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Gross, Deanna Katherine, and deanna gross@adelaide edu au. "POLITICS AND PLUNDER: Civil war and regional intervention in Africa." Flinders University. School of Political and International Studies, 2007. http://catalogue.flinders.edu.au./local/adt/public/adt-SFU20080502.111658.
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Over recent decades, civil wars in Africa have taken millions of lives and caused widespread destruction of whole states and regions. The living standards of peoples residing in such states in Africa which have been devastated by war are often deplorable, with violence, disease and poverty characterising life there. Lawlessness is another feature of such wars, making these states optimal places for international terrorist groups to operate in, and from. For both the above reasons, the West should not turn a blind eye to this issue.
These wars that have occurred in a number of African states, including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan, have often become regionalised with surrounding states increasingly becoming involved. This is particularly the case when economic gain can be sought through involvement in the civil war. The introduction of regional actors into domestic civil wars frequently serves to intensify and prolong the conflict, through an increase of arms and troops entering the fighting. The surrounding state actors largely claim to be involved for political reasons, namely to provide security to their own state. However, numerous credible reports have shown that vast plundering of natural resources has been carried out in war-time by surrounding states in the war-torn state. Consequently, this thesis examines the motives of surrounding state actors when deciding to participate in domestic civil wars of their neighbours. To do this, I compile case studies on both Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo since both states had been ravaged by violent and drawn-out civil wars involving regional actors. Furthermore, the regional actors in both cases (Liberia in Sierra Leone, and particularly Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe in the DRC) have been accused of participating in the wars for economic gain.
The case studies showed that while political motivations largely drive the initial decision by regional actors to participate in civil wars in their region, it is subsequently economic gain that both allows and compels them to continue their involvement in the civil war. Henceforth, in the final chapter, I put investigate policy suggestions for the future including: prevention of resources being used to fuel warfare through controlling their access to legitimate channels; the use of aid to reduce the likelihood of those in poverty turning to war in pursuit of sustenance, including opportunities to target aid and use compliance with particular peace agreements as a prerequisite for attaining the funding; diversification of the economies of these weak states through development assistance to reduce risks produced by a high dependency on primary commodity exports for income and financial sanctions in the form of freezing of assets or asset blocking. These policy suggestions seek to address both the political and economic motivations of the surrounding state actors in participating in civil wars in Africa.
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Taka, M. "Conflict coltan : local and international dynamics in the Democratic Republic of Congo." Thesis, Coventry University, 2011. http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open/items/8af75d34-cb5d-4253-8476-07419206e940/1.
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This research analyses the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships in enhancing governance to promote sustainable peace and security. It uses a case study of coltan exploitation and armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the two wars between 1996 and 2003 and the ongoing conflict have led to the ‘world’s worst humanitarian crisis’. The current body of knowledge on conflict analyses, particularly ‘resource curse’ theory, emphasises the natural resource endowment and weak governance as the main factors contributing to the DRC conflict, and has been influential in policy formulation. The case study is supported by the collection and analysis of qualitative data from multiple sources using different methods including literature reviews, interviews and observations. In so doing, the research seeks to examine how multi-stakeholder partnerships can help to enhance governance and promote sustainable peace and security, with a focus on the role of the multi-stakeholder partnerships in curtailing revenues for the belligerents from coltan production and trade in the eastern DRC. The analysis of the conflicts and coltan exploitation revealed the intricate multi-layered nature of the conflicts in the DRC and their complex causalities. The examination of the multi-stakeholder partnerships relevant to coltan exploitation in the DRC identified a number of constraints for their implementation and concerns about adverse effects from the implementation, largely owing to the externally driven agenda of the partnerships, which neglects the local perspectives. Through the arguments presented in this thesis, the research contributes to knowledge in three broad areas: it contributes to ongoing academic discussions on conflict analyses, in particular the resource curse hypothesis and the economic agendas of civil war; it provides empirical analysis and data on the coltan industry and partnership initiatives in relation to armed conflicts in the eastern DRC; and it highlights the need to re-assess the concept of participatory governance as one of the key approaches to improving governance.
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van, der Valk Adrienne. "Black power, red limits : Kwame Nkrumah and American Cold War responses to Black empowerment struggles /." Connect to title online (Scholars' Bank), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/8690.
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Jones, Benjamin Thomas. "The Past is Ever-Present: Civil War as a Dynamic Process." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1374173688.
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Östman, Peter. "Civil-militär samverkan under fredsoperationen i Kongo." Thesis, Försvarshögskolan, 2002. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-1896.
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Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka civil-militär samverkan vid fredsoperationen i Kongo 1960-1964 ur ett kulturkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Detta har gjorts i form av en fallstudie där litteratur av personer verksamma på plats i Kongo 1960-1964varit dominerande. Ur fallstudien framkommer att många samverkansproblem förekom trots ett genomtänkt koncept ochinsatser för att förbättra samverkan mellan civila och militärer. Vidare framkommer att militärer och civila i huvudsak upplevde likartade problem. I uppsatsen har kulturkonstruktivistisk teori använts som analytiskt verktyg och skillnader mellan civilaoch militära aktörers kollektiva identiteter, världsuppfattningar och normer utgjort grunden för attförklara samverkansproblemen. Vid analysen av empirin framkommer att samverkansproblem inte bara förekom mellan civila ochmilitära aktörer utan även inom respektive skrå och mellan olika nivåer i organisationen.Vidare framkommer att den kontext en person befinner sig i, likväl som dennes bakgrund och yrke,betyder mycket för den personens åsikter och värderingar. Min övergripande slutsats är att kulturkonstruktivistiska skillnader mellan civila och militära aktörer tillstor del kan anses förklara de problem som förekom i civil-militär samverkan vid fredsoperationen iKongo 1960-1964.The aim of this essay is to study civil- military cooperation during the peace operationin Congo between 1960 and 1964 from a culture-constructivist perspective. The study has been performed as a case study and literature written mainly by militaryofficers and UN-officials who were in active duty in Congo between 1960 and 1964has been used.Based on the case study it appears that there were many cooperation problems, despitea well thought-out concept and a lot of efforts made by military and civilian personnelin order to improve civil-military cooperation. It also appears that military andcivilian personnel experienced similar problems. A culture-constructivist theory has been used as an analytic tool in the essay anddifferences between civil and military actors´ collective identities, opinions of realityand norms have constituted the foundation to explain cooperation problems. In the analysis it appears that cooperation problems not only occurred between civiland military actors but also within each branch (civil and military) and betweendifferent hierarchic levels in the organisation. It also appears that the context, inwhich a person exists, as well as the person’s background and profession, is importantfor that specific person’s opinions and set of values. The main conclusion of the analysis is that culture-constructivist differences betweencivil and military actors, at least to a large extent, can be seen as an explanation to theproblems that occurred in civil- military cooperation in the peace operation in Congoduring 1960-1964.
Avdelning: ALB - Slutet Mag 3 C-upps.Hylla: Upps. ChP 00-02
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Mendonça, António Sérgio Correia. "Distribuição do rendimento, pobreza e a eclosão de conflitos no contexto dos Países em Desenvolvimento : os casos do Sri Lanka e da R.D. Congo." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/16231.
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Mestrado em Desenvolvimento e Cooperação InternacionalA ocorrência de conflitos internos nos países em desenvolvimento ocorre num contexto fértil na incidência de fenómenos como a pobreza e a desigualdade na distribuição do rendimento, colocando a hipótese de associação entre os fenómenos. E nos continentes asiático e africano que se verifica a grande maioria dos conflitos mundialmente, apresentando também esses continentes das maiores incidências de pobreza. O estudo do caso do Sri Lanka permite-nos verificar que a existência de boas condições iniciais após a independência e de uma distribuição do rendimento relativamente equitativa, não se constituem como condições suficientes para a estabilidade social num ambiente livre de conflitos e guerras civis. No Sri Lanka a desigualdade na distribuição do rendimento e a pobreza constituem-se como possíveis factores de eclosão da guerra civil ocorrida, dado ter apresentado uma dinâmica crescente nos anos que antecederam a sua iniciação. A análise do caso da República Democrática do Congo revela que a existência de abundantes e valiosos recursos naturais não constitui uma condição suficiente para o estabelecimento de um processo de desenvolvimento económico e social estável. Apesar da coexistência de diversos factores explicativos dos conflitos na República Democrática do Congo, é na altura em que os indicadores de pobreza apresentam os piores níveis de sempre que a guerra civil deflagra no país.
The internai conflicts occur in developing countries in a context deeply characterized with poverty and inequality phenomena, asserting the possibility of association between these phenomena. The vast majority of internai conflicts occur in Africa and Asia that show the highest poverty incidence. The case of Sri Lanka allows us to notice that an initial good development standing after the independence and a relative equal income distribution, will not necessarily imply social stability in an environment clear of conflicts. In Sri Lanka, inequality and poverty constitute two possible causes of the civil war occurred in the country, since it has shown a growing pattem in the years previous to its initiation. The analysis of the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reveals that the existence of abundant and valuable natural resources will not imply the creation of a stable economic and social development process. We can consider the coexistence of different causes of the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but we can also observe that the civil war starts in the country when the poverty indicators show the worst ever performance.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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Moleko, Teboho Banele. "A critical analysis of the role of coltan in the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s second war (1998-2003)." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017864.
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The role of natural resources in African conflicts has been subject to extensive scholarly analysis. However, much of this analysis has taken a narrow economic reductionist bias. As such, it is imperative that the dominant assumptions and accepted concepts and theories about the role of natural resources in African conflicts be re-examined. The aim of this thesis is to offer a revaluation of the role of coltan during the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Second War (1998-2003) through a critical engagement with the resource wars literature. The purpose is to offer a re-reading of the role of coltan in the DRC Second War and the broader regional and global economic context in which this conflict took place. It rejects the commonly cited assumption that the presence of coltan in the DRC means it is an initiator of conflict. Rather, this thesis argues that the central role of coltan in the DRC Second War was as an aggravator of conflict in that its exploitation was used by different parties to fund their military and political ambitions. This thesis also argues that the DRC’s weak state structures and pivotal role within the Great Lakes region, as well as the international trade of coltan and the nature of the DRC coltan mining industry are all key factors in understanding coltan exploitation in the country’s Eastern Region during the Second War.
