Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo
Encyclopedia
The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL or ADFLC) was a coalition of Congolese
dissidents, disgruntled minority groups and nations that toppled President Mobutu Sese Seko
and brought Laurent Kabila to power in the First Congo War
(1996-1997). While the group was successful in overthrowing the Mobutu dictatorship, the alliance fell apart after Kabila and his Uganda
n and Rwanda
n backers turned on each other, marking the beginning of the Second Congo War
on August 2, 1998.
The alliance is also frequently called by its original French
name, Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre (AFDL).
, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hutu
s had fled across the border into Zaire where they settled in large refugee
camps. Many of those responsible for the genocide
, the former Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) and interahamwe
militia, used the anonymity offered by the camps to reorganize into the rebel Rassemblement pour le Retour et la Démocratie au Rwanda (RDR). The RDR began to use the camps as bases to infiltrate back across the border and conduct an insurgency
. Despite protests by the Rwanda
n government, the Zairean government and international organizations providing humanitarian aid to the camps were unwilling to remove the militants from the refugee population.
At the same time, the position of the Banyamulenge
minority, ethnic Tutsi
s who had lived in Zaire for generations, was growing precarious. They had long been discriminated against for being relative newcomers to the region and having a different language and culture than neighboring tribes, part of Mobutu Sese Seko
's strategy of encouraging a low level of internal discord in the country so an alliance would not form against him. The arrival of large numbers of Hutus, many of them militant Hutus who carried out attacks on Banyamulenge targets, had substantially upset what equilibrium existed. The Rwandan government also saw the Banyamulenge as natural allies and had quietly armed and trained a substantial force in anticipation of what it felt to be an unstable situation.
town of Bukavu
proclaimed that the Banyamulenge were no longer welcome and would have to leave the country. In response, the Banyamulenge began an uprising against the local government. However, what was initially characterized as a tribal war quickly turned into something more. With support from the Rwandan government, the Banyamulenge managed to fend off an attack by the Zairean army. The rising tension between Rwanda and Zaire then led to an exchange of mortar fire over Lake Kivu
between the two nations' armed forces. This violence involving the Banyamulenge in September-October 1996 is seen as the beginning of the First Congo War
.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Laurent-Désiré Kabila
, a former Marxist
rebel who had spent most of the previous decade selling gold in Tanzania
, appeared as head of his old rebel group, the Party of the Peoples' Revolution, which had been defunct. In a remarkably short period of time, Kabila found himself head of the new AFDL, which also included the National Council of Resistance for Democracy (CNRD) led by André Kissasse Ngandu, the Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MRLZ) led by Anselme Masusu Nindaga, and the Democratic Alliance of the People (ADP), led by Déogratias Bugera, often known as 'Douglas'. On 18 October, a North Kivu Tutsi, Déogratias Bugera, became the first general-secretary of the organization.
There has been much speculation about foreign involvement in facilitating the creation of the ADFL. Most of it swirls around Rwandan President Paul Kagame
and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni
, both of whom knew Kabila very well. (Kabila had been introduced to Kagame and Museveni by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere
, president of Tanzania. After an initial period of denial, since 1997 both Rwanda and Uganda have openly acknowledged the role they played in the formation of the AFDL and its military success. Uganda and Rwanda quickly threw the weight of their support behind the AFDL and sent forces across the Zairean border. Burundi
, Angola
, the rebels of southern Sudan, and the security forces of the province of Katanga
, all of which had long standing grievances with the Mobutu government, especially his sponsoring of foreign rebel groups to destabilize neighboring countries, also proved to be important backers of the ADFL.
, reached 500,000 inhabitants, which is completely unmanageable by humanitarian organizations. However, in fierce fighting in mid-November the Zairean government forces and RDR were either destroyed or forced out of the provinces of North and South Kivu. The Hutu refugees then split, about 800,000 fleeing back into Rwanda and several hundred thousand moving west into the Zairean jungles where many died of starvation and exposure to the elements or fell victim to attacks by various armed parties.
