# UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

All Articles

## D.R. Congo

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience has expressed concern about the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Committee's concern about DRC stems from the: magnitude of violence against civilians; rampant plunder of DRC's resources; renewed fighting amid the peace process; conflict's relationship to the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

A continuing consequence of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is the crisis in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), where the genocide's perpetrators took refuge and still operate. Their attacks on Rwandan territory led Rwanda to join a coalition of forces against the Zairean government of Mobutu Sese Seko in 1996. When the coalition that brought down Mobutu fell apart in 1998, a second war began. This war pitted Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi against the government of DRC, which was supported by Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia. All countries have armed and supported militias, which continue to fight even after the foreign countries have left DRC.

The second war alone has cost 3.8 million lives. An internationally sponsored peace process has inched forward, but it is threatened by continuing conflict, often along ethnic lines; by militias (including some accused of involvement in the Rwanda genocide); by neighboring countries' pursuit of their own interests in DRC; and by elite criminal networks that are plundering Congo's rich natural resources under cover of the conflict.

Landmark elecetions -- the first in more than 40 years -- occurred in DRC on July 30, 2006. The elections went off remarkably smoothly in the face of vast logistical and political challenges, and international observers deemed the elections free and fair, despite calls of fraud by some opposition leaders and limited violence by opposition members attempting to keep some voters from the polls. More than 25 million Congolese -- 85 percent of those eligible -- came out to vote. It remains to be seen, however, how the elections and the response of various armed groups to them will affect the long-term peace-building process.

Explore the related links below to learn more about the current situation in DRC.

No photos are available
No testimonies are available
No films are available
No songs are available