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Tshiyoyo, Mudikolele Michel. "Public service delivery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a case study approach /." Diss., Pretoria : [s.n.], 2006. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-07312007-142223/.
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Yav, Katshung Joseph. "Prosecution of grave violations of human rights in light of challenges of national courts and the International Criminal Court: the Congolese dilemma." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/1122.
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"Although the United Nations (UN) has often been pivotal in forging the international response to serious human rights crimes in such settings, the justice gap in countries such as the Democratic Republic [of] Congo (DRC) (the focus of this study) underscores the need for more systematic UN efforts. The war in the DRC has resulted in one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis with over 3.4 million displaced persons scattered throughout the country. An estimated 3.5 million people have died as a result of the war. The armed conflict has been characterised by appalling widespread and systematic human rights violations, including mass killings, ethnic cleansing, rape and the destruction of property. The most pressing need to be addressed is the question of justice and accountability for these human rights atrocities in order to achieve a durable peace in the country and also in the Great Lakes region (Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Angola and the DRC, to name just a few). In this respect, this study will address the grave human rights violations committed in the DRC and the mechanisms for dealing with them. It is particularly true in post-conflict situations where justice systems have been either partially or completely destroyed, that national courts are not capapble of arriving at a uniform stance, or willing to provide justice for atrocities in the immediate future. As a result, international justice seems to be a crucial and last resort that must continue to be fortified against efforts to undermine it. ... Chapter one will set out the content of the research, identify the problem and outline the methodology. Chapter two will discuss the state obligations in international law to prosecute gross violations of human rights and gives a summary of the human rights violations situation during the Congolese war. Chapter three will discuss the available naitonal mechanisms for accountaiblity in the DRC. It will discuss if national courts and TRC are able to deal with these atrocities committed in the DRC. Chapter four will analyse the extent to which the ICC could deal with the Congolese case and challenges. Chapter five will discuss the trends towards accountability in the DRC and the way forward. Chapter six will draw a conclusion on how to break the cycle of impunity in the DRC." -- Introduction.Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2004.
Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Boukongou Jean Didier and Dr. Atangcho Akonumbo at the Catholic University of Central Africa, Yaounde, Cameroon
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html
Centre for Human Rights
LLM
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Bell, Baillie. "The Wartime Rape Narrative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34315.
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The international community has constructed a dominant narrative to explain the prevalence of gendered violence in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This dominant narrative posits regional and national antagonisms over conflict minerals as the cause of the Congolese wars that have resulted in the mass rape of Congolese women and girls. Sexual violence against women and girls is portrayed as the most significant form of violence occurring during the Congolese wars. This narrative has had a substantial impact on how the international community has represented, researched and responded to Congolese women and gendered violence. I argue that this narrative is based on problematic conceptions of gender relations rooted in white Western feminism that are incompatible with the local experiences of Congolese women and men. The misconception of gender, gender relations and gender violence has engendered misguided intervention initiatives that have failed to produce meaningful change in the lives of Congolese women. This thesis challenges dominant discourses that inform and impose specific narratives of violence and development agendas. It moves beyond them to propose an alternative analysis of gender and gendered violence. It sheds light on the historical disconnection between international and local perspectives of gender and gender violence in the Congo, arguing that to be effective, international development and humanitarian discourses must be re-examined in light of the local socio-cultural context of eastern Congo.
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Winters, Veronica Jane. "State-Corporate Crime in the Democratic Republic of Congo." Scholar Commons, 2013. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4615.
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This study addresses the need for a parsimonious theoretical model to explain state-corporate crime. The Integrated Theoretical Model of State-Corporate Crime will be compared to the Integrated Theory of International Criminal Law Violation to determine which model provides the most accurate theoretical depiction of state- corporate crime, while retaining parsimony. For this comparison, the models will be applied to Democratic Republic of Congo case study. Using a secondary analysis of qualitative data and preexisting literature, it was found that the Integrated Theoretical Model of State-Corporate Crime displays a representative depiction of all state-corporate crime actors and their catalysts for action in a more parsimonious manner than the Integrated Theory of International Criminal Law Violation.
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Ngondzi, Jonas Rémy. "Enfants-soldats, conflits armés, liens familiaux : Quels enjeux de prise en charge dans le cadre du processus de DDR ? Approche comparative entre les deux Congo." Phd thesis, Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux IV, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00958088.
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La participation active des enfants aux conflits armés affectant de manière endémique les territoires de la République du Congo et de la RDC est une réalité indéniable. Cette participation des enfants est dûment constatée par les organismes des Nations Unies, le CICR, les ONG de défense des droits de l'Homme, les médias internationaux. Elle est dénoncée par eux comme violation grave des droits de l'Homme et comme crime de guerre. La théorie du choix rationnel et le paradigme interactionniste sont les outils qui permettent le mieux d'appréhender et de comprendre les logiques des recruteurs d'enfants dans les deux Congo. Les seigneurs de la guerre, les leaders des groupes politico-militaires et certains chefs des armées régulières sous-estiment volontairement le phénomène de militarisation des enfants qui n'a cessé de prendre de l'ampleur avec la résurgence des conflits à l'Est de la RDC. Bien que le phénomène ait des origines anciennes, la militarisation de l'enfant dans les deux Congo lui a fait connaître une évolution considérable au cours des deux dernières décennies. Cette évolution a engendré des modifications profondes de l'image et de la fonction de ces enfants, passés du statut de victimes civiles, à celui d'enfants-soldats, indissociablement victimes et bourreaux. L'histoire des deux Congo, depuis longtemps émaillée de conflits sporadiques, semble être désormais entrée dans un cycle continu de guerres larvées ou déclarées, civiles, régionales, ethniques, sociopolitiques, économiques, voire vivrières, que seul l'enrôlement des enfants permet d'entretenir. L'enfant-soldat est devenu un acteur central des conflits actuels de la région. Comment évaluer et comprendre cette évolution fondamentale des conflits congolais ? Quelles perspectives de solution à ce phénomène ? Quelle prophylaxie? Pour éviter que perdure l'enrôlement des enfants, et obtenir la démobilisation de ceux qui servent déjà dans les rangs des armées régulières et des groupes armés de tous bords, l'implication réelle des responsables politiques nationaux et internationaux dans le processus " Désarmement, Démobilisation et Réinsertion " de l'ONU et l'Union Européenne, ainsi qu'une action concertée, rapide et efficace de la Communauté Internationale, sont indispensables. Il s'agit notamment de lobbying sur les Chefs des Armées Nationales et sur les seigneurs de la guerre, pour qui la perspective d'éventuelles poursuites de la Cour Pénale Internationale, et leurs conséquences, constitue une des rares menaces crédibles.
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Mirindi, Benoit Munganga. "Impact of Violent Rapes Among Women in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6245.
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For the last 22 years, systematic rapes and punitive violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were utilized as weapons of war and a control strategy. This quantitative study built upon the ecological model of impact of sexual assault on women's mental health to investigate the relationship between the health impacts and chronic pain and depression among women survivors of sexual rape in eastern DRC. The sample included 156 female rape survivors, between 18-80 years old, and raped between 2010 and 2014 while residing in the conflict area. The research questions focused on the association between fistulas, other sexual rape-related injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), feelings of worthlessness, social rejection, support from family/friends, and chronic pain and depression among women victims of sexual rape in eastern DRC. Results from multinomial logistic regression and ordinal regression tests showed strong links between independent and dependent variables: Fistula was strongly linked with chronic illness over 6 months (p = 0.003), and with upset all the time (p = 0.033); PTSD was associated with chronic illness due to violent rapes (p = 0.004) and sadness (p = 0.000); feelings of worthlessness was related to prolonged illness over 6 months (p = 0.024) and feeling blue (p = 0.006); social rejection was linked to avoidance (p = 0.003); and support from family/friends was associated with prolonged illness over 6 months (p = 0.025) and lack of excitement (p = 0.011). The results of this study could assist health care providers in formulating response strategies for identifying public health priorities in conflict area, addressing health needs, and defining approaches for reducing war-related sexual violence, chronic pain, and depression among rape survivors.
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Inaka, Saint José Camille Koto Mondoko. "Post-war Labour Market Reconstruction : The Case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/78038.
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The Democratic Republic of Congo experienced a merciless war from 1998 to 2002 that seriously affected its labour market, as it did all other aspects of society. The effects on the labour market have aroused various debates. This thesis offers a first analysis of the reconstruction process of the labour market in post-war Congo, and of the roles that key actors involved played in it. It asks the following fundamental question: what are the processes involved in the reconstruction of the post-war Congolese labour market, and how did the main actors affect these processes?
The research used a constructivist methodological approach and the extended case method to collect detailed data through field interviews conducted with 109 people in Kinshasa. The data suggest that the past of the Congolese labour market is clearly visible in its post-war recovery processes (2003–2018). While the past weighed heavily on the present, from 2003 to 2011 the Congolese government nevertheless delayed the implementation of reform policies aimed at achieving a functioning labour market. Reforms introduced since then have been blunted by poor implementation processes. Moreover, the inherent weakness of Congo’s labour market institutions deepened the lack of impact of the reconstruction attempts. Likewise, the private sector did not contribute substantially to efforts at creating an effective labour market. Entering this landscape, many Congolese employees struggled to achieve integration into the formal labour market. The main argument of this thesis is that the post-war Congolese labour market has experienced an extended reconstruction due to delayed and poorly implemented labour market policies. On a more positive note, this study demonstrates the usefulness of Peck’s theory of labour market social regulation as an efficient theoretical tool in evaluating a problematic transition such as that experienced in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Thesis (PhD (Sociology))--University of Pretoria, 2020.
the Andrew J. Mellon Foundation
The University of Pretoria, the Faculty of Humanities
Sociology
PhD (Sociology)
Unrestricted
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Sutus, Melinda. "The deadliest war in the world. : An assessment of the war reporting from the Democratic Republic of Congo." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-32362.