While Kabila, due to his international contacts and ability to speak multiple language, was clearly the AFDL spokesperson, there was some question about who was the ultimate leader. André Kisase Ngandu, an elder insurgent with revolutionary credentials, was the president of the AFDL's military wing, the National Resistance Council (CNRD). This internal tension between the two men was resolved on 4 January 1997, when Ngandu died under mysterious circumstances in North Kivu. Kabila thereafter appointed himself president of the CNRD as well as retaining his position as spokesperson and head of the political wing.
Once the Kivus were secured the remainder of the First Congo War consisted for the most part of the ADFL and its allies walking and driving across the country to Kinshasa
. The population proved to have a deep antipathy towards President Mobutu Sese Seko
after decades of corruption and despotism. Most of the demoralized soldiers in the national army either deserted, or joined the ADFL. Men from villages and towns throughout the country spontaneously joined the ADFL's advance. On 17 May 1997, seven months after the rebellion began and a day after Mobutu fled the country, the ADFL marched into Kinshasa and Kabila declared himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. The ADFL then became the new national armed forces.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
dissidents, disgruntled minority groups and nations that toppled President Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
and brought Laurent Kabila to power in the First Congo War
First Congo War
The First Congo War was a revolution in Zaire that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko, a decades-long dictator, with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Destabilization in eastern Zaire that resulted from the Rwandan genocide was the final factor that caused numerous internal and external actors...
(1996-1997). While the group was successful in overthrowing the Mobutu dictatorship, the alliance fell apart after Kabila and his Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
n and Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
n backers turned on each other, marking the beginning of the Second Congo War
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
on August 2, 1998.
The alliance is also frequently called by its original French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
name, Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre (AFDL).
Background
By the middle of 1996, the situation in eastern Zaire was simmering with tension. Following the 1994 Rwandan GenocideRwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
s had fled across the border into Zaire where they settled in large refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
camps. Many of those responsible for the genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, the former Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) and interahamwe
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe is a Hutu paramilitary organization. The militia enjoyed the backing of the Hutu-led government leading up to, during, and after the Rwandan Genocide. Since the genocide, they have been forced out of Rwanda, and have sought asylum in Congo...
militia, used the anonymity offered by the camps to reorganize into the rebel Rassemblement pour le Retour et la Démocratie au Rwanda (RDR). The RDR began to use the camps as bases to infiltrate back across the border and conduct an insurgency
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
. Despite protests by the Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
n government, the Zairean government and international organizations providing humanitarian aid to the camps were unwilling to remove the militants from the refugee population.
At the same time, the position of the Banyamulenge
Banyamulenge
The Banyamulenge is a term historically describing the ethnic Tutsi Rwandans concentrated on the High Plateau of South Kivu, in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , close to the Burundi-Congo-Rwanda border...
minority, ethnic Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
s who had lived in Zaire for generations, was growing precarious. They had long been discriminated against for being relative newcomers to the region and having a different language and culture than neighboring tribes, part of Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
's strategy of encouraging a low level of internal discord in the country so an alliance would not form against him. The arrival of large numbers of Hutus, many of them militant Hutus who carried out attacks on Banyamulenge targets, had substantially upset what equilibrium existed. The Rwandan government also saw the Banyamulenge as natural allies and had quietly armed and trained a substantial force in anticipation of what it felt to be an unstable situation.
Formation of the ADFL
On 7 October 1996, the vice-governor based in the KivuKivu
Kivu was the name for a large "Region" in the Democratic Republic of Congo under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko that bordered Lake Kivu. It included three "Sub-Regions" : Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Maniema, corresponding to the three current provinces created in 1986...
town of Bukavu
Bukavu
Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo , lying at the extreme south-eastern extent of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the Sud-Kivu province and as of 2009 it had an estimated population of...
proclaimed that the Banyamulenge were no longer welcome and would have to leave the country. In response, the Banyamulenge began an uprising against the local government. However, what was initially characterized as a tribal war quickly turned into something more. With support from the Rwandan government, the Banyamulenge managed to fend off an attack by the Zairean army. The rising tension between Rwanda and Zaire then led to an exchange of mortar fire over Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, a part of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika...
between the two nations' armed forces. This violence involving the Banyamulenge in September-October 1996 is seen as the beginning of the First Congo War
First Congo War
The First Congo War was a revolution in Zaire that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko, a decades-long dictator, with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Destabilization in eastern Zaire that resulted from the Rwandan genocide was the final factor that caused numerous internal and external actors...
