Journal articles on the topic 'Congo (Democratic Republic) Civil War'

This article critiques the potential success of the Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework for the drc and the Region—signed on February 24, 2013—against the backdrop of the 1999 Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, which failed to end the Second Congo War. The 1999 Agreement failed because its overall design, coupled with the socio-political climate in the region at the time, resulted in a ‘no war, no peace’ scenario. These failures were furthered by the overall inability of the international peacebuilding community to design and implement a peace strategy in the drc that aligned with the needs of the Congolese people. If the 2013 Framework is to succeed, what is required is a transformation of the peace process, which will incorporate the Congolese civil society, avoid restrictive timelines, and focus on securing realistic commitments. By critically analyzing both the 1999 Agreement and the broader conflict-resolution and peacebuilding processes, international peace practitioners can learn from the situation in the drc and use the revised peace model this article outlines to promote true and lasting peace in regional conflicts across the developing world.

This paper provides a review of data on the effects of the civil war on forest areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Only a few of these effects were beneficial, the most important being the collapse of the wood industry. However, the war has increased the number of people that rely on wood for fuel and bushmeat for protein. The presence of soldiers and refugees aggravates this pressure. When people hide they do not necessarily refrain from hunting, because goods, including ivory, can be stocked to be traded when the situation improves. War seems beneficial to the environment only if it keeps people out of large areas. It could be useful to extend the concept of peace parks to war zones. The idea of an international ‘green force’ to protect biodiversity hotspots should be given serious consideration. Awareness is growing that political instability should not preclude conservation efforts from being continued.

Abstract This paper estimates the effect of sexual violence and economic vulnerability on HIV prevalence rates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We find that HIV prevalence rates are higher in conflict-affected regions than in non-conflict regions, and that sexual violence and economic vulnerability significantly affect HIV prevalence rates. The combined effect of civil war and sexual violence is positive and strongly significant. However, conflict-related economic vulnerability does not explain HIV infections.

The two African states Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic have been struck by civil war enmeshed with military involvement of neighbouring states. The ongoing conflicts have been fuelled by the fight over the countries’ natural resources, ranging from diamonds over gold to ivory. Since the end of the 1990s, the UN Security Council and other UN bodies have been dealing with the conflicts in Congo, and have been trying to bring to an end and to sanction the serious violations of human rights and of IHL that have been committed by all sides in those conflicts. The international community’s attempt to come to grips with the so-called “blood diamonds”, inter alia through a multi-stakeholder process and certification scheme is well known. With two resolutions of January 2014, the UN Security Council addresses the destabilizing effects of the illegal exploitation of wildlife.

Lynn Nottage's Ruined, a Pulitzer Prize play, tackles the plight of women’s survival during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The play is a loud scream for the whole world to view the physical violence of women and hear their traumatic memories, hoping that this attempt might save them from their disastrous lives resulting from the brutalities of civil war. In this play, women are portrayed beyond victims of the political and armed conflicts as they serve as a reflection of a serious issue that threatens the human race in general: the continuing dehumanization whereby women are considered minorities and the “others,” even within their own society. By applying a critical analysis technique, the current paper aims to shed light on women's experience of their violated bodies and their unspeakable suffering in the context of their trauma.

The recruitment and use of child soldiers creates a lasting tear in society, and none so severely as the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is estimated that there are 310,000 children who are associated or formerly associated with armed forces or groups. Many (both girls and boys) experience sexual violence prior, during and/or following their association. As Arpita Mitra described in her paper, the scale of the tragedy is both widespread and brutal. She argues that despite the huge sums of financial assistance poured into the area for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programming, the implementation has failed to meet its goals.

The differences between slavery now and then are less important than the historical links that bind them, links in an awful chain of bondage that bind the history of the transatlantic slave trade from Africa to the resurgence of slavery in Africa today. As this article illustrates, nowhere is this truer, both in historical and contemporary terms, than in the Congo. The links binding the Congo to the history of human bondage were first forged in the crucible of early modern capitalism and they have been made fast by the proliferation of “free market reform” today, which despite the fundamentalist cant of its advocates, has hardly proven to be a force of human liberation; instead, placing the last 500 years of the Congo region in global context, we can see how capitalism has proven to be the world’s greatest purveyor of human bondage. The article concludes with an argument that the reconstruction of civil society in the Democratic Republic of Congo after decades of war, dictatorship, and neo-colonial rule depends crucially on the continued success of an already impressive Congolese abolitionist movement. Without making an end to slavery, once and for all, civil society can hardly prosper in a country where slavery has historically brought about its destruction.

AbstractThis article examines the extent to which revenues from the trade in rough diamonds have funded civil war in African countries and the difficulties encountered by the United Nations in putting an end to it. As case studies, the article considers the conflicts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone where the illicit trade in rough diamonds, also referred to as “conflict diamonds” or “blood diamonds,” provided most of the funds used by rebel groups in their war efforts. The article further examines the role played by the diamond industry, the international community and diamond importing countries such as the United States and Belgium in the trade of conflict diamonds. The article concludes that several resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council concerning “conflict diamonds” were at times not successful because of indifference on the part of the international community.