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Title : The deadliest war in the world – An assessment of the war reporting from the democratic Republic of Congo Author: Melinda Sutus University and course: Örebro University, Media- and communication C (international) Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand if cultural and geographical proximity affects the way of reporting news and why the war in the Democratic republic of Congo gets so little attention compared to other wars and catastrophes. This will be made by studying the reporting about the war in two newspapers different from one another, one geographically and culturally closed to the war struck area, and one far away. Previous research: The research used in this study focuses on the third world, foreign coverage and globalisation. Studies made by Johan Galtung and Mari Holmboe Rouge, and Stig-Arne Nohrstedt are used to understand the reporting about Africa. Further follow Edward S Herman´s and Noam Chomsky´s views about the different types of victims and Jean-Claude Willame´s research about violence in Africa. Lastly a number of interpretations about globalization are being accounted for. Theories: Post colonialism, reporting war, the CNN-effect and 24h news and critical discourse analysis. Methods: Quantitative analysis and critical discourse analysis. Main results: The New York Times focused their reporting on war facts, in Cape Times the focus is distributed somewhat equally between all the topics. The New York Times portrays the conflict as cold-blooded and barbaric while Cape times emphasis the civilian and humanitarian aspects. Cape Times is closer to the area in question and the humanitarian aspects are easily understood, furthermore Africa does not see itself as a war-struck continent and victims the same way as the west sees the continent, which explains the absence of war facts in Cape Times. The main result is that geographically and cultural proximity does have a certain effect on how news is being portrayed. Key words: Africa, war, globalization, news reporting.
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Wigley, Andrew Paul. "Marketing Cold War tourism in the Belgian Congo : a study in colonial propaganda 1945-1960." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/95925.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on the nascent colonial tourist sector of the Belgian Congo from 1945 until independence in 1960. Empire in Africa was the last remaining vestige of might for the depleted European imperial powers following the Second World War. That might, however, was largely illusory, especially for Belgium, which had been both defeated and occupied by Germany. Post-war Belgium placed much value on its colonial role in the Belgian Congo, promoting and marketing its imperial mission to domestic and international audiences alike. Such efforts allowed Belgium to justify a system that was under fire from the new superpowers of the United States of America (USA) and the Soviet Union. This thesis makes the case that the Belgian authorities recognised the opportunity to harness the ‘new’ economic activity of tourism to help deliver pro-colonial propaganda, particularly to the USA which had a growing affluent class and where successive administrations were keen to encourage overseas travel. In building a tourism sector post the Second World War, efforts in diversifying the economy were secondary to the objective of using the marketing of tourism to actively position and promote Belgium’s long-term involvement in the Congo.
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Semwayo, Fadzai. "Rape as a weapon of war and newly emerging societies in the democratic republic of the Congo." DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 2016. http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/3902.
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Silvestri, Frankie. "Visibility and Vulnerability: Deconstructing Representations of Rape in the Context of War in Democratic Republic of the Congo." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/22796.
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My work explores protracted conflict in DR Congo representationally, considering ways in which conflict is thematized in Western media around sexual violence. I use content and text mining to think through the role of framing in media, and conduct discourse analysis tracing how rape in the context of war has become instrumentalized by Western media to make sense of and justify interventions in the conflict in DR Congo. Specifically I examine forty-two articles published in diverse sources containing the phrase "rape capital of the world" to uncover links between violence, gender, and power. This thesis is generally situated within a postmodern feminist critique of overemphasis on rape and sexual violence as a universal narrative about women’s lives. My policy recommendation is stop implementing laws singling out rape in the context of war as a unique assault, because they enforce female vulnerability and injurability by representing women as victims/pre-victims of SGBV.
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Trenholm, Jill. "Women Survivors, Lost Children and Traumatized Masculinities : The Phenomena of Rape and War in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Internationell mödra- och barnhälsovård (IMCH), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-204430.
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This thesis aims to investigate the phenomenon of war rape in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in order to understand the dynamics, contextual realities and consequences of its perpetration. Practical and theoretical knowledge is generated which is relevant for health care interventions, humanitarian assistance and peace initiatives, that are cognizant of the actual needs of the affected populations. The study employed ethnographic methodology involving prolonged engagement with the field, participant observation, formal and informal interviews, keeping of field notes and the continuous practice of reflexivity. The four papers in this thesis represent formal interviews with participants from three distinct groups: local leaders (Paper I), ex-child soldier boys (Paper II) and women survivors of sexual violence (Paper III & IV). Qualitative Content Analysis was used for the interview study with local leaders (Paper I). Findings from this study reveal how mass rape and the methods of perpetration create a chaos effectively destroying communities. The leaders draw attention to the fact that an exclusive focus on raped women misses other structural factors that contribute to war and sexual violence, factors such as the global political economy, international apathy, the stance of the church, effects of militarization, inappropriate aid and interpretations of gender roles. Through the theoretical lenses of militarised masculinity and gender based violence, interviews with ex-child soldier boys, seen as both victims of war as well as proxy perpetrators of sexual violence, were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed the systematic and violent construction of children into soldiers, inculcating a rigid set of stereotypical hyper-masculine behaviors promoting dominance by violating the subordinate “other”. These findings argue for a more complex, contextualized view of the perpetrator resulting from the ways society has (re)constructed gender, ethnicity and class. Papers III and IV reflect the interviews and narratives provided by women survivors. Guided by thematic analysis and a matrix of theories: Structural violence, Intersectionality and “new wars”; Paper III bears witness to the women’s expressions of their profound losses and dispossession as they struggle to survive stigmatization in the impoverished margins of the warzone, along with children born of rape. The perpetrator is cited here as well as by the leaders as predominantly Interhamwe. Payne’s Sites of Resilience model used in Paper IV situates stigmatized women survivors suffering in a global context as they navigate survival, demonstrating resilience in the margins through support from their faith in God, scarce health services, indigenous healing and strategic alliances. Findings suggest that collaborations of existing strengthened networks, ie: the church, healthcare and indigenous healers, could extend the reach of sustainable and holistic support services, positively effecting already identified sites of resilience. Findings draw attention to the challenges faced by public health in addressing mass trauma. Women’s raped bodies represent tangible material damage, embedded in a matrix of globalization processes and structural violence involving gender, ethnicity and class. This requires serious reflection.
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Elveborg, Lindskog Elina. "Effects of violent conflict on women and children : Sexual behavior, fertility, and infant mortality in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Sociologiska institutionen, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-128977.
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This thesis investigates the relationship between violent conflicts and sexual and reproductive health in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The aim of the thesis is to investigate how war affects demographic outcomes across individual life courses. The thesis contributes to the research field by linking macro level conflict data measuring the intensity and frequency of violent conflict with micro level data on women’s sexual and birth histories and infant deaths across time and place. The results show that war affects infants’ survival and women’s sexual and reproductive health and behavior. The first study finds an increase of premarital first sexual intercourse during the violent conflicts in Rwanda. The second study finds evidence of a delay in the fertility transition due to the Congolese war and the lingering conflicts in East DRC. The third study suggests that the Congolese war affects infant mortality, but only post-neonatal mortality. Despite consistent evidence that conflict affects the everyday life of women and children, the mechanisms that explain this relationship are largely unknown. This thesis identifies important gaps in the research that limit our understanding of the mechanisms at work.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Submitted.
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Bishwende, Augustin Ramazani. "EULOGY: "THESE REFUGEES, OUR BROTHERS" MSGR MUNZIHIRWA, WITNESS TO THE GOSPEL IN A CONTEXT OF WAR IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO." Bulletin of Ecumenical Theology, 2013. http://digital.library.duq.edu/u?/bet,1213.
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Kirby, Paul. "Rethinking war/rape : feminism, critical explanation and the study of wartime sexual violence, with special reference to the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2012. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/586/.
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It is today commonly acknowledged that rape is a weapon of war. This consensus has been achieved in significant part through the efforts of feminist scholars and activists. Yet the consensus hides a multiplicity of ways in which weapons of war might function. This thesis uncovers and critically explores that variety. First, it turns to questions of what makes a form of inquiry specifically feminist, the better to understand the foundations for claims about rape as a weapon of war. Having offered a critique of existing divisions of empiricist, standpoint and postmodern feminisms (and of the distinction between feminism and gender theory), the thesis proposes a view of feminism as critical explanation: as at once explanatory, political and ethical inquiry. These view is expanded on through a framework of modes of critical explanation: styles of reasoning that provide analytical wagers, narrative scripts and normative orientations for feminist inquiry. Second, the thesis explores three such modes of critical explanation in relation to wartime sexual violence. It argues that the modes of instrumentality, unreason and mythology implicitly structure feminist claims about war rape. Each is examined in turn, with particular attention to how the forms of explanation mirror debates found in war studies and in social theory more generally. Each mode is clarified and expanded on, resulting in sets of propositions for each mode and in a clearer sense of where modes contradict each other and where they may combine. Third, this meta-theoretical and theoretical framework is applied to the specific case of atrocity in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Working through several kinds of empirical material (studies of sexual violence, histories of conflict in the Great Lakes, data on economic dimensions of violence and testimony from combatants and ex-combatants on the topic of sexual violence), the thesis shows how 'the rape capital of the world' is best understood in terms of themes derived from the modes of unreason and mythology. It explores retaliatory atrocity, extractive sexual violence and fragmented sexual aggression as three situated dynamics of violence. This part thus critiques a narrowly instrumentalist idea of wartime sexual violence as a strategy of profiteering, whilst also attending to how economic dimensions matter in the war complex as a whole. The conclusion draws out consequences for further work, especially in relation to a comparative project for the critical explanation of wartime sexual violence.
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McQuaid, Katie. "'Another war' : stories of violence, humanitarianism and human rights amongst Congolese refugees in Uganda." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2015. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/54026/.