.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila was President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from May 17, 1997, when he overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko, until his assassination by his bodyguards on January 18, 2001...
, a former Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
rebel who had spent most of the previous decade selling gold in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, appeared as head of his old rebel group, the Party of the Peoples' Revolution, which had been defunct. In a remarkably short period of time, Kabila found himself head of the new AFDL, which also included the National Council of Resistance for Democracy (CNRD) led by André Kissasse Ngandu, the Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MRLZ) led by Anselme Masusu Nindaga, and the Democratic Alliance of the People (ADP), led by Déogratias Bugera, often known as 'Douglas'. On 18 October, a North Kivu Tutsi, Déogratias Bugera, became the first general-secretary of the organization.
There has been much speculation about foreign involvement in facilitating the creation of the ADFL. Most of it swirls around Rwandan President Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Rwanda. He rose to prominence as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front , whose victory over the incumbent government in July 1994 effectively ended the Rwandan genocide...
and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a Ugandan politician and statesman. He has been President of Uganda since 26 January 1986.Museveni was involved in the war that deposed Idi Amin Dada, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...
, both of whom knew Kabila very well. (Kabila had been introduced to Kagame and Museveni by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
, president of Tanzania. After an initial period of denial, since 1997 both Rwanda and Uganda have openly acknowledged the role they played in the formation of the AFDL and its military success. Uganda and Rwanda quickly threw the weight of their support behind the AFDL and sent forces across the Zairean border. Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, the rebels of southern Sudan, and the security forces of the province of Katanga
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
, all of which had long standing grievances with the Mobutu government, especially his sponsoring of foreign rebel groups to destabilize neighboring countries, also proved to be important backers of the ADFL.
The course of the war
One of the first actions of the ADFL after it began to capture towns along the Zairean border was the dispersal of the large Hutu refugee camps that were offering safe haven to many RDR militants, an act humanitarian and human rights organizations fiercely criticized. As each camp was destroyed, the refugees fled to the next, creating camps with massive populations. One camp at Mugungu, north of Lake KivuLake Kivu
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, a part of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika...
, reached 500,000 inhabitants, which is completely unmanageable by humanitarian organizations. However, in fierce fighting in mid-November the Zairean government forces and RDR were either destroyed or forced out of the provinces of North and South Kivu. The Hutu refugees then split, about 800,000 fleeing back into Rwanda and several hundred thousand moving west into the Zairean jungles where many died of starvation and exposure to the elements or fell victim to attacks by various armed parties.
While Kabila, due to his international contacts and ability to speak multiple language, was clearly the AFDL spokesperson, there was some question about who was the ultimate leader. André Kisase Ngandu, an elder insurgent with revolutionary credentials, was the president of the AFDL's military wing, the National Resistance Council (CNRD). This internal tension between the two men was resolved on 4 January 1997, when Ngandu died under mysterious circumstances in North Kivu. Kabila thereafter appointed himself president of the CNRD as well as retaining his position as spokesperson and head of the political wing.
Once the Kivus were secured the remainder of the First Congo War consisted for the most part of the ADFL and its allies walking and driving across the country to Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
. The population proved to have a deep antipathy towards President Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
after decades of corruption and despotism. Most of the demoralized soldiers in the national army either deserted, or joined the ADFL. Men from villages and towns throughout the country spontaneously joined the ADFL's advance. On 17 May 1997, seven months after the rebellion began and a day after Mobutu fled the country, the ADFL marched into Kinshasa and Kabila declared himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. The ADFL then became the new national armed forces.
External links
- What Kabila is Hiding: Civilian Killings and Impunity in Congo, Report by Human Rights Watch, October 1997
- Congo backgrounder by Socialism Today - left wing perspective