Hochschild's book is a history of Belgium's King Leopold's crimes against humanity in the rainforest of equatorial Africa. It was quite nice, suggesting Western Nation States f***ed The Congo Up ... History of Colonialism. Appiah, Kwame Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., eds.
A total of between 1.4 million and two million people have been displaced since 2007 in the North Kivu province, says the UN World Food Program.Nkunda calls a unilateral ceasefire and asks for direct negotiations with the country's government.
Later that year, Joseph Kabila reaches an agreement for Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed troops to pull back and for the withdrawal of UN troops. Separate peace deals are reached between DR Congo and Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed troops for their withdrawal.
As many as 500 people had been killed in the eastern province of Ituri in the past month. The new government's mandate is to reunify the country, which has been torn apart by a five-year civil war.Fighting between the Congolese army and armed men loyal to a suspended military officer breaks out in Bukavu, near the border with Rwanda. The Congo crisis. Mobutu is re-elected president for the third time. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The ceasefire comes after four days of violence as Nkunda's followers tried to take the city of Goma.Leaders of DR Congo and Rwanda agree to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to help resolve the conflict.Violence continues despite the talks and ceasefires, with reports of drunk Congo army soldiers pillaging and raping in Goma and renegade government forces looting and burning refugee camps.The UN Security Council unanimously agreed on Nov. 20 to send 3,100 more peacekeeping troops to DR Congo. More than 600 French troops are scheduled to arrive in Bunia within a week. The following year, troops from Rwanda and Uganda invade in hopes of removing Kabila from power. Zairian rebels launch raids from Angola and Zambia into the Katanga region of Zaire.
Two groups of renegade soldiers seize Bukavu despite the presence of several hundred UN peacekeepers.
In the years immediately following independence, a number of secessionists (including foreigners and Congolese nationals) clash with the provisional UN forces for control. It is renamed Belgian Congo. DR Congo's two main rebel leaders are sworn in as vice-presidents in a new power-sharing government. About 25 million people are registered to cast ballots for 33 presidential, 9,000 national legislative and 10,000 provincial assembly candidates. Patrice Lumumba, leader of the Congolese National Movement (the country's first nation-wide party), wins the first national election. Col. Jules Mutebutsi is a former officer with the Rally for Congolese Democracy, a Rwanda-backed rebel group that joined the power-sharing government. Laurent Kabila killed by a bodyguard and succeeded by son Joseph. Republic of Congo. Since the pullout of Ugandan troops earlier in the month, Bunia had been racked by violence between warring tribal groups.
While Mobutu is out of the country, Tutsi rebels take control of a large portion of eastern Zaire. Leopold felt stifled by his country's parliamentary democracy, as Hochschild tells it. Congolese are pressed into forced labour to harvest rubber and ivory and to build transportation and other infrastructure.