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Le, Roux Elisabet. "The role of African Christian churches in dealing with sexual violence against women : the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Liberia." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/95826.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sexual violence against women (SVAW) has always been part of armed conflict. However, only recently has international law deemed it a crime against humanity and a genocidal crime, thus finally recognising that it is a strategy and weapon that is used extensively during conflict. SVAW and its consequences, however, also continue in the aftermath of conflict, with both ex-combatants and civilians perpetrating SVAW. The effectiveness of SVAW as a weapon and strategy relies on the existence of gender identities and relations that subjugate women. This gender inequality is instated and perpetuated through hegemonic masculinity and patriarchy, and violence against women is one way in which the imbalance is enforced. Patriarchal beliefs and structures, combined with a form of militarised hypermasculinity, lead to SVAW being used during armed conflict, but also continuing in its aftermath. The consequences for survivors are that they are often stigmatised and discriminated against by their husbands, families and communities, and this contributes to their further marginalisation and exploitation. As the state and international security and peacekeeping bodies fail to adequately address SVAW, civil society organisations (CSOs) tend to fill this void by providing mostly support to women affected. One sector of African civil society, namely African Christian churches, has a good record of effectively filling roles usually associated with the state. Furthermore, African Christian churches have increased tremendously in the last century, function at grassroots-level, and are of the few CSOs that continue functioning during armed conflict. As religious institutions they have authority and impact, for religion has the ability to influence behaviour, facilitate societal change, and provide societal solidarity and cohesion. Thus, for the marginalised in Africa, religion is a powerful resource. This leads one to assume that churches can be effective in addressing SVAW. This supposition was tested by studying how churches address SVAW in three different areas affected by armed conflict, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Liberia, by using a qualitative, multiple-case case study approach. In two sites in each country, one urban and one rural, structured interview questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and nominal groups were done, focusing on the causes and consequences of SVAW and how it is being addressed, specifically by churches. The findings showed that SVAW in areas affected by armed conflict are due to patriarchal structures and beliefs, and the military hypermasculinity that has infused civilian masculinities. Patriarchy is also the indirect cause of the most severe consequences of SVAW. These are physical, psychological, social and economic, but the impact of the stigmatisation and discrimination that survivors experience is what they find most debilitating. Unfortunately, neither government nor civil society is addressing SVAW to any great extent and where they do, their actions are reactive not proactive in terms of prevention. This was no different in terms of the role and influence of the churches. While people believe in the ability of churches to be important actors in addressing SVAW, churches are not doing so, for they, too, are patriarchal institutions. Their ability to address injustice is limited when the cause of the injustice are practices and beliefs that lie at the heart of the religion and the churches, especially if these practices and beliefs are upholding the power of those currently in power. By perpetuating patriarchy, churches are actually contributing to SVAW being used as a weapon and strategy of warfare.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Seksuele geweld teen vroue (SGTV) was nog altyd deel van gewapende konflik. Dis egter eers onlangs wat internasionale wetgewing bepaal het dat dit ‘n misdaad teen die mensdom en van volksmoord is, en sodoende uiteindelik erken dat dit ‘n veelgebruikte konflikstrategie en -wapen is. SGTV en die gevolge daarvan hou egter aan ná konflik, met beide gewese vegters en burgerlikes wat SGTV pleeg. Die doeltreffendheid van SGTV as 'n wapen en strategie berus op geslagsidentiteite en -verhoudings wat vroue onderwerp. Hierdie geslagsongelykheid word ingestel en voortgesit deur hegemoniese manlikheid en patriargie, en geweld teen vroue is een manier waarop die wanbalans afgedwing word. Patriargale oortuigings en strukture, gekombineer met 'n vorm van militêre hipermanlikheid, lei daartoe dat SGTV nie net tydens gewapende konflik plaasvind nie, maar ook daarna. Die oorlewendes word dikwels gestigmatiseer en teen gediskrimineer deur hulle mans, families en gemeenskappe, en dit dra by tot hulle verdere marginalisering en uitbuiting. Aangesien die staat en internasionale veiligheids- en vredesliggame versuim om SGTV voldoende aan te spreek, is burgerlike organisasies (BOs) geneig om hierdie leemte te vul deur die verskaffing van meesal steun aan vroue wat deur SGTV geaffekteer word. Een sektor van Afrika se burgerlike samelewing, naamlik Afrika Christelike kerke, het 'n goeie rekord as dit kom by die vervulling van rolle wat gewoonlik geassosieer word met die staat. Verder het Afrika Christelike kerke geweldig toegeneem in die laaste eeu, funksioneer hulle op voetsoolvlak, en is hulle van die min BOs wat aanhou funksioneer tydens gewapende konflik. As godsdienstige instellings het hulle gesag en invloed, aangesien godsdiens die vermoë het om gedrag te beïnvloed, gemeenskapsverandering te fasiliteer, en solidariteit en samehorigheid aan ‘n gemeenskap te verskaf. Dus, vir gemarginaliseerdes in Afrika, is godsdiens 'n kragtige hulpbron. Dus neem ‘n mens aan dat kerke effektief kan wees in die aanspreek van SGTV. Hierdie veronderstelling is getoets deur te kyk na hoe kerke SGTV aanspreek in drie areas wat geraak word deur gewapende konflik, naamlik die Demokratiese Republiek van die Kongo, Rwanda en Liberië, deur die gebruik van 'n kwalitatiewe, meervoudige-geval gevallestudie benadering. In twee gemeenskappe in elke land, een stedelike en een landelike, is gestruktureerde onderhoudvraelyste, semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude, en nominale groepe gedoen, met ‘n fokus op die oorsake en gevolge van SGTV en hoe dit aangespreek word, spesifiek deur kerke. Die bevindinge het getoon dat SGTV in gebiede geraak deur gewapende konflik, te wyte is aan patriargale strukture en oortuigings, en die militêre hipermanlikheid wat verweef geraak het met burgerlike manlikheid. Patriargie is ook die indirekte oorsaak van die mees ernstige gevolge van SGTV. Hierdie gevolge is fisies, sielkundig, maatskaplik en ekonomies, maar die impak van die stigmatisering en diskriminasie wat oorlewendes ervaar affekteer hulle die ergste. Ongelukkig spreek nie die regering óf burgerlike samelewing werklik SGTV aan nie, en waar hulle dit doen is hulle optrede reaktief en nie proaktief in terme van voorkoming nie. Dit was dieselfde met die rol en invloed van kerke. Terwyl mense glo in die vermoë van kerke om ‘n kernrol te speel in die aanspreek van SGTV, doen kerke dit nie, want hulle is óók patriargale instellings. Hulle vermoë om onreg aan te spreek is beperk wanneer die oorsaak van die onreg praktyke en oortuigings is wat aan die hart lê van die godsdiens en die kerke, veral as hierdie praktyke en oortuigings verseker dat dié in beheer hulle mag behou. Deur hulle voortsetting van patriargie, dra kerke by daartoe dat SGTV gebruik word as 'n wapen en strategie van oorlogvoering.
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Materu, Sosteness F. "The prosecution of international crimes in respect of the Democratic Republic of the Congo : critical evaluation of the factual background and specific legal considerations." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2010. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_5628_1307603309.
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The first part of this study evaluates the historical events that led to the referral of the DRC situation to the ICC. This includes the background of the conflict and the extent to which international crimes have been committed. Both regional and domestic attempts and initiatives to address the conflict are discussed, with specific reference to peace agreements and restorative justice mechanisms. The second part of the study deals with the prosecution of the perpetrators by the ICC. It examines the approach of the Pre- Trial Chamber to two legal issues, the principle of complementarity and modes of criminal participation as part of the ICC Statute. In this regard, the study makes a critical evaluation of two preliminary decisions confirming the charges against Lubanga, Katanga and Chui before the cases proceeded to the trial stage.
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Cahlíková, Tereza. "Politický vývoj v Demokratické republice Kongo od roku 1960 do současnosti, dopady na vztahy v regionu." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2009. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-76549.
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In my diploma thesis I try for an objective evaluation and analysis of the history of the Democratic republic of the Congo since the year 1960, when the country gained its independence from Belgium, until the first years of the 21st century. The whole time period of 50 years of the existence of the country is divided into several intervals according to important events, which influenced the country's political development. Consequently one chapter of the thesis is devoted to each time period. In the conclusion of my thesis I try to evaluate the contemporary situation in the Democratic republic of the Congo and suggest solutions for the future.
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Nilsson, R. Anders. "Dangerous liaisons : why ex-combatants return to violence : cases from the Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone /." Uppsala : Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-9414.
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Silva, Igor Castellano da. "Guerra e construção do Estado na República Democrática do Congo : a definição militar do conflito como pré-condição para a paz." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/31730.
