Democratic Republic of the Congo: Peace Process and Background (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Aug. 14, 2001 |
| Report Number |
RL31080 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Raymond W. Copson, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division. |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, is a vast, resource-rich country of nearly
50
million people. In August 1998, Congo was plunged into its second civil war in 2 years. A peace
accord was concluded in Lusaka, Zambia, in July and August 1999, and the United Nations later
agreed to send peace monitors and protecting troops, in a force known as MONUC, to assist in the
peace process. Deployment was slow, but the assassination of President Laurent Kabila on January
16, 2001, was followed by progress in the peace process under a new regime headed by Joseph
Kabila, Laurent's son. On June 15, 2001, the U.N. Security Council approved plans to
expand
MONUC to its authorized level of 5,537 personnel.
Recent instability in Congo has been rooted in ethnic and political unrest in the eastern part of
the country, and also in the fact that guerrillas seeking the overthrow of the governments of Rwanda
and Uganda are based in the east. Both countries have sent troops into Congo, and have allied
themselves to rebel groups opposed to the Congo government. Some reports indicate that interests
in both countries are exploiting Congo's rich resources of timber, gold, and diamonds.
Burundi is
also fighting Burundi guerrillas based in Congo.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has deployed more than 11,000 troops to back the Congo
government, and reports allege that Zimbabwe interests are also profiting from Congo's
resources.
Angola also backs Congo government, evidently in the hope that this will help prevent UNITA, the
Angolan armed opposition movement, from using bases in Congo.
The 1996-1997 rebellion began in eastern Zaire, but won broad support due to high poverty
levels and dissatisfaction with the regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko, who had ruled since 1965.
Rwanda, which had suffered an anti-Tutsi genocide in 1994, supported the rebellion, and broke up
large Hutu refugee camps in eastern Zaire. These camps had been sheltering Hutu militants who
were staging incursions into Rwanda. Rebel leader Laurent Kabila took power in May 1997, and
suspended the activities of all political parties, except for his Alliance of Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL). Human rights activists maintain that he suppressed dissent in
an attempt to hold onto power indefinitely. Kabila showed considerable distrust of the western
donor community, which pressed for democratization, and this sharply limited aid inflows. Upon
Mobutu's death in September 1997, Congo was left with a $14 billion foreign debt.
Congo was ill-prepared for independence in 1960; its first civil war broke out almost
immediately, leading to U.N. intervention. U.S. policymakers took a strong interest in Zaire during
the Cold War years because of its resources and central location, but relations with Mobutu cooled
in the post-Cold War era. Policymakers initially welcomed Laurent Kabila's pledge of
elections in
2 years, but problems in democratization and economic reform complicated relations. A limited aid
program focusing on democracy, health, the private sector, and the environment was resumed.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged all parties to respect the Lusaka agreement and said he is
"cautiously optimistic" about implementation.
