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Second Congo War: A Visual History

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Visual history of a war

Africa's world war: nine countries and dozens of militias fought in the Congo, and 5 million people died, mostly of hunger and disease.

Fought
1998 to 2003
Duration
5 years
Dates
August 1998 to July 2003
Deaths
About 3 to 5.4 million excess deaths, mostly from disease and starvation
Kabila's side
DRC, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Chad, Sudan; Hutu FDLR; Mai-Mai
Rebel side
RCD, MLC; Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi
Result
Peace accords; transitional government; continuing eastern conflicts

The Second Congo War (1998-2003) began when Laurent Kabila, installed as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and Uganda in 1997, turned on his patrons and they backed a new rebellion in the east. Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Chad and Sudan intervened for Kabila; Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi for the rebels; the RCD, MLC and Mai-Mai militias, Hutu genocidaires and Ugandan-Rwandan clashes at Kisangani turned the eastern Congo into a war zone. Kabila was assassinated in 2001; his son Joseph signed the Pretoria and Sun City accords in 2002-2003 and a transitional government took office in July 2003. Excess deaths are estimated at 3 to 5.4 million; conflict in the east has never fully stopped.

When it was fought: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Second Congo War. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

15501600165017001750180018501900195020002050Second Congo War (1998 to 2003)Open: British EmpireBritish Empire (1583 to 1997)Open: Dutch EmpireDutch Empire (1602 to 1975)Open: Third Portuguese EmpireThird Portuguese Empire (1822 to 1999)Open: Second French colonial empireSecond French colonial empire (1830 to 1980)Open: Belgian colonial empireBelgian colonial empire (1885 to 1962)Open: Angolan Civil WarAngolan Civil War (1975 to 2002)Open: Uganda-Tanzania War and Ugandan Bush WarUganda-Tanzania War and Ugandan Bush War (1978 to 1986)Open: Second Sudanese Civil WarSecond Sudanese Civil War (1983 to 2005)Open: Somali Civil WarSomali Civil War (1991 to present)Open: Burundian Civil WarBurundian Civil War (1993 to 2005)Open: First Congo WarFirst Congo War (1996 to 1997)

Estimated excess deaths per year

The IRC's cumulative estimate of 5.4 million by 2007 is disputed; other estimates are lower.

02254506759001998: 40040019981999: 80080019992000: 90090020002001: 85085020012002: 70070020022003: 5005002003thousands (IRC surveys, approximate)

Timeline of the Second Congo War

  1. 1998
    Kabila expels Rwandans; war begins2 August.
  2. 1999
    Lusaka ceasefire; MONUC created
  3. 2000
    Six-Day War of Kisangani
  4. 2001
    Laurent Kabila assassinated
  5. 2002
    Pretoria and Luanda accords
  6. 2003
    Transitional governmentFormal end of the war.
  7. 2006
    First multiparty elections

Kabila turns on Rwanda

Rwanda and Uganda had put Kabila in power in the First Congo War to destroy the Hutu genocidaire camps and Mobutu. When Kabila expelled Rwandan officers in July 1998, Rwanda flew troops to the far west to seize Kinshasa; Angola and Zimbabwe intervened to save him. The war settled into a partition: Kabila's government in the west and south, Rwanda's proxy RCD in the east, Uganda's MLC in the north.

A war of resources and proxies

Foreign armies and militias mined coltan, diamonds, gold and timber; a UN panel named the looting networks. Rwandan and Ugandan forces fought each other for Kisangani three times, shelling the city in 2000. Ethnic militias in Ituri and the Kivus committed massacres, and mass rape became a weapon; the FDLR Hutu militia remained a pretext for Rwandan presence. The Lusaka ceasefire of 1999 brought UN observers (MONUC) but not peace.

Assassination and settlement

Laurent Kabila was shot by a bodyguard in January 2001; his son Joseph reopened talks. The Sun City dialogue and Pretoria and Luanda accords of 2002 got Rwanda and Uganda to withdraw; the Global and All-Inclusive Agreement created a transitional government of Kabila and four vice-presidents from the factions in July 2003. Elections followed in 2006, but Ituri and the Kivus saw continued fighting, the CNDP, M23 and dozens of armed groups, and MONUC became the largest UN peacekeeping mission in the world.

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

Wars of the same era and region

8 surprising things about the Second Congo War

  1. The war has been called Africa's World War for the number of states involved: nine national armies at its peak.
  2. The International Rescue Committee's estimate of 5.4 million excess deaths would make it the deadliest conflict since 1945.
  3. Coltan from eastern Congo, used in mobile phones, financed militias, and the price spike of 2000 coincided with a Kisangani battle.
  4. MONUC, later MONUSCO, grew to over 20,000 personnel, the largest UN peacekeeping mission ever.
  5. Rwanda's army mined and exported more diamonds and coltan during the war than Rwanda produces.
  6. The Congo's own army was often the worst abuser of civilians, according to human rights groups.
  7. The Ituri conflict spawned the ICC's first trials, including Thomas Lubanga for recruiting child soldiers.
  8. Joseph Kabila was 29 when he became president after his father's murder.

Sources

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