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A República Democrática do Congo tem sofrido, no período pós-Guerra Fria, os momentos mais trágicos de sua história. O país foi palco da Primeira Guerra do Congo e da Segunda Guerra do Congo – esta também chamada de "Guerra Mundial Africana", por ser o conflito armado que mais matou desde a Segunda Guerra Mundial (3,8 milhões de pessoas). Contudo, mesmo após o fim formal das conflagrações em 2003, o país vive um "estado de violência", no qual mais de 1,6 milhão de pessoas morreram e outras centenas de milhares estão deslocadas internamente, refugiadas ou têm sido vítimas de violência sexual. Destarte, a pergunta que a pesquisa procura responder é “por que, mesmo após a paz formal, o estado de violência permanece na República Democrática do Congo (RDC)?” O argumento aqui sugerido é que a guerra continua na RDC, pois não houve a definição militar do conflito, primeiro passo no processo de construção do Estado. Há a permanência de grupos armados que atuam contra as populações civis e o governo central, e em locais onde o aparelho coercitivo do Estado é ineficiente ou mesmo inexistente. Esta realidade se relaciona com o processo histórico de construção do Estado do Congo, bem como com a forma de resolução da Guerra Mundial Africana mediante mecanismos de paz negociada, ou power-sharing. O primeiro capítulo do trabalho trata de problemas teórico-conceituais sobre a relação entre guerra e Estado na África Subsaariana e no Congo. Os capítulos subseqüentes tratam sobre a relação entre guerra e construção do Estado no Congo pós-independência, estudando três guerras principais ocorridas no país e as suas relações com o processo de construção do Estado. A pesquisa sugere que a adoção de uma Reforma do Setor de Segurança voltada à construção do exército nacional pode trazer os benefícios da definição militar do conflito para os mecanismos de paz negociada. Como contribuição adicional o exército nacional pode gerar meios não-militares de definir o conflito, incentivando a formação da burocracia e da economia nacionais.The Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered, in the post-Cold War era, the most tragic moments in its history. The country was the place of the First Congo War and Second Congo War – this one also called "African World War" because it is the armed conflict that killed more since the Second World War (3.8 million people). However, even after the formal end of the conflagrations in 2003, the country is experiencing a "state violence", in which more than 1.6 million people died and hundreds of thousands are internally displaced, refugees or have been victims of sexual violence . Thus, the question that the research seeks to answer is "why, even after the formal peace, the state of violence remains in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)?" The argument suggested here is that the war continues in the DRC, since there was the definition of military conflict, the first step in the process of nation building. There is the persistence of armed groups against civilians and the central government, and in places where the coercive apparatus of the state is inefficient or nonexistent. This reality relates to the historical process of state building of the Congo, as well as the resolution of the African World War through mechanisms of negotiated peace, or power-sharing. The first chapter of this dissertation deals with theoretical and conceptual issues about the relationship between war and state in sub-Saharan Africa and the Congo. Subsequent chapters deal with the relationship between war and state building in post-independence Congo, studying three major wars occurred in the country and its relations with the process of state-building. The research suggests that the adoption of a Security Sector Reform focused on building the national army can bring the benefits of military conflict resolution mechanisms for negotiated peace. As an additional contribution, the national army can generate non-military means of defining the conflict, encouraging the formation of the bureaucracy and the national economy.
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Wako, Etobssie. "Prevalence and Correlates of Gender Based Violence among Conflict Affected Women: Findings from Two Congolese Refugee Camps in Rwanda." restricted, 2009. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07242009-154847/.
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Thesis (M.P.H.)--Georgia State University, 2009.Title from file title page. Monica H. Swahn, committee chair; John Beltrami, Stacy L. DeJesus, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Nov. 12, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-83).
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Gülstorff, Torben. "Trade follows Hallstein?" Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät I, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/17628.
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Die deutsche Außenpolitik zur Zeit des Kalten Krieges stellt in historischer wie politikwissenschaftlicher Hinsicht einen Gegenstand dar, der mit gutem Gewissen als wissenschaftlich erschlossen bezeichnet werden kann. Zahlreiche Aufsätze, Artikel und Bücher sind in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten erschienen, welche die deutsche Außenpolitik in Europa, Afrika, Asien, Ozeanien, Amerika, oder auch gleich der Welt als Ganzem, in den Blick genommen haben. Dies gilt sowohl für die Außenpolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland als auch für diejenige der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Früh – wenn nicht sogar von Beginn an – kam hierbei eine zentrale These, eine Kernthese, zum Vorschein, die, ohne auf Widerstand zu stoßen, Eingang in den historischen und politikwissenschaftlichen Forschungskanon fand und ihn bereits nach kurzer Zeit zu dominieren begann. Die Rede ist von der die deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten angeblich bestimmenden Hallstein-Doktrin und dem mit ihr in engem Zusammenhang stehenden deutsch-deutschen Gegensatz. In dieser Arbeit wird dieser Kernthese, diesem ''Mythos'' der deutschen Außenpolitik, vehement widersprochen. Weder die Hallstein-Doktrin, noch der deutsch-deutsche Gegensatz, sondern nationale ökonomische und internationale geostrategische Interessen haben die deutsche Außenpolitik – und darüber hinaus auch die gesamten deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten, der BRD wie der DDR – maßgeblich bestimmt. Zur Stützung dieser Gegenthese werden in der vorliegenden Studie die staatlichen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Aktivitäten West- und Ostdeutschlands in neun zentralafrikanischen Staaten zwischen 1945 und 1975 kritisch dargelegt, umfassend analysiert und im Hinblick auf mehrere zentrale Thesen zu den deutschen Auslandsaktivitäten ausgewertet.For decades articles and books have been published on the history of German foreign policy during Cold War. Regardless of whether Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, America or the world as a whole, the foreign affairs of the Western Federal Republic of Germany and the Eastern German Democratic Republic have been researched and analysed in context of a broad variety of locations. However, even though the list of publications continues to grow, the topic''s theses–especially its main thesis–do not show much progress. Already at an early stage, a central thesis–a core thesis–came to light, met no resistance and entered history''s and political science''s research canons on German foreign policy. This thesis reads: Inner German issues and the non-solved German question were so powerful, they dominated West and East German foreign affairs nearly right from the start. German foreign policy, that was the so-called Hallstein doctrine, that was the so-called German-German contradiction. And all studies–whether of history or political science, whether designed as a case study or as a global approach–confirm this thesis, use it as an integral part of their work–until today. But be that as it may. This study contradicts this thesis, this ''myth'' of German foreign policy. Instead it argues that neither the Hallstein doctrine nor the German-German contradiction, but national economic and international geostrategic interests dominated German foreign policy and German foreign activities–regarding the FRG, the GDR, and Germany as a whole. To proof this thesis, West and East German activities–of the two states, their economies and their societies–in nine Central African states between 1945 and 1975 are observed and analysed. More than a million file pages out of more than a dozen German archives were read to tackle this task–and shed some refreshing new light on the foreign policies of the two German states during Cold War.
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Sadiki, Koko Francois. "From the AFDL to the CNDP : identity and civil War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/15041.
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D.Litt. et Phil. (Political Science)The decree of the democratisation process in the DRC in April 1990 by President Mobutu triggered, among other things, inter-elite struggles for political power fought through, among other channels, ethnic mobilisation. As a result, the Kivu region experienced unprecedented levels of organised violence between (mainly but not exclusively) the so-called autochthonous communities and the Banyarwanda against the backdrop of unresolved issues pertaining to land rights, immigration and citizenship. By the mid-1990s, these internal problems to the DRC – compounded by security concerns, as well as economic and geo-strategic interests of some regional states, Western powers and multinational corporations – set the DRC on the path of successive rebellions. This study has focused on three of these rebellions, referred to as the First, Second and Third Congo Wars, led respectively by the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Zaïre / Congo (AFDL, 1996-1997), the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD, 1998-2003) and the Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP, 2006-2009). The overall objective of this study was to analyse the role played by the Banyarwanda identity in the ignition, maintenance and management of the three rebellions mentioned above. More specifically, the study sought to assess the relevance of the assumption spread among large parts of the Congolese population, the media and existing scholarly literature that the Banyarwanda identity was a key factor – if not the main driver – behind the three wars under scrutiny ...
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Gross, Deanna Katherine. "Politics and plunder civil war and regional intervention in Africa /." 2007. http://catalogue.flinders.edu.au/local/adt/public/adt-SFU20080502.111658/index.html.
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Sumah, Awo Yayra. "Gender discourses and state practices in civil war: a case study of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone." Thesis, 2014. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/15660.
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The post-colonial period in many African countries was, and still is, marked by political breakdown, authoritarianism and war. African state institutions saw fragmentation, breakdown and in some cases, failure. For many Africanist scholars "state weakness" is a main cause for political violence. State weakness results from pre-colonial and colonial legacies which created authoritarian structures, supported the rise of autocratic political leaders and entrenched dysfunctional state practices. Dysfunctional state practices manifest themselves during civil wars when governments and national armies exploit and rape their civilian population, failing to provide security from rebel violence. This paper argues that dysfunctional state practices during civil war are enabled by a history of gender discourses and beliefs. In the wars of the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Sierra Leonean war, when army soldiers abused and raped civilians, they were enabled by gendered hierarchies, norms and beliefs, which they employed to legitimize and normalize their actions.
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"The effectiveness of international humanitarian law in the context of the international armed conflict in the Great Lakes Region, with specific reference to the Democratic Republic of the Congo." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/14015.
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LL.M. (International Law)Africa’s Great Lakes Region (GLR) has in recent years experienced political strife, armed conflict and population displacements with severe humanitarian consequences, specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Some authors regard the prevailing war in the DRC as the African equivalent of the First World War. This is because up to eight African countries and more than 10 rebel groups were involved in this war which plays itself out on Congolese territory. This war has been the deadliest since World War II, with a death toll of 5.4 million people, mostly as a result of disease and starvation. What is more, 1.8 million women have reportedly been raped in the eastern Congo. All these facts point to the limited or non – application of IHL by all the belligerents involved in the armed conflict in the DRC. Ever since, the UN Security Council has adopted more than 15 resolutions aimed at terminating the war in the DRC; however, the war is still ongoing in this country. Thus, this study advocates for the creation and implementation of a regional legal instrument whose purpose is to ensure respect for and application of IHL by all belligerents. Put differently, this study raises the question of the creation and implementation of a special court for the DRC based on the models of the special court for Sierra Leone, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
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Nangongolo, Alain Matundu. "Role of external forces in the DRC from 1997 to 2001." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/4861.
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The thesis pinpoints the responsibility of external powers in the tragic course of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as their influence on the policy making its leaders, from 1997 to 2001. It points out that, given the country’s geostrategic position in the heart of Africa and its immense natural resources, foreign governments play the preeminent role in the shaping of its destiny, particularly during the abovementioned five-year period marked by the two Congo Wars.
This role had been blunt in the demise of Mobutu’s 32 year-long reckless, kleptocratic regime, as a consequence of the shift, by the United States of America aiming to safeguard its hegemonic interests in Central Africa, of the strategically pivotal pawn from Zaire to Uganda in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War. Thus, craving a great influence in the continent and sponsored by multinational companies from North America, Belgium, Australia and South Africa, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, along with his ex-subordinate Rwandan Deputy President Paul Kagame, patronized in October 1996 the Alliance of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), a Congolese rebel group led by Laurent Kabila and committed to oust Field Marshal Mobutu who bit the dust on 17 May 1997.
