Feb 5, 1885 – 1908: Congo is colonized and becomes a private property of  Leopold II, King of Belgium.

1908 - 1960: Congo becomes a colony of the Belgian nation.

June 24, 1960 - September 1960: Patrice Emry Lumumba elected Congo’s Prime Minister. He was assassinated on Jan 17, 1961.

July 1, 1960 - November 14, 1965: Joseph Kassavubu becomes Congo’s first President.

November 24, 1965 - September 7, 1997:  Mobutu Sese seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Zabanga named President of the Congo (Zaire) He died in exile on September 7, 1997. October 6, 1996- May 17,  1997: First Congo War. Mobuto Sese seko overthrown by Ugandan, Burundi  and Rwandan supported troops.

May 17, 1997 - January 16, 2001: Laurent Kabila steps in as President of D.R. Congo. 

July 28, 1998, Kabila decided to send Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundian troops home.  

August 2, 1998 - 2003: Second Congo War by Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda(Africa’s First World War) claims approximately 4 million lives.

July 18, 2003: Transitional government set up as a result of the global and inclusive agreements signed on December 16, 2002  in Pretoria /South Africa. 

December 6, 2006: Joseph Kabila sworn in as president of D.R. Congo.

In the recent months, the US has been surprisingly engaged in the conflict in DR Congo. 

Ø      On September 15-17th, 2007, the US facilitated a meeting between the ministers of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the D.R. Congo in Kampala, the capital of Uganda on regional peace threatened by the negative forces present in the Congo.  

Ø      Soon after, a US delegation visited Goma, capital of the north Kivu province on November 1st.

Ø      On November 9th the US administration was among the facilitators of the Nairobi Accords between Rwanda and D.R. Congo   that required the latter to have an action plan in place by December 1st to disarm the Hutu rebels, a threat to security in Rwanda.

Ø      This was followed by a visit on December 4th of Mr. William Galveling, US ambassador to the D.R. Congo, regarding the possibility of opening a US embassy office in Goma to monitor the humanitarian and security situation in the region.  

Ø      The US involvement in the peace process in Congo was marked on  December 5th, 2007 by two events.  First, the gathering in Addis-Ababa , the capitol of Ethiopia and the headquarters of the African Union (AU), to talk about the continuous Congo-Rwanda conflict.  Present at the meeting was the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and the D.R. Congo minister in charge of interior affairs Denis Kalume.  In a press release read by Ms. Rice, the participants agreed to strengthen security authorities in the D.R. Congo.   Second, December 5th marked the end of two months of training of 53 Congolese military officers on the matters of military ethics, human rights, administration, and how to help civilians in war times.  According to Okapi Radio, since the beginning of this program in 2006, 573 officers have been trained. 

Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) salutes all efforts to bring peace and stability in the Great Lakes Region and the D.R. Congo in particular.   However, we continue to be concerned by the hesitation of Rwanda to fully cooperate in the Congo-Rwanda peace process. We would like to see the US government take a leadership role in pressuring the Rwandan government with regard to its role in the D.R. Congo crisis and its obligation to be part of the solution.   We believe that a diplomatic surge can make a difference.  A democratic Rwanda would encourage the Hutu rebels to return home and an engaged  Rwanda might put an end to Rwanda’s financial and military support of Nkunda. These are both musts if we are to see peace in eastern DR Congo.

On Oct 24, 2007, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on “Exploring the U.S. Role in Consolidating Peace and Democracy in the Great Lakes Region." The hearing was chaired by Sen. Feingold, D-Wis., and testifying were Jendayi E. Frazer - Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Katherine J. Almquist - Assistant Administrator for Africa at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Gayle E. Smith - Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Co-founder of the Enough Project, Kevin Fitzcharles - Country Director of CARE Uganda, and Mauro De Lorenzo - Resident Fellow of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. The hearing coincided with the October visits to the US by Joseph Kabila, the president of the D.R. Congo and Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda.

The violent conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo was central to the discussion.  In his opening statement, Senator Feingold strongly reinforced the US government’s opposition to President Kabila’s military solution to disarm rebel leader Nkundabatware.  In her remarks, Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer said that military action against the rebel Nkundabatware was the Congolese government’s right, but she asked President Kabila to extend his ultimatum to allow her office to continue its talks with Nkuundabatware to peacefully disarm and integrate his forces into the Congolese national army.   Ms. Frazer added that she was in negotiations with the South African government and Nkundabatware to allow the latter to seek asylum in South Africa.  In addition, there is an ongoing effort to help the Congolese government strengthen its authority through the security sector reform (SSR) program by providing specialized security training for the Congolese army.  This includes helping the Congolese government improve its military justice system by training military officers in matters of human rights and code of ethics.  Ideally, this will help to effectively deal with the undisciplined Congolese army who have been accused of many human rights violations along with the rebel groups operating in eastern Congo.    However, informed Congolese on the ground in Congo have expressed fears over expansion of the US military presence and its role in creating instability. At AFJN, we ask that such military training be carefully monitored and screened to prevent an expansion of human rights abuses under the Congolese military.

Also, the US is interested in continuing to work with the UN peacekeeping force (MONUC) to effectively support the Congolese government and protect civilians.  To this point, AFJN thinks that MONUC has been largely ineffective due to lack of capacity and oversight - something that may be remedied by increased US involvement in the conflict

Rape in the Congo was also underscored for its gravity.   The recent UN report on Gender Based Violence in the D. R. Congo described the situation as the “worst they have ever seen.”   Rape is now becoming a weapon against the local population, with women and children the most vulnerable with a 60% increase in reported cases of rape from August and September. 

The US government will open a diplomatic field presence in Goma to observe the peace process and support the US government in providing assistance in building democracy, stability, health, encouraging economic growth, and protecting the environment.  To this suggestion, Gayle E. Smith challenged the US government to rethink their strategies.  According to her, the D.R. Congo needs a diplomatic surge and more qualified personnel on the ground.  One diplomat in Goma is not enough considering the complexity and the gravity of the situation.