Disaster in Congo

Brazzaville- Republic of Congo

As chronicled last year in my article Hell in Congo few places on earth compare to the Democratic Republic of Congo in terms of its atrocious poverty and standards of living. The nation still feels the effects of a War which is said to have ended in 2003 which claimed the lives of more the 4.5million people, the largest death toll in a single war since World War 2.

However, today's post concerns the neighbour of the DRC the Republic of Congo. While the DRC or Democratic Republic of Congo was once a Belgian colony, the Republic of Congoonce belonged to the French and achieved its independence in 1960.

UN Report Announces Acts of Genocide in Democratic Republic of Congo

If you missed my post earlier in the week detailing the absolutely horrendous humanitarian disaster in the Eastern half of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) catch up here, Hell in Congo. Today's post deals with the recent leak of a UN report which states that in the 1990's during the period known as the African World War Congolese and Rwandan rebels committed what could be classified genocide.

In 1994, after the quashing of the Rwandan Genocide of 800,000 Tutsi's remaining forces were then moved West into the Congo then known as Zaire, where they went to hunt down Hutu forces who had fled into the notion after the genocide .Rwandan Tutsi forces then kept the Congolese ADFL rebels in power led by Laurent Kabila. Bothe groups have been accused of shocking human rights abuses in the nations.

Hell in Congo

There are few places on earth that have more ravaged by war in recent years than the Democratic Republic of Congo. This massive African nation is the continents third largest and the 12 th largest in the world. There is also 71 million people in the nation and the average per capita GDP is the second lowest in the world.

The country was a Belgian colony for a time up until its independence on the 30th of June 1960. While the country suffered deeply at the hands of the oppressive Joesph- Désiré  Mubutu it was not until 1996 that one of the most viscous and horrifying Wars this world has ever seen broke out. Involving 7 foreign armies and with a death toll from the conflict standing at 4.5 million it has often been dubbed the African World War. Indeed no war has taken so many lives since World War 2.