The superseding AFDL reign will be mainly featured by the takeover of key positions of the state authority by Rwandans and Ugandans (keeping President Kabila in the thrall of his two eastern mentors), the throttling of the democratic process, the conditioning by major powers of any funding of Kinshasa’s triennial development programme to the Kabila regime’s observance of democracy, human rights and a UN investigation of the mass killing of Hutu Rwandese refugees on the DRC’s soil. That international community’s stance infuriated the Congolese leader who reconsidered all mining contracts signed with multinationals, developing anti-West discourse, promoted South-South cooperation, and expressed Rwandans and Ugandans from the Congo.
The Western-backed Rwanda and Uganda bounced back by undertaking a military toppling of Laurent Kabila; but they reaped a fiasco because of three factors: intervention of Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad and Sudan siding with Kinshasa; dissention within the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD); and tension between Kigali and Kampala that initiated the creation of a new rebel group: the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC). The stalemate brought about by this situation and the involvement of the UN, the OAU, the SADC, the US, France and Belgium compelled the warring parties to conclude the Lusaka Agreement, setting up a roadmap for the war end, the inter-Congolese dialogue, a new transitional government, and an electoral process toward the democratic rebirth in the DRC. However, the Lusaka Agreement will be implemented thanks to
the rise of Major General Joseph Kabila, after the assassination of his phantasmagoric father Laurent Kabila, paving the way to the Third Republic.
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Alusala, Nelson. "An analysis of strategic-military issues in the ending of Civil wars : a case study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1994 – 2004." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/45471.
Full textAbstract:
This study is an analysis of how military issues can contribute to a sustainable ending
of civil wars particularly in Africa. The continuous warfare in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 1996 and 2004 is used to understand the
nature of civil wars and how they relate to classical strategic theory of war in general
and their termination in particular.
According to classical strategic military theory, war must always be guided by clear
political objectives. Without this, war becomes an irrational act and spins out of
control. Tactical victory gained in the battlefield over an opponent must be translated
into strategic victory for war to end sustainably. This can only be done if the political
objective of the war has been attained. But also crucial are the terms and conditions of
peace that the victor offers the defeated opponent.
Not all wars end with a tactical victory in the battlefield. In many instances of modern
wars, and in particular with the current civil wars in Africa, there is a stalemate. This
forces the belligerent parties to negotiate. Within the context of the DRC, the first war
(1996-1997) ended in a tactical victory for the Rwandan alliance (composed of
Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi) over the regime of President Mobutu. However, this
victory was not translated into strategic victory (long term peace). The alliance,
despite having installed a new leader (Laurent Kabila) in the DRC, remained an
occupying force, with the Rwandan military commander taking over the role of the
DRC’s military chief of staff. This was in part because the political objectives of the
Rwandan alliance had changed from revenge on Mobutu for sheltering and supporting
the perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda, to economic exploitation of the abundant
natural resources of the DRC. The outcome was that the proxy (Kabila) turned against
his backers as he sought to gain legitimacy and support from his fellow Congolese
citizens.
President Kabila ordered the Rwandan alliance out of the country. The alliance then
started a second war (1998-2002) aimed at deposing the former proxy and establishing new proxies. The situation had however changed as the old proxy
(Kabila) had acquired new partners (Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe). This, apart
from transforming the DRC war into Africa’s first continental war (in terms of the
number of countries that were eventually involved), turned into a stalemate. This
resulted in negotiations that took a long time to complete.
The first round of negotiations produced the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement (LCA) in
1999 with two independent tracks that led to two levels of agreements: inter-state
agreements and intra-state agreements. None of these were implementable until 2002
when the DRC negotiated with Rwanda and with Uganda separately on military
issues of the conflict. These negotiations produced the Pretoria Accords between the
DRC and Rwanda, and the Luanda Accords between the DRC and Uganda. The
withdrawal of the militaries of Rwanda and Uganda from the DRC paved way for
their proxies, The Rally for Congolese Democracy - Goma (Rassemblement
Congolais pour la Démocratie - RCD-Goma) and the Movement for the Liberation of
Congo (Mouvement de Libération du Congo – MLC) to join the Inter-Congolese
National Dialogue (ICND) which ended in 2004 without a conclusive agreement on
military issues.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
tm2015
Political Sciences
PhD
Unrestricted
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Hanková, Barbora. "Příčiny vzniku konfliktů v Africe, případ Demokratické republiky Kongo." Master's thesis, 2013. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-324079.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis aims to explore selected theoretical approaches investigating the causes of conflicts on the African continent and then try to apply it to the particular case of the Democratic Republic of Congo and its second war, running from 1998-2003, and then assess the impact of each selected causes of this particular Congolese conflict. This Work in the first chapters outlines the chosen theories related to the causes of armed conflicts in Africa, focusing on three selected causes of conflict: natural resources, ethnicity and weak state. These chapters are theoretical basis for the analysis found in the final chapter. It then evaluates the impact of chosen variables on the outbreak of the Congolese war. Based on the analysis the author draws the following conclusions: 1st the main cause of the second war in the DRC, running in the years 1998 - 2003, can be considered as raw materials, or the efforts of rebel groups and neighboring countries to control and subsequent illegal mining of mineral wealth of The Congo; 2nd although ethnic factors are not the main cause of the second Congolese war, their impact on the conflict, especially in the early days of the conflict is obvious; 3rd nature of the State, namely the weakness of the Government of DRC, ranked according to key indicators, turns out to be the most...
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Ntamulenga, Christian Kabati. "The ICC's jurisdictional limitations and the impunity for war crimes in the DRC : a plea for the establishment of a special criminal tribunal." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/9822.
Full textAbstract:
The cruelty and scope of the widespread criminality of humans in the world, which was a feature of the past century, was fuelled by scientific progress, egoism and humanity's power of destruction. The criminal consequences of the many imperialistic, hegemonic and barbarous wars in that century were immeasurable in terms of violations of human rights.
Notwithstanding the emergence of international criminal justice through the experience of the International Criminal Military Tribunal of Nuremberg and Tokyo and later the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, globally, impunity for egregious crimes continues.
The establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the end of the 20th century was saluted as a major step forward in the evolution of international criminal justice. While previous tribunals were ad hoc, the ICC is permanent and has large territorial jurisdiction. This raises hope among the many Congolese victims of the first African World War, who view the ICC as a paradigm change that will put a stop to impunity for crimes against humanity and the crimes of genocide and war.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the past decades have been marked by instability and horrible armed conflicts (1996-97 and 1998-2003) which left several million people dead, and which were marked by gross war crimes. The negative consequences of those atrocities persist until today. While the ICC initiated the prosecution of some war criminals in 2004, most crimes committed before 2002 remain unpunished, because the ICC's jurisdiction is limited to after that time.
It is therefore imperative to examine other mechanisms to deal with impunity for various grave crimes, including war crimes, perpetrated between 1996 and 2002. Thus the aim of this research is to contribute to the fight against impunity for crimes in the DRC by examining how other modes of jurisdiction such as the principle of universality can be applied, and to assess the need for the establishment of a specific tribunal for the DRC.
Considering the inability and incapacity of the Congolese judicial apparatus, this study concludes by recommending the establishment of a Special Criminal Tribunal which can put an end to impunity for serious crimes committed in the DRC.Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.
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Lindsey, Summer Elyse. "Women's Security After War: Protection and Punishment in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo." Thesis, 2019. https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-aqdm-7511.
Full textAbstract:
Does violence against women increase in the aftermath of war? If so, why? Scholars and policy-makers have begun to ask questions about violence against women in the post-conflict space, yet complexities in measurement and a focus on outcomes (rather than mechanisms) leave essential questions unanswered. This dissertation refines and scopes these questions to learn about whether, how, and why the social context that supports violence against women changes as a result of war.
The central argument of this dissertation is that armed conflict fosters protective masculine norms that, in turn, affect how communities socially sanction or punish local crimes, including violence against women. Drawing insights from feminist theory, economics, social psychology and political science, the theory of protective masculine norms describes a process by which the gendered nature of protection and exigencies of community security lead communities to choose more severe punishment for public crimes deemed to threaten their communities. Protection tradeoffs, however, also lead people to choose less severe punishment for other "private" crimes.
I derive and examine the observable implications of this theory in the context of eastern DR Congo, a place where there are high levels of violence against women that has also been exposed to high levels of insecurity associated with armed violence in the distant and recent past. Chapter 1 lays the framework for the dissertation; describing the social nature of violence against women, processes of norm change, the research approach, and the derivation of protective masculine norms theory. Then, because protective masculine norms are broadly shared across societies, Chapter 2 investigates the nature of war, law, and punishment processes in eastern DR Congo to understand how the theory and findings travel to other contexts.
Chapter 3 motivates the theory of protective masculine norms by providing the empirical foundation for differentiating between forms of violence against women and placing them in a framework with other crimes. Contrary to prominent theories about empowerment, backlash and violent masculinities; armed conflict fails to affect preferences for punishing rape and domestic violence in a unidirectional way. Armed conflict increases how severely people prefer to punish rape and stealing, but decreases how severely people prefer to punish domestic violence. The qualitative evidence underscores the relevance of disaggregating crimes against women in terms of public community threats and private crimes.
Chapter 4 explicates the theory of protective masculine norms, grounding it in the literature and in the case. I examine the quantitative and descriptive evidence related to alternative hypotheses that may account for armed conflict's effects: exposure to wartime crimes, security structures and demographic change. Finding little support for alternative theories, I describe the design of and results from qualitative work probing central propositions within protective masculine norms theory: Protection is gendered, people have shared memories of conflict incidents, this affects their subsequent behaviors, and internal crimes are related to perceived provision of protection.
Since sanctioning is a public act subject to group dynamics and norms, Chapter 5 examines the implications of protective masculine norms and the findings about preference change for how groups choose to punish crimes. Armed conflict may affect how groups choose to punish crimes by changing individual-level preferences, by changing group dynamics, neither, or both. I find that armed conflict affects group preferences primarly through individual-level preference change, underscoring the relevance of preference change for social sanctioning in the aftermath of war. The data also show that group dynamics make people's preferences more extreme, suggesting the importance of norms to shaping preferences - a central tenet of the theory.