Abstract Thousands of Southern Sudanese refugees fled southward into the Orientale province of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the late 1960s. This article examines the challenges posed by fragmentary archival sources from humanitarian organisations, and a small number of interviews, for understanding the actions of Sudanese refugees as they entered a province already battered by civil war. Expatriate staff struggled to negotiate with the Congolese and Sudanese governments, who both wanted to limit the threat of rebels. Furthermore, the particular goals and recordkeeping methods of humanitarian organisations post major challenges for interpreting the sources. However, oral testimonies of former aid workers and refugees demonstrate that Sudanese refugees did clearly shape their journeys and how they negotiated with refugee assistance programmes. This article thus offers new perspectives for researchers on the value and pitfalls of various individual humanitarian agency records.

A pattern of affording impunity to local power brokers throughout Africa pervades the application of international criminal law (ICL) in Africa. The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Uganda is a notorious but representative example, although similar analyses can be made of the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Libya. In Uganda, only members of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have been indicted for international crimes, even though the United Nations, international human rights groups, and local NGOs have documented years of abuses perpetrated by government troops and local auxiliary units, often against the same populations victimized by the LRA. The ICC is thereby implicated in the power structures and political arrangements of a repressive state that both combats the LRA and often brutalizes the civilian populations of northern Uganda. Inserting itself into Uganda, the ICC becomes a partisan player in the endgame of a civil war that extends back over a generation, and is itself rooted in ethnic and tribal animosities cultivated through 19th century Euro-colonial benedictions of favor. Here, the ICC and the war it adjudicates become surprising bedfellows, repurposed by local elites for the consolidation of domestic power.

Are United Nations peacekeeping missions effective at reducing violence in civil wars? Although UN peacekeeping is a notable intervention tool, the international community lacks systematic knowledge of how well it mitigates civil war violence. Given that UN peacekeeping is increasingly used in the midst of war, this is a significant research gap with direct policy relevance. This book systematically explores if and how the capacity and constitution of UN peacekeeping missions affect the amount of violence in civil conflicts. It argues that peacekeeping effectiveness needs to be assessed in relative terms, theorizing that more robust missions are increasingly capable of addressing combatant incentives for employing violence. The authors conduct large-n analyses of the number of combatants and civilians killed during each month for all civil wars globally from 1992 to 2014, measuring the capacity and constitution of UN missions with unique data on the number and type of peacekeeping personnel deployed. The analyses reveal that increasing UN military troop and police personnel deployed to a conflict significantly reduces violence against civilians, and increasing UN military troop personnel significantly mitigates battle-related violence. By contrast, smaller missions and missions composed of observers are not associated with reduced violence. The book complements the large-n analyses with qualitative explorations of peacekeeping mechanisms on violence in Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The authors conclude that while peacekeeping is not without detriments, it is an effective tool of violence reduction.

This article sets the stage for a special issue exploring group-level dynamics and their role in producing violence. My analytic focus is socialization, or the process through which actors adopt the norms and rules of a given community. I argue that it is key to understanding violence in many settings, including civil war, national militaries, post-conflict societies and urban gangs. While socialization theory has a long history in the social sciences, I do not simply pull it off the shelf, but instead rethink core features of it. Operating in a theory-building mode and drawing upon insights from other disciplines, I highlight its layered and multiple nature, the role of instrumental calculation in it and several relevant mechanisms – from persuasion, to organized rituals, to sexual violence, to violent display. Equally important, I theorize instances where socialization is resisted, as well as the (varying) staying power of norms and practices in an individual who leaves the group. Empirically, the special issue explores the link between socialization and violence in paramilitary patrols in Guatemala; vigilantes in the Bosnian civil war; gangs in post-conflict Nicaragua; rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Sierra Leone and Uganda; post-conflict peacekeepers; and the US and Israeli military. By documenting this link, we contribute to an emerging research program on group dynamics and conflict.

Background: Conflict in the DRC led to a poor health care. HIV/AIDS in children remains one of the leading causes of pediatric morbidity and mortality.Methods: This cross-sectional study used a sample size of 238 files and aimed to determine the epidemiological profile of childrenliving with HIV at Heal Hospital in 2015.Results: The age ranged from zero to fifteen, with a mean of 6.1 (±3.9) years. Records of PMTCT were noted in 12%. The mean birth weight was 3(±0.8) kg, most cases (88 percent) had normal vaginal delivery. Many of them (71 percent) were living with at least one parent. The majority of the children (92 percent) were from Goma, and 75 percent were diagnosed at WHO Stage 3. At least one episode of hospital admission was reported in 71 percent. Respiratory tract infections were the most common disease, and they were also the leading cause of death. Based on the CD4, which was the most cost-effective method ofmonitoring, there was an improvement in immunity at the last visit.Conclusion: This study pointed out the importance of PMTC and early management of children leaving with HIV/AIDS. Outreach would encourage voluntary HIV/AIDS testing for pregnant women in armed conflict zone.Keywords: Central Africa; civil war; HIV/AIDS; pediatric; presentation.

