in the Rwandan genocide. In much of the world’s view, the problem is over. But the domino effect of the Rwandan genocide continues today.

After several weeks of unabated killing by the Hutu militias, Paul Kagame, now the president of Rwanda, and his rebel Tutsi militia, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, were able to capture the Rwandan capital of Kigali. A mass exodus of nearly 1 million Hutus crossed into the eastern Congo. The Congo’s reigning despot, Mobutu Sese Seko, welcomed them with open arms and provided financial aid to the Hutu perpetrators of the genocide.

Increasingly frustrated by Seko’s assistance to the Hutu militias, Rwandan President Kagame provided substantial military support to rebel leader Laurent Kabila, who then overthrew Seko. Kabila then turned on his former allies and dismissed all Rwandan officials from the ranks of his government, provoking Rwanda’s military retribution.
Eight Central African nations became embroiled in the deadliest conflict since World War II. Laurent Kabila was fatally shot by a bodyguard. His son Joseph Kabila succeeded him. After five years of fighting, a peace deal was signed between several of the rebel forces and the Congo in 2002.

But the level of conflict remains largely the same in eastern Congo. More than 20 local militias still roam there, vying for control of mineral resources.

Current escalation of violence has been prompted primarily by one militia’s increasing influence in the region. Laurent Nkunda and his forces, the National Congress for the

Defense of the People, claim to protect the Tutsi community against the Hutu aggressors that the Congolese government has failed to quell. Nkunda demands President Kabila follow through with his promise to disband Hutu militias.

International observers suspect that Nkunda receives monetary and military aid from Rwanda.

Today’s problems

Many are skeptical of Nkunda’s motives. School of Public and Environmental Affairs professor Ann Marie Thompson believes Nkunda is motivated primarily by financial gain.

“The scramble for resources is the driving force behind the recent conflict in the (Congo), not the overpublicized claims of ethnic division,” Thompson said.

Various militias in the region seek to gain control of casseterite- and coltan-rich areas in eastern Congo. These minerals serve as integral components in our cell phones and computers, the backbone of modern society. Though multinationals cannot be accused of sole responsibility in the ongoing conflict, the current instability of the Congo creates a situation in which militias provide cheap coltan and casseterite to the developed world.

“The international community must acknowledge it culpability in the DRC conflict,” Thompson said.

Since August, Nkunda’s forces have been on the offensive. As they have gained more territory, 250,000 Congolese have been displaced from their homes, adding to a total of more than 1 million displaced persons. The recruitment of thousands of child soldiers is once again on the rise, and sexual violence is occurring at unprecedented rates. Reports throughout eastern Congo describe women being gang-raped by militiamen, sometimes causing tears in the vagina known as fistulas. A culture of lawlessness and impunity thrives.

Several initiatives are underway to pacify the current conflict. UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon has proposed a 3,000-troop increase to the UN peacekeeping force.

Despite being the largest peacekeeping force in the world, 17,000 troops spread over an area equivalent in size to Western Europe have proved incapable of controlling rebel violence.

In addition, the national Congolese army is an ill-equipped and poorly funded military, often accused of committing the very same atrocities as rebel forces. Amnesty International has called for a reinforcement of peacekeeping forces. While Thompson agrees additional forces should be sent to the Congo, she believes the long-term solution must be diplomatic and bring Rwanda and the Congo into dialogue.

A special envoy, former Nigerian President Obasanjo, has been assigned to the conflict. He seeks to facilitate dialogue between all parties involved. He has already met with Kagame and Nkunda in the attempts to negotiate a truce.  

It’s time to act

At IU, many students are working to help the Congolese people. A new organization, Giving Back to Africa, is particularly involved with the Congo.

Thompson, the group’s founder, explains that one of the main stumbling blocks in the Congo is a “failure of leadership.” GBA seeks to remedy this dilemma by providing funding for higher education to two students each year in the Congo. In addition to their studies, these students attend classes that focus on giving back to the community.

“The principle criteria used to choose these scholars is both need and the extent to which the scholar is committed to service,” Thompson said.

One sponsored student is from the eastern Congo where the conflict rages. He plans on returning there after his studies to help play a role in ending the violence. The student, junior Dani Walker, said a common humanity is recognized when transnational bonds are built between citizens in Bloomington and students in the Congo. It is then “much more difficult to ignore what’s going on in the Congo,” Walker said.

Whether a student or a diplomat, the time has come to act. We can no longer look the other way as inhumanity occurs on its most drastic scale.

For Thompson, the drive to make a difference in Congo is inspired by what she calls the Congolese spirit “to survive and continue to hope.” Perhaps this spirit is best exemplified in the words of Anatasia Ndaonduye.  

“I ask those who are able to, to help mediate so that there can be peace. Peace is our main priority. I would also appreciate some help for all people like me who have lost their belongings. We want to be able to leave these camps and return home and take care of our children. Of everything though, the only thing I am asking for is peace. Peace is my first priority.”