Chapter 6 discusses the emerging research agenda of protective masculine norms and its contributions. Questions remain about levels of violence against women after war. But, already protective masculine norms has begun to unify a formerly disparate set of findings emerging about armed conflict, domestic violence, and social and legal change.
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Seay, Laura Elizabeth. "Authority at twilight : civil society, social services, and the state in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo." 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/18419.
Full textAbstract:
dissertation examines the role of civil society actors in the social service sectors of two cities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Although existing scholarship addresses the nature of state-society relations in collapsed states, less is known about how local institutions act to maintain "state" structures even when the state is absent. My project contributes to this literature by explaining why, in a failed state, some civil society organizations (CSO's) are more successful at providing social services than others. I hypothesize that variations in internal organizational cohesion account for these differences. Using an historical institutional approach, I examine the history, level of engagement with the state, ethnic composition, and level of international support of various CSO's in the eastern D.R. Congo as indicators of a CSO's level of organizational cohesion. I then compare fifteen structural indicators to determine each CSO's level of success in organizing social services, and conclude that CSO's with higher levels of internal organizational cohesion are more likely to successfully organize health and education structures in situations of state collapse. In addition, the portion of the study that addresses ethnic fragmentation in CSO's suggests that certain institutional arrangements can help local groups to overcome the well-documented barriers to inter-ethnic cooperation in public goods provision.text
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Kiyala, Jean Chrysostome Kimbuku. "The effectiveness of restorative justice in preventing children's participation in armed conflict in North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo : a participatory action research." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10321/3064.
Full textAbstract:
Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Doctor of Technology: Public Management (Peacebuilding), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016.While children used as soldiers are primarily perceived as victims under internal human rights law and international humanitarian rights law, they also commit war atrocities. In the aftermath of war, the mainstream justice system internationally targets warlords, who abduct and enrol children as combatants, leaving child perpetrators without accounting for their gross, human rights violations. Attempts to prosecute child soldiers through the mainstream justice system have resulted in child rights abuses. Where no accountability measures have been taken, former child soldiers have experienced rejection by their communities. Eventually, some have returned to armed conflict. In other contexts, locally based restorative transitional justice has yielded positive outcomes, such as reconciliation, satisfaction expressed by victims and reintegration into the community. This inquiry used restorative justice peacemaking circles (RJPCs), as a model of transitional justice for former child soldiers. Restorative justice evaluation was based on its outcomes. The intervention was efficient as observed: (1) the greater majority of children below the age of 18 (97.2 %) exposed to RJPCs, who intended to join armed groups before, changed their mind and never joined or re-joined armed groups after seven months; (2) apologies by former child soldiers were accepted and they were forgiven, and (3) support for prosecution of child soldiers dropped after RJPCs. In addition, Baraza emerged as an existing model of accountability, conflict resolution and prevention and reconciliation. Unfortunately, it was not exploited to its fullest capacity. Finally healing former child soldiers was a critical step towards change of identity, the transition from soldiering to civilian life, necessary for meaningful reintegration into society. That implied addressing these child soldiers’ psychosocial well-being and creating an environment where peace prevails and adequate accountability measures are in place and effective. The overall results reveal that RJPC yielded empathy, vicarious justice, forgiveness, reconciliation, and deterrence of child soldiers.
D
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Bindu, Kihangi. "The right to environment in article 54 of the transitional constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo of 2003 : a comparative analysis between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of South Africa." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2241.
Full textAbstract:
This study examines the implementation and enforcement of the right to environment in the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and compares it with the situation in South Africa. To date, there is no legislation in the DRC that gives effect to this right, and the gap between the guaranteed right and the reality remains significant. Guidance may be found in the South African model for implementing and enforcing environmental right(s) which is sustained by an array of legislation. While the priorities on the agenda of political leaders in the DRC lack real willingness to deal with this matter, parliament must be pressured to pass legislation that gives effect to the right to environment and to improve the current framework of environmental regulation. It is imperative to create awareness in government and at grassroots level for the protection of the environment as a human right.Jurisprudence
LL.M.
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Wu, Tzuling, and 吳姿玲. "Difficulties With Human Security Development At War – A Case Study Of Child Soldiers In Democratic Republic Of Congo." Thesis, 2012. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/57212237804465406242.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立中正大學
戰略暨國際事務研究所
100
In view of changing of international condition and types of conflict, it makes the referent object of security studies extend from state level to individual level by rethinking the definition of security. To view the situation of child soldiers at the background of civil war in Democratic Republic of Congo, then analyze and highlight the insecurity and obstacles of child soldiers with human security in the long-term armed conflict. In addition, the international community has taken measures to deal with the problem of Congolese child soldiers in armed conflict, also assisted and carried out many humanitarian activities. Collecting those actions conducted by the international community, and analyzing domestic policy of peace are seeking human security in Democratic Republic of Congo as the goal. It is going to illustrate through the connection between state and individual security, in order to ensure individual security and to maintain national safety toward the path of peace.
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Landis, Debbie. "Examining Participation in Formal Education and Exposure to Violence among Girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)." Thesis, 2018. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8W67XQD.
Full textAbstract:
Protection from violence, and access to formal education, are fundamental human rights for girls in conflict-affected societies. And yet, war exposes girls to an increased risk of exposure to violence, and serves as a well-known barrier to their involvement in school. While these risks are widely recognized within the fields of international education and humanitarian affairs, significant gaps exist within the peer-reviewed literature. Existing studies tend to focus generally on violence against girls in conflict-affected societies without accounting for issues of education. Or, studies focus exclusively on violence in and around school settings, although only investigate violence against students who are currently in school. As a result, the differential experiences with violence among girls based on varying levels of involvement (or lack thereof) in formal education are not well known.
In light of these issues, this dissertation examines the relationship between girls’ level of participation in formal education, and exposure to violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while accounting for Ecological factors (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) in girls’ lives, families, and communities. A quantitative survey was conducted with girls (ages 10-14) and caregivers across 14 sites in South Kivu. Findings suggest that higher levels of participation in formal education were associated with lower rates of violence among girls. Child marriage— itself considered a form of violence according to human rights norms— was seen to disrupt the protective relationship between education and violence, and expose married girls to higher rates of violence overall. Further, equitable gender norms on the part of girls and their caregivers emerged as significant factors contributing to girls’ involvement in higher levels of formal education.
Taken cumulatively, findings from this research suggest a need to engage in Ecological interventions with girls, families, and communities in order to prevent the occurrence of violence and ensure that girls have access to formal education that is protective, of good quality, and promotes their overall development and well-being. In addition to filling vital gaps in the literature, these findings hold the potential to inform program and policy development not only in the DRC, but in conflict-affected societies more broadly.
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Kiess, John. "When War is Our Daily Bread: Congo, Theology, and the Ethics of Contemporary Conflict." Diss., 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10161/3926.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation approaches the problem of war in Christian ethics through the lens of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Drawing upon memoirs, letters, sermons, and fieldwork, it shifts the focus of moral inquiry from theoretical positions on war (e.g., just war theory and pacifism) to the domain of everyday life and the ways that local Christians theologically frame and practically reason through conflict. I explore the 1996-1997 Rwandan refugee crisis through the voice of a Catholic survivor, Marie Béatrice Umutesi, and consider how her narrative challenges both just war interpretations of this violence and "bare life" readings of refugee experience. I then examine how the Catholic Church endured rebel occupation in the eastern city of Bukavu from 1998-2000, looking specifically at how Archbishop Emmanuel Kataliko's Christological reading of the situation transformed the experience of suffering into a form of agency and galvanized the Church into collective action. I go on to explore how residents of the town of Nyankunde in northeastern Congo are constructing alternatives to the war economy and re-weaving ordinary life out of the ruins of their former lives. In showing how local narratives help us reframe the problem of war in Christian ethics, I argue that description is not a preliminary stage to moral judgment; description is moral judgment.
Dissertation
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Bindu, Kihangi. "Environmental and developmental rights in the Southern African Development Community with specific reference to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of South Africa." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/4097.
Full textAbstract:
This study examines the effectiveness of environmental and developmental
rights within the SADC region, especially the status of their implementation and
enforcement in the DRC and the RSA. The SADC Treaty recognizes implicitly
the rights to environment and to development. Unfortunately, the unequivocal
commitment to deal with human rights within the region is not translated with
equal force into the normative framework established by the Treaty or into
SADC’s programmed activities. No institution has been established with the
specific mandate to deal with human rights issues, neither are there any
protocols or sectors especially entrusted with human rights protection and
promotion. The SADC member States do not share the same understanding or
agenda on matters pertaining to the respect for, and the promotion, protection
and the fulfilment, of human rights at the regional level. The inception of
environmental and developmental rights within the Constitution of the DRC is
still in its infancy compared to the situation in South Africa. Implementation and
enforcement remain poor and need important support from all organs of state
and from the Congolese citizens. A strong regulatory framework pertaining to
human rights (environmental and developmental rights) remains an urgent issue.
Guidance may be found in the South African model for the implementation and
enforcement of human rights, although the realization of the right to
environment in South Africa is hampered by a number of factors that cause the
degradation of the environment. Against South Africa’s socio-economic and
political background, the constitutionalization of the right to development
remains of critical concern to a sustainable future for all. The Congolese and
South African peoples need to be made aware of their constitutional rights,
especially their environmental and development rights, and the institutions and
the mechanisms available to enforce them. They need to be empowered to demand justice as a right not as an act of charity. It is patently clear that the
authorities will not protect the environment or tackle the development agenda
unless there is a strong people’s movement to challenge the State and other role
players over environmental and development issues and ethics.Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law
LL.D.
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Mavropoulos-Vagelis, Georgia. "Setting up an effective system in promoting conflict free minerals in Africa." Diss., 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30074.