The Twentieth and twenty first centuries have been described as the age of anxiety. This is largely due to the many civil wars and conflicts that have been prevalent in our contemporary world, and especially with special reference to Africa which is the worst hit. In particular, armed conflicts been witnessed in Angola, Ethiopia Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan among others. Equally, civil wars have been witnessed in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan. Sadly, some of these States are at the verge of collapse due to the effect of these unfortunate civil wars and conflicts. Other countries that were affected by civil or ethnic conflicts, albeit at lower levels include: Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Malawi, Senegal, and South Africa. The latter has witnessed xenophobic attacks, especially in May 2008. Terrorism activities have also Increased, as it continues to create tensions among nations, religions, tribes and so on. To this end, this article seeks to explore the causes of civil wars and conflicts in Africa, that bleeds poverty on a mass scale. How can the church participate in curbing these wars and conflicts, and eventually usher-in sanity in these troubled waters? In its methodology, this article strives to redefine war and discusses the characteristics of modern warfare. Through an extensive review of relevant literature, the article has also attempted to explore the place of individual persons, the nation-states and the international network systems in combating civil wars; and lastly, it has endeavored to show the contribution of the church in wrestling out all forms of conflicts in the Sub-Saharan Africa.

This article investigates whether Roger Silverstone’s notion of ‘proper distance’ provides the conceptual tools which are needed to assess the qualitative nature of radio listeners’ responses to mediated representations of suffering – a vital issue in radio research, given the dependence of most critical theory about journalistic depictions of suffering on ideas of the visual. Specifically, it seeks to address practitioners’ and theorists’ concerns about the impact of framing on audience reactions, by using an audience study to examine whether beginning a series of packages of the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo with a ‘human interest’ interview generated different kinds of responses to those generated when other kinds of framing methods were used. The series, which was broadcast on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, produced one of the greatest volumes of audience response in the programme’s history. But rather than recommending ‘proper distance’ as the best theoretical tool with which to explore this phenomenon, this article advocates caution: questioning the ‘workability’ of Silverstone’s ideas, their cross-cultural applicability, and their sensitivity to empirical evidence about radio listening.

RÉSUMÉ. Aux lendemains de la tragique guerre civile congolaise de 1998 à 2002 se terminant par la chute du dictateur Mobutu Sésé Séko, le Mal, tel une pieuvre à multiple tentacules, continuera à persister à la République démocratique du Congo, ce grand pays d’Afrique centrale au sous-sol si riche en minerais de toutes sortes. Cette situation paradoxale poussera certains esprits révoltés comme Achille Ngoye dans Sorcellerie à bout portant à s’attaquer aux problèmes qui ont fini de mettre à genoux son pays. C’est donc une manière, pour lui, de lutter contre les effets désastreux du silence et de la résignation mais aussi de défendre son peuple meurtri par tant de violence. Cet article s’intéresse, ainsi, aux diverses manifestations du Mal dans ce roman négro-africain contemporain. Mots-clés : analyse, criminalité, négro-africain, roman contemporain, satire sociale, sorcellerie. ABSTRACT. In the aftermath of the tragic Congolese civil war of 1998-2002, which ended with the fall of the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, Evil, like an octopus with multiple tentacles, will continue to persist in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the basement so rich in minerals of all kinds. This paradoxical situation will push some rebellious spirits like Achille Ngoye into Witchcraft at close range to tackle the problems that have ended up kneeling his country. It is thus a way for him to fight against the disastrous effects of silence and resignation but also to defend his people bruised by so much violence. This article is interested in the various manifestations of Evil in this contemporary Negro-African novel. Keywords : analysis, criminality, negro-african, contemporary novel, social satire, witchcraft.

Womens bodies often bear the consequences of war and conflict. To safeguard womens dignity and health, international governmental organizations, represented by the UN, and international organizations, represented by Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), have tried to prevent sexual violence through reforms and development interventions in countries in conflict. However, since the end of the civil conflict in 2003, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has continued to experience high levels of sexual violence. This paper uses case studies to provide a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the causes of the high prevalence of sexual violence and the reasons for the failure of two organisations interventions in the country. It also provides recommendations for future interventions by international organisations in the country. In particular, more realistic measures for the protection of victims and cooperation between international actors, not only focusing on conventional international actors but also taking into account cooperation with local NGOs and the media. As well as focusing more on how to change the deep-rooted gender inequalities. The intention is to fill the gap in how to address sexual violence from the perspective of international organisations.