Full textAbstract:
Conflict has been rife in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for many decades, in a war over minerals. The economic incentive for this conflict lies in the multimillion dollar trade in conflict minerals, and the results are human rights abuses, violent conflict and corruption. International industries from resource-rich countries play a role in business and human rights violations in other countries where governance is weak, such as the DRC. The focus of this study is minerals extracted from the eastern DRC – the ores that produce tin, tantalum, tungsten (the 3Ts) and gold. These minerals are essential to the electronics industry, where various companies, primarily publicly listed companies, use these minerals in their production processes. This study examines the way in which companies at the top of the minerals supply chain use their buying power to influence their suppliers, exerting pressure down the supply chain. There have been dramatic changes in this arena recently, including the passing of conflict minerals legislation in the United States of America (USA) and an evolving multilateral architecture for supply chain due diligence emanating from the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This study explores a variety of efforts initiated by a number of companies, governments and non-governmental organisations (both in the DRC and internationally) committed to combating conflict minerals. These efforts are aimed at formulating a regulatory framework on the security exchanges in Africa. Such a system should be conceptualised to regulate the due diligence process relating to minerals to enable end-users to trace supply chains from companies who use these minerals back to the sources of origin, by using independent audit chains of custody in a certification scheme similar to the Kimberley Process for conflict diamonds. This system is intended to be a means to strengthen the global transparency and accountability of electronics companies, together with industry initiatives, the OECD’s guidelines and extractive industry transparency initiatives principles, targeting publicly listed companies. This study, which consisted of a desktop review of books, journals, reports and internet sources, analyses elements of the USA‘s Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) and South Africa’s King Code Report III on Corporate Governance of 2009 to determine whether these instruments are appropriate to be applied to African exchanges. It examines whether these instruments can be used to create a system requiring companies trading in or using conflict minerals in their production to compile an annual report that is to be made publicly available, disclosing the source and chain of custody of conflict minerals which originate from conflict zones, notably the DRC and other African countries. Due to the globalised markets, companies are gaining greater power than some governments. Companies are regulated by the legislation of the host country in which they are incorporated. The countries in which these companies operate and publicly trade are usually developing countries, which are characterised by impoverished communities and unstable or emerging democracies. The recent passing of the conflict minerals provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act requires that publicly traded companies in electronics industries report annually to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on whether conflict minerals are part of their supply chains, and if so, what the steps have been taken to ensure that the companies do not contribute to the ongoing conflict. The practical/managerial implications of the African system is that the inconsistencies and instability in these emerging markets legislation and their relaxed rule of law create loopholes in the systems of industry which would normally require adherence to human rights principles and industry’s assistance in developing global standards and/or incorporating such standards into legislation. Industry is still largely unaware of whether products are conflict-free and has no way of determining the status of products. Responsible supply chain co-operation is therefore needed by companies to take steps to trace supply chains, and ensure independent auditing and certification. This study looks at how industry and governments can formulate international standards and regulations that require publicly listed companies using the 3Ts and gold in the production of their goods to put human rights at the heart of their enterprises. The findings of the study highlight the urgent need for due diligence, transparency and an accountability agenda for resource sectors. The study argues that more African states need to buy into these initiatives. Greater transparency must be part of broader governance schemes. The study recognises the important role of stock exchanges and the importance of regulating companies which trade and source minerals from the DRC and other countries in Africa. The study recommends a reform of securities exchanges and the implementation of corporate governance codes. The study argues that Africa can incorporate elements of the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC Act, King III and the JSE Listing Requirements into national legislation in the individual states to impose important legal duties on companies to promote fairness, accountability, responsibility and transparency. Passing legislation to regulate the international minerals trade is crucial for the promotion of a legal mineral trade.Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
Centre for Human Rights
unrestricted
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"Determinants of household food insecurity and associated coping strategies in 2 health zones of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, during and after 1996--2002 war periods." Tulane University, 2009.
Find full textAbstract:
From 1996 to 2002, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) experienced numerous outbreaks of war. Kinshasa, the Capital, was isolated from its main sources of local food supply which led to a sharp deterioration of the life quality. In 2003, with the Sun City Accord signed formally ending the protracted war, the political and economic situation of the country seemed better. Yet, the household food situation did not seem to improve This study aimed to increase the general understanding of food insecurity at the household level. The objectives were to determine households' food-insecure based on household socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, to identify coping strategies used by households to manage the food crisis, and to assess differences between the two time periods A total of 1,591 households from two selected health zones of Kinshasa were surveyed in 2001 and 2004 using a multiple stage-cluster design. A 16-question measure was developed using a summative scale to capture the food security status. Two binary logistic regressions were run to predict food insecurity and identify coping strategies. Interactions were tested in the models to assess differences between the two time periods. Comparisons of proportions and odds ratio were also computed Households whose chief had none, primary or secondary levels of education, and households with little crafts or jobs as main source of incomes were food-insecure. Change of meal composition, food aid from nutritional centers, and reduction of persons in charge were the main coping strategies used by households food-insecure. No interaction tested in the two models was significant. Households were more likely to be food-insecure during the war period, and the prevalence of determinants and that of coping strategies were also higher during the war period These research findings provided a better and in-depth understanding of household food insecurity regarding determinants and coping strategies. The relationships between determinants as well as coping strategies and food insecurity were consistent across time, although the observed differences between the two contexts. Political and economic stability of the country should be ensured, salaries paid regularly, post primary education promoted, and food program interventions implemented for sustainable developmentacase@tulane.edu
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Kahindo, Véronique Kavuo. "Diplomatic peacemaking according to the Abigail approach (1 Samuel 25:14-35) and its relevance to the North Kivu context in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." Diss., 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/8611.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation is a contextual reading of 1 Samuel 25:14-35 that highlights
the Abigail approach to peacemaking. The synchronic analysis of this text done in the
light of the context of North Kivu conflict resolution focuses on the literary analysis of
the text. The interaction between the two contexts of peacemaking, in the Abigail
narrative and the North Kivu context, allows me to recommend "participative
negotiations" as a suitable diplomatic means to solve North Kivu conflicts for a
lasting peace.
In fact, participative negotiations inspired by the Abigail strategy contrast with
the diplomacy of avoidance and competitive negotiations, by which North Kivu
cannot reach lasting peace. However, the strategists of peacemaking, involving North
Kivu rank-and-file in the peacemaking process, must first build mutual confidence
between the parties in conflict during discussions, then analyse their respective
interests, and bring them to suggest suitable strategies using objective criteria which
can lead the parties to true consensus.Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies
M. Th. (Old Testament)
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Greco, Morgane. "Le travail des fonctionnaires internationaux du Bureau du Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général de l’ONU chargé de la question des violences sexuelles commises en période de conflit en République démocratique du Congo." Thesis, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/1866/24127.
Full textAbstract:
Notre étude s’intéresse au travail des fonctionnaires internationaux du Bureau du Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général de l’ONU chargé de la question des violences sexuelles commises en période de conflit (RSSG-VSC) en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) sous le prisme de l’idéal type wébérien de la bureaucratie. À partir de six entretiens semi-directifs et de l’analyse de sources publiques onusiennes, cette étude vise à mettre en perspectives les points de vue des fonctionnaires du Bureau au regard de leurs missions et des moyens dont ils disposent pour les remplir. Ce travail s’intéresse aussi à la portée de l’action du Bureau du RSSG-VSC en RDC, du point de vue de ces fonctionnaires internationaux basé au siège. Aucune étude qualitative n’a été menée sur le travail des fonctionnaires du Bureau du RSSG-VSC par le passé. De plus, les rapports annuels du Secrétaire général disponibles au grand public ne permettent pas de comprendre l’intégralité de son action en RDC. Ainsi, ce projet de recherche cherche précisément à combler cette lacune.
L’analyse des données recueillies montre que la création du mandat aurait été préméditée : en effet, malgré plusieurs résolutions du Conseil de sécurité et appels à la cessation de ces violences, la perpétration de ces crimes perdurait. Ainsi, le mandat du Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général pour les Enfants et les conflits armés aurait permis, grâce à un travail de plaidoyer combiné avec les appels de la communauté internationale, à la création du mandat du RSSG-VSC. Les objectifs du mandat, à savoir mettre fin aux violences sexuelles liées aux conflits à travers le monde en contribuant à libérer la parole des victimes, assurer leur réintégration dans les communautés, comblant les lacunes et renforçant les connaissances sur ces crimes sont partagés par tous les répondants, de manière identique. De plus, la vision de leur travail au sein du Bureau est unanimement partagée. Toutefois, les points de vue des répondants divergent davantage lorsqu'ils abordent le thème de la portée des actions du Bureau. Les défis à relever par le mandat sont encore nombreux afin d’éradiquer de la surface de la planète les violences sexuelles liées aux conflits.Our study focuses on the work achieved by international civil servants at the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), regarding the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through the prism of the Weberian bureaucracy. Based on six semi-directive interviews and the analysis of United Nations public sources, this study aims to providing perspectives on the views of the Office’s officials in relation to their missions and the means at their disposal to carry them out. This academic work also focuses on the scope of the work of the RSSG-VSC Office in the DRC, from the point of view of these international officials based in headquarters. So far, no qualitative studies had been conducted on the topic of the work of these civil servants. In addition to that, the Secretary-General’s annual reports drafted by this Office do not provide an understanding of the full scope of the work done in the DRC. Thus, this research project seeks to fill this gap. The analysis of the data collected shows that the creation of the mandate would have been premeditated: indeed, despite several Security Council resolutions and call for the end to conflict-related sexual violence, these crimes continue to be perpetrated. Thus, the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict would have enabled the creation of the mandate of the SRSG-SVC, through advocacy work combined with multiple calls from the international community. The mandate’s goals which are ending conflict-related sexual violence around the world by helping to free victims’ voices, ensuring their reintegration into communities, filling gaps and strengthening knowledge about these crimes are shared by all respondents. In addition, the vision of their work within the Office is unanimously shared. However, respondents’ views differ when addressing the scope of the Office’s actions. The mandate still faces many challenges to end rape in war.