Several armed conflicts have marked the past two decades in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As a result, the DRC is facing an unprecedented humanitarian disaster with the death of hundreds of thousands of people, the large-scale displacement of civilians and the rape of thousands of women, girls and men. These armed conflicts have led to the metamorphosis of the concept of ‘crime’ with the emergence of new forms of sexual violence, particularly the widespread sexual violence used by armed groups as a tactic of war. In response to this avalanche of sexual violence, the DRC has taken a series of legislative measures. It began with the ratification of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) on 11 April 2002. This was followed by the promulgation of the Military Judicial Code and the Military Criminal Code on 18 November 2002 (MJC and MCC, respectively) criminalizing, inter alia, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In 2006, the Congolese legislator criminalized various forms of sexual crimes as defined by international law in the Military Penal Code. On 31 December 2015, the Congolese authorities promulgated Law No. 15/022, amending and supplementing the Military Penal Code, for the implementation of the Rome Statute. Through this Law, the legislator has included in the Congolese Ordinary Criminal Code rape and other sexual assaults constituting war crimes, and in some circumstances, crimes against humanity. In terms of prosecutions, around 40 cases of rape classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity have been tried by Congolese military courts, and a few other cases are being investigated. This article seeks to assess the progress made by the DRC in prosecuting rape as a war crime and the challenges to such prosecutions. La République démocratique du Congo (RDC) a été marquée par plusieurs conflits armés au cours des deux dernières décennies. Il en résulte que ce pays est confronté à une catastrophe humanitaire sans précédent avec la mort de centaines de milliers de personnes, le déplacement à grande échelle de civils et le viol de milliers de femmes, de filles et d'hommes. Ces conflits armés ont entraîné une métamorphose du concept de ‘crime’ avec l'émergence de nouvelles formes de violence sexuelle, notamment la violence sexuelle généralisée utilisée par les groupes armés comme tactique de guerre. En réponse à cette avalanche de violences sexuelles, la RDC a adopté une série de mesures législatives. La première fut la ratification du Statut de la Cour pénale internationale (Statut de Rome) le 11 avril 2002. Cette ratification fut suivie par la promulgation du Code judiciaire militaire et du Code pénal militaire le 18 novembre 2002 (respectivement le CMJ et le CCM) qui criminalisent, entre autres, les crimes de guerre, les crimes contre l'humanité et le génocide. En 2006, le législateur congolais a incriminé dans le Code pénal militaire diverses formes de crimes sexuels tels que définis par le droit international. Le 31 décembre 2015, les autorités congolaises ont promulgué la loi no 15/022, modifiant et complétant le Code pénal militaire, pour la mise en œuvre du Statut de Rome. A travers cette loi, le législateur a inclus dans le Code pénal ordinaire congolais les viols et autres agressions sexuelles constitutifs de crimes de guerre, et dans certaines circonstances, de crimes contre l'humanité. En termes de poursuites, une quarantaine de cas de viols qualifiés de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité ont été jugés par les tribunaux militaires congolais, et quelques autres cas sont en cours d'instruction. Cet article vise à évaluer les progrès réalisés par la RDC en matière de poursuites pénales pour viol en tant que crime de guerre et les défis auxquels ces poursuites sont confrontées. Verschillende gewapende conflicten hebben de afgelopen twee decennia hun stempel gedrukt op de Democratische Republiek Congo (DRC). Als gevolg daarvan wordt de DRC geconfronteerd met een ongekende humanitaire ramp die gepaard gaat met de dood van honderdduizenden mensen, de grootschalige ontheemding van burgers en de verkrachting van duizenden vrouwen, meisjes en mannen. Die gewapende conflicten hebben geleid tot een metamorfose van het begrip ‘misdaad’ met de opkomst van nieuwe vormen van seksueel geweld, in het bijzonder het wijdverspreide seksuele geweld dat door gewapende groepen als oorlogstactiek wordt gebruikt. Als reactie op die lawine van seksueel geweld heeft de DRC een reeks wetgevende maatregelen genomen. Het begon met de ratificatie van het Statuut van het Internationaal Strafhof (Statuut van Rome) op 11 april 2002, gevolgd door de afkondiging van het militair gerechtelijk wetboek en het militair strafwetboek op 18 november 2002. Daarin worden onder meer oorlogsmisdaden, misdaden tegen de mensheid en genocide strafbaar gesteld. In 2006 heeft de Congolese wetgever verschillende vormen van seksuele misdrijven, zoals omschreven in het internationaal recht, strafbaar gesteld in het militair strafwetboek. Op 31 december 2015 hebben de Congolese autoriteiten wet nr. 15/022 tot wijziging en aanvulling van het militair strafwetboek uitgevaardigd, met het oog op de uitvoering van het Statuut van Rome. Met die wet heeft de wetgever verkrachting en andere vormen van seksueel geweld die te beschouwen zijn als oorlogsmisdaden, en in sommige omstandigheden misdaden tegen de mensheid, in het gewone Congolese Wetboek van Strafrecht opgenomen. Wat vervolging betreft, zijn ongeveer 40 gevallen van verkrachting die als oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de mensheid werden aangemerkt, door de Congolese militaire rechtbanken berecht, en enkele andere gevallen worden momenteel onderzocht. Deze studie heeft tot doel na te gaan welke vooruitgang de DRC heeft geboekt bij de vervolging van verkrachting als oorlogsmisdaad en voor welke uitdagingen dergelijke vervolgingen staan. Varios conflictos armados han dejado huella en las dos décadas pasadas en la República Democrática del Congo (RDC). A resultas de ello, la RDC se está enfrentando a un desastre humanitario sin precedentes con la muerte de cientos de miles de personas, desplazamiento de civiles a gran escala y la violación de miles de mujeres, niñas y hombres. Estos conflictos armados han llevado a la metamorfosis del concepto de ‘crimen’ con la aparición de nuevas formas de violencia sexual, en particular el uso generalizado de la violencia sexual por grupos armados como táctica de guerra. En respuesta a esta avalancha de violencia sexual, la RDC ha adoptado una serie de medidas legislativas. Todo comenzó con la ratificación del Estatuto de la Corte Penal Internacional (Estatuto de Roma) el 11 de abril de 2002. A esto siguió la promulgación del Código Judicial Militar y del Código Penal Militar el 18 de noviembre de 2002 (Código Judicial Militar y Código Penal Militar, respectivamente), penalizando, entre otros, los crímenes contra la humanidad y el genocidio. En 2006, el legislador congoleño introdujo en el Código Penal Militar varias modalidades de crimen sexual tal y como se definen en el Derecho Internacional. El 31 de diciembre de 2015, la autoridades congoleñas promulgaron la Ley Núm. 15/022, reformando y complementando el Código Penal Militar, con objeto de implementar el Estatuto de Roma. A través de esta ley, el legislador ha tipificado en el Código Penal Común la violación y otros ataques sexuales que constituyen crímenes de guerra y, en algunas circunstancias, crímenes contra la humanidad. En términos de procedimientos instruidos, cerca de 40 casos de violación tipificada como crímenes de guerra y crímenes contra la humanidad han sido tramitados por los tribunales militares congoleños, y varios casos más continúan siendo objeto de investigación. Este estudio busca valorar el progreso de la RDC en la persecución de la violación como crimen de guerra y los retos a los que se ha tenido que hacer frente en dicha tarea. Gli ultimi due decenni della Repubblica Democratica del Congo (RDC) sono stati segnati da diversi conflitti armati. Di conseguenza, la RDC sta affrontando un disastro umanitario senza precedenti con la morte di centinaia di migliaia di persone, lo sfollamento di civili su larga scala e lo stupro di migliaia di donne, ragazze e uomini. Questi conflitti armati hanno portato alla metamorfosi del concetto di ‘crimine’ con l'emergere di nuove forme di violenza sessuale, in particolare la diffusa violenza sessuale usata dai gruppi armati come tattica di guerra. In risposta a questa valanga di violenza sessuale, la RDC ha adottato una serie di misure legislative. È iniziato tutto con la ratifica dello Statuto della Corte penale internazionale (Statuto di Roma) l'11 aprile 2002. A ciò è seguita la promulgazione del Military Judicial Code and the Military Criminal Code il 18 novembre 2002 (rispet­tivamente Codice giudiziario militare e Codice penale militare), che hanno criminalizzato, tra l'altro, crimini di guerra, crimini contro l'umanità e genocidio. Nel 2006, il legislatore congolese ha definito come crimini varie forme di reati sessuali così come definito dal diritto internazionale nel Codice Penale Militare. Il 31 dicembre 2015 le autorità congolesi hanno promulgato la Legge n. 15/022, che modifica e integra il Codice Penale Militare, per l'attuazione dello Statuto di Roma. Attraverso questa legge, il legislatore ha incluso nel Codice penale Ordinario congolese lo stupro e altre aggressioni sessuali definiti crimini di guerra e, in alcune circostanze, crimini contro l'umanità. In termini di procedimenti penali, circa 40 casi di stupro classificati come crimini di guerra e crimini contro l'umanità sono stati processati dai tribunali militari congolesi e alcuni altri casi sono oggetto di indagine. Questo studio cerca di valutare i progressi compiuti dalla RDC nel perseguire lo stupro come crimine di guerra e l’impegno in tali procedimenti penali. Mehrere bewaffnete Konflikte haben die vergangenen zwei Jahrzehnte in der Demokratischen Republik Kongo (DRK) geprägt. Als Folge dessen steht die DRK vor einer beispiellosen humanitären Katastrophe mit dem Tod von Hunderttausenden von Menschen, der massiven Vertreibung von Zivilisten und der Vergewaltigung von Tausenden von Frauen, Mädchen und Männern. Diese bewaffneten Konflikte haben zu einer Metamorphose des Begriffs ‘Verbrechen’ mit dem Aufkommen neuer Formen sexueller Gewalt geführt, insbesondere der weit verbreiteten sexuellen Gewalt, die von bewaffneten Gruppen als Kriegstaktik eingesetzt wird. Als Reaktion auf diese Lawine sexueller Gewalt hat die DRK eine Reihe von gesetzlichen Maßnahmen ergriffen. Es begann mit der Ratifizierung des Statuts des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs (Römisches Statut) am 11 April 2002. Es folgte die Verkündung des Militärgerichtsgesetzbuchs und des Militärstrafgesetzbuchs am 18. November 2002, die unter anderem Kriegsverbrechen, Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit und Völkermord unter Strafe stellen. Im Jahr 2006 hat der kongolesische Gesetzgeber im Militärstrafgesetzbuch verschiedene Formen von Sexualverbrechen im Sinne des Völkerrechts unter Strafe gestellt. Am 31. Dezember 2015 haben die kongolesischen Behörden das Gesetz Nr. 15/022 zur Änderung und Ergänzung des Militärstrafgesetzbuchs im Hinblick auf die Umsetzung des Römischen Statuts verkündet. Mit diesem Gesetz hat der Gesetzgeber Vergewaltigung und andere sexuelle Übergriffe, die Kriegsverbrechen und unter gewissen Umständen auch Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit darstellen, in das kongolesische ordentliche Strafgesetzbuch aufgenommen. Was die Strafverfolgung anbelangt, so wurden etwa 40 Fälle von Vergewaltigung, die als Kriegsverbrechen und Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit eingestuft werden, von kongolesischen Militär­gerichten abgeurteilt, und einige weitere Fälle werden derzeit untersucht. Diese Studie versucht, die Fortschritte der DRK bei der strafrechtlichen Verfolgung von Vergewaltigung als Kriegsverbrechen und die Herausforderungen für solche Verfolgungen zu bewerten.

AbstractThis paper presents a comparative analytical study that is based on a political economy perspective concerning the effects of economic violence and the specter of predation-induced armed conflicts in modern African states. Although "blood diamonds," crude oil, "conflict timber," and illicit arms trafficking have engendered and exacerbated civil wars, cross-border raids, and protracted regional destabilization in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, my primary focus is on the ongoing military debacle in Liberia and the recently concluded mayhem in Sierra Leone. The "resource curse" hypothesis will be utilized to examine and to illuminate the impact of economic pillaging, illicit arms trade, and predatory warlordism on the political instability and humanitarian atrocities in these two West African countries. A review of the internal regime types and the regional security relations within the sub-region will help to contextualize the recurrent trends and discernable systemic patterns that have been associated with these pillaging wars in the post-cold war era of Africa's international relations. In short, armed conflicts have weakened state capabilities, strained the financial resources of nongovernmental organizations and even raised provocative questions about the political will and sustaining capacities of the international community and regional security organizations to keep the peace and create conditions that are conducive to long-term, sustainable and viable political stability and economic development in the conflict-ridden and war-ravaged Sub-Saharan African States.

The author of the article attempts to analyze the scientific achievements of American researchers on the subject of Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1960s, using the example of two countries in the region – the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. In both countries, which decolonized in 1960 and embarked on an independent path of development, during the first decade of their existence, various stormy events took place that shook the entire Sub-Saharan region and largely reflected on processes in other parts of the continent. Therefore, these countries are a particularly striking example on the basis of which this study was conducted. Based on a thorough review of the dissertations on the list, developed and defended in the United States by different generations of researchers over the course of half a century, the main priorities and areas of interest to the American scientific community have been identified. Although this paper does not claim to be a comprehensive and complete analysis, statistics based on available material are systematized in chronological and thematic dimensions. In particular, the events and phenomena of the history of the Congo and Nigeria, which particularly attracted the attention of American scholars, are highlighted. Predictably, the lion’s share of the research was devoted to the events of the Congolese crisis of 1960-1965, as well as the civil war for Biafra independence that unfolded in Nigeria. At the same time, it is found that most researchers were not so interested in the fate of the Sub-Saharan African countries themselves as the role and place of the United States in the region, their foreign policy, and the advancement of American national interests.

Education is an important vector for the development of the state and civil society. Taking into account the latest trends in education in Ukraine, namely the state of war, the coronavirus pandemic and other conditions, which in their essence contradict the normal existence and functioning of the constitutionally guaranteed right to education, this manuscript acquires scientific importance and novelty.Within the scope of scientific research, we analyzed and deduced the understanding of the terms: «education», «war», «emergency situations». Thus, under the concept of «education», the author proposes to understand a set of worldview, cultural, scientific and practical skills, abilities and competencies that are formed in the process of systematic acquisition and renewal of knowledge by a person, both individually and in specially organized institutions and premises, such as schools, universities or other educational institutions. According to the author, «war» is a conflict between two or more conflicting parties, which is characterized by the open use of weapons and violence in order to achieve political, territorial, ideological or other goals. Emergency situations, in turn, usually mean any circumstances of man-made, natural or social nature, which are characterized by a violation of the normal conditions of life of the population, have led or may lead to human and material losses, pose a threat to the life and health of citizens, cause the limitation of constitutional rights and freedoms.At the same time, the author outlined the peculiarities of the functioning of education in warring countries (Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc.) and presented key points from borrowing the experience of these countries regarding the provision and accessibility of education in conditions of war, namely: the development of mobile educational groups and schools in shelters, the use of distance learning, support for educational initiatives of humanitarian organizations, support for schools in temporary shelters, and adaptation of educational programs to conflict conditions.

Purpose: This paper sought to examine the multifaceted term refugee entrepreneurship from a global level, to a more focused view of the Kenyan context. As such, the authors of this paper examined the general understanding of refugee entrepreneurship in Kenya, assessed the effect of talent displacement with regards to refugee entrepreneurship in Kenya and analyzed the effect of integration and social economic inclusion in relation to refugee entrepreneurship in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach: The paper utilized qualitative research where available secondary data on refugee entrepreneurship was analyzed. Findings: The study found that there appeared to be no clear-cut understanding of refugee entrepreneurship in the Kenyan context, no systematic approach to tackle talent displacement with regards to refugee entrepreneurship in Kenya, and there continued to be barriers to full integration and social economic inclusion with regards to refugee entrepreneurship in Kenya. Research limitations/implications: This study also noted that there is no current global solution to the issue of the ever-increasing number of internally displaced persons, asylum seekers or refugees. On the contrary, the year 2022 has seen an increase in civil strife around the world including; the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Tigray-Ethiopia war and the more than 20-year-old ongoing conflicts in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Other conflicts of concern on the African continent include; South Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique and other West African nations, while Libya and other North African states have suffered similar civil strife. Despite these ongoing challenges, this study established that there are significant socio-economic contributions of refugee entrepreneurship to host communities. Practical implications: Consequently, the study recommended a more in-depth understanding of refugee entrepreneurship in the context of Kenya, nurture refugee talents and skills while enacting and enabling policies that foster integration and social economic inclusion with regards to refugee entrepreneurship in Kenya. The Government and people of Kenya stand to reap the benefits of refugee entrepreneurship, which in turn reduced refugee talent displacement and continued government handouts that have promoted dependency, rather than self-reliance. Refugee entrepreneurship, if well cultivated, is an avenue for adding to Kenya’s bread basket through taxation, employment and investment. Paper type: Research paper

This research is conducted to understand how Rwanda is able to achieve their economic interest in Congo War,using national interest and resource wars as main concept . The result of research shows that Rwanda is able to achieve their economy interest because either Democratic Republic of Congo was unable to grasp political, security and also economy control. The emergences of mineral world market during Congo War also contribute to Rwanda‟s economy interest during Congo War. Although Rwanda‟s economic interest in DRC could be categorized as form of illegal economy, Rwanda able to convince international community and Rwanda‟s people because security threat that come from inside Zaire or DRC.Keyword : Rwanda, Congo War, economy interest, resource wars, mineral exploitation

Eastern DRC is seriously affected by a protracted warfare involving illicit exploitation of natural resources, corruption, humanitarian crisis and terrorism carried out by armed groups including the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and the Movement of 23 March (M23). According to DRC government, M23 is a terrorist group supported by Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF). Invasion and terrorism drive the war and the chaos. For Rwanda, fighting and chaos derive from ethnic conflicts over land, citizenship, local political power, and state failures. To many observers, ongoing violence and fighting are driven by rent seeking by Congolese military commanders, lack of State authority, distorted rule of law at both national and local levels, the abuse of public office for private gain (corruption), failed defence/security and justice sector reforms, undisciplined civilian armed and unarmed combatants, warlords and opportunist warmongers. Overall, state failures combined with globalized war diseconomy as conducted by multinational companies, failed multiparty system regarding democratic governance system drive ongoing chaos and armed violence, beyond government control and defence capabilities, despite peace agreements and the involvement of international and regional peace peacekeeping initiatives. Our analysis suggests that the war strategy being used resembles to what McKew refers to as the Gerasimov Doctrine, a chaos theory of political warfare which is used by Russia in Ukraine war. It is a silent total warfare combining politics and war activities with the objective of weakening, controlling and submitting an enemy by influencing its domestic politics and security. It creates a chaotic environment as a result of Clausewitzian friction. Hence, the search for sustainable peace and political stability needs to address factors which drive and sustain the chaos. Such strategic change requires top leadership involvement at the Head of State level, in his capacity of commander in chief of the armed forces. It is a matter of rebuilding the State, transforming non-state forces into a professional military and inducing few innovations into the defence reform process. Such innovations will include establishing territorial armies in eastern provinces where armed groups and foreign forces take advantage of State weaknesses to exploit resources and abuse local defenceless populations.

The storytelling movement was pioneered in response to the challenge of providing psychological intervention to traumatised communities in the absence of mental health professionals. It is pioneered to be a self-sustaining movement that breaks the silence of trauma, as demonstrated by this case study in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Access to the public service is a guaranteed right for all Congolese in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This right of access to the public service is framed by legal texts which determine the conditions of recruitment to the public service, the methods of recruitment … in Congolese law, there are several legal texts relating to the statutes of the public service. As a result, this study is particularly structured around law n°16/013 of July 15, 2016 on the status of career agents in the State's public services. Thus, within the framework of this study, removed the prolegomena, we deciphered the question of the access to the public service in Congolese Positive Law, by making a taxonomy of the related conditions and by elaborating on the recruitment as a modality of access to the civil service in accordance with the legal texts in this case. In order to carry out this study, we have recourse from time to time to Comparative Law. These are the main features of this study.

To the many tragedies in Africa since the end of the Cold War one may now add the civil war that devastated the Congo Republic from June to October 1997. This war not only ended Congo’s fragile experiment with democracy but also left some 10,000 Congolese citizens dead and countless more homeless, bereaved, or embittered. Artillery bombardment followed by looting destroyed much of Brazzaville’s inner city. Since seizing power in mid-October 1997, former (and again) president Dennis Sassou-Nguesso has only slowly restored public order. As of March 1998, only a few parts of town had partial phone service, water, and electricity. Congo’s long-delayed development is once again on hold as the new government grapples to restore basic services.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is still experiencing internal political turmoil between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes. Therefore, the United Nations through the Security Council established The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to monitor the peace process after the Second Congo War. Several approaches must be applied so that the mission carried out is able to reconcile the conflicting actors. The purpose of this research is to find out the obstacles faced in the MONUSCO mission and their solutions. The method used in this research is to use a literature study to test the credibility of the data found. The peace mission carried out by MONUSCO can be said to be quite successful despite facing several strategic and operational challenges. The use of cultural intelligence and prospect theory in pre-mission training should be done in order to increase the success of the mission.

In a gradual shift towards achieving cleaner and environmentally friendly energy sources, the electric vehicle industry has recorded tremendous growth over the last decade across Europe and America. Cobalt is a vital element used in the manufacture of certain technologies and it is now in high demand to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones. The democratic republic of Congo has the largest known deposit of lithium copper with an estimated 130.000 metric tons being mined yearly. This study aims to highlight the downsides of the massive environmentally unfriendly processes of cobalt mining to foster the dream of having a non-fossil fuel-dependent world. In as much as the perceived benefits seem to be great, it is vital to consider the environmental damages caused because of the excessive mining of cobalt. Much emphasis is being placed on the democratic republic of Congo in this research as there are unaddressed issues of conflicts, war, and child labour all associated with the extraction of cobalt in the region. This study proposes some policy recommendations for a solution-oriented approach for both the government of the democratic republic of Congo and the international community in managing the associated conflict within the region as well as adhering to the sustainability development goals.

Based on the author’s experience as both a journalist and an independent researcher working regularly in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this article examines the many constraints that journalists face in areas of armed conflict. It considers two unusual aspects of journalistic practice observed in the DRC: first, the reporters’ lexical dependence – that is, how the language journalists typically use to describe war is borrowed, sometimes unconsciously, from the war-related rhetoric developed in other fields – and second, journalists’ practical dependence on humanitarian organisations and how this might influence the articles they produce.

Background. There is lack of information about prevalence of affective and psychotic disorders triggered by traumatic events among people living in war-affected regions. This study is aimed at determining the prevalence rate of affective and psychotic disorders and the associated factors in a war-torn eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Methods. This epidemiological cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019 at Cepima and Muyisa health centers. This study enrolled 344 patients that had experienced traumatic events in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo from the 1119 participants, of whom 229 had positive bipolar affective disorder and 115 patients had psychotic disorders. Results. The results revealed that bipolar affective disorders were two times more than psychotic disorders. Sexual abuse, sudden death of a relative, kidnapping, the physical torture, and childhood trauma were the psychological factors correlated to the occurrence of bipolar affective and psychotic disorders. Conclusions. It was concluded that the traumatic experiences were precursors for the occurrence of bipolar affective and psychotic spectrum disorders.

ABSTRACTCivil service reform is an important element of governance reforms, but has received limited attention in the literature pertaining to the Democratic Republic of Congo. This article examines Congo's aborted CSR process from 2003 to 2008. Through a detailed exploration of some of the project's components (the design phase, the census, and the workings of the structures charged with implementation), analysed through a framework attentive to the tensions between democratisation and liberalisation, the political logics that have pervaded and affected implementation outcomes are reconstituted. These logics, it is argued, are deeply embedded in the context of democratic transition/post-2006 elections, which donors have played no small part in shaping. The ambiguity of donors towards CSR, bemoaning the absence of governmental commitment but all too prone to tolerate administrative neglect, suggests that it may have been irrelevant for the disbursement of aid, and ultimately accommodating for the Congolese authorities.

This paper analyzed the use of rape as a weapon in Democratic Republic of Congo conflict zone. Rape usually used by the arm group to weaken their enemy. This strategy did not only targeted to women but also men. Rape gave different effect toward women and men. The purpose of this paper is to explain how rape become the weapon of conflict and their effect to the victims, even men and woman. Feminist perspective used in this paper. In the end, the author found that women have a way to overcome the effect and impact of rape better than men do. Social structure, which placed men in the upper side of women, made the effect and impact on the men who experienced rape victim hard to release their suffering. Therefore, the main goal of this paper is to show how women and men could manage their self as a victim in the conflict zone.