Group items tagged

This article is about war-torn areas in general, although they do mention the DRC specifically through their population displacement and the effects of war on women. This article was pretty short, but it really supplied the message that Africa is still dealing with the past and current effects of war and will continue to be for some time to come.

This article describes the war and rape going on in the DRC and states that people unknowingly support this when they use their cell phones. this directly links to this activity because it restates what "Commentary: Stop the 'Vampires' in the Congo" describes.

This article describes the inspiring story of a group of people in DRC that overcame poverty, violence, racial discrimination, and noisy environments to become the first all-black symphony orchestra. The hardships that the group overcame relate to our discussion by demonstrating the struggles that people must go through to live in the war-torn environment of DRC.

This article explained how twelve civilians were killed in a suicide attack on the African Union troops fighting a continuous war against terrorism in Somalia. This article really explains how civilians are the ones paying the price for these brutal attacks.

This article highlights that besides the war, famine is also a huge issue in Somalia right now. The article blames the poverty cause by the drought on Somalia's unstable government which has not been stable for many years now. This article actually brought famine to my attention as another major predicament facing Somalia currently.

This article describes and provides photos of the film festival in the DRC that encourages youth expression through the arts and not through violence. This represents the effort being made to overcome past conflicts and current difficulties, to make the youth more able to lead the country in the future. This relates to the articles we read because it shows the positive development that has occurred since the civil war. Furthermore, it provides perspective into the culture of the DRC.

This article tells of celebrity Jude Law's experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The article describes displaced families, lack of resources, lack of funds, and hostile environments. All of the things that Law witnessed are due to the war that is currently taking place in the DRC, which relates to our studies because we studied how the war has effected the DRC by listening to an NPR recording that detailed conditions much the same to Law's descriptions.

Up to 5 million people have died in DRC during two decades of violence which followed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Now people are fleeing from the DRC to get to safety. A large part of this is because the government is very corrupt. This is like the first article from Part F because the DRC was usually a violent place.

This article is about the trial of an army officer who lead attacks on many villages in the DRC. He is accused of leading mass murder, rape, kidnapping and sexual violence. This relates to the activity because it shows rape being used as a weapon of war.

This article describes how legislation that was meant to keep companies from buying minerals from armed groups actually harms honest miners. The legislation requires that companies track where their supply chains get their minerals to ensure that business is not going to armed groups. However, since small-business miners are hard to track, most companies now do not support these miners. What happens instead is that armed groups smuggle the minerals out of the Congo and sell it to those companies anyway, so this legislation actually helps them more than it hurts them. This relates to Part F since it discusses the armed groups' control over the minerals in the Congo.

This article discusses new legislation in the DRC saying that mining firms need to track their supply chain. It discusses the flaws in this law because not only does it hurt small mining firms, but also creates a source of funding for rebel groups. This relates to the activity because it discusses the presence of rebel groups around mining area since the start of the civil war.

This article discusses the story of one man who was convicted for child rape and abuse by putting them into war. But, like in the articles that we read, he most likely bribed the judge for a less harsh sentence. Originally he was supposed to serve 12+ but instead he was partially forgiven and will serve slightly less than 6 years. My thought would be that he bribed the judge in order to receive a reduced sentence, which just goes to show how corrupt the system truly is that he can do such horrible things but weasel his way out of it with money. 

This article describes the return of 500 Angolans from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Angolans arrived in the DRC as refugees of civil war in their home country, which was also described in the NPR recording that we listened to in our study of the DRC.

This article talks about how Somalia could see another famine as the U.S. fights against the Shabab. This is directly connect to one of the issues in the activity because of how the U.S. can affect the civilians in Somalia. If the U.S. chose to not take action, the Shabab would be able to exploit the oil fields which would give them tremendous wealth and power.

This article describes what Congo must do to satisfy the UN-arranged peace accord, naming Rwanda refugees and delayed reforms as the barriers to achieving this. This realtes to the NPR report on the continuing violence of the civil war, and coincides with the idea that peace agreements are not always obeyed. This article also describes recent protests by citizens who want to change the constitution so leader Joseph Kabila can remain in power. This relates to the description of Kabila's leadership in the database article.

In this article, it describes how the DRC is trying to change to accept the new peace deal that they are in with 10 other African countries. There have been a lot of delays from Kinshasa because of legal issues. There have also been protests against Kabila and his overwhelming victory in the latest elections. This refers to the first article of Part F because the DRC had always had governmental problems n the past.

This article describes what the DRC needs to do to follow the peace accord. It also tells of how rape and murder go on without any punishment from the government, and many people in the militaries have been committing many crimes such as rape during these harsh times.

This article gives information about one of the rebel groups and their concerns. The rebel group wants assurance from the government that the territory that the rebel group controls will protect the citizens from the FDLR. If they agree, all 2,800 members will hand over their weapons. This relates to the articles because because it shows distrust in the government from rebel groups and that the citizens still need protection and the government doesn't always supply it.

The article in question states that a certain rebel group (MMK) are merely trying to defend themselves and the civilians in the areas that they control, and that they will not turn over their weapons unless the government makes assurances that civilians will be protected. This relates to our discussion because it shows that rebels have more power than the central government in certain areas, and that rebellions are sometimes needed to secure liberty.

This article details a rebel group in Congo-Kinshasa who formed because they were threatened by rebel forces from Rwanda. The government has asked the group to hand over all weapons in order to restore peace to the Congo. This relates to the activity because the Congo is currently trying to restore itself to a state of peace and order after years of bad leaders and the civil war.

Although South Africa is developing quickly and may be Africa's most advanced country, the youth unemployment rate has drastically soared to about 36%. Many people believe that the youth unemployment statistic is more accurately 50%. In addition, the brand new parliament in this nation is at "war with itself," in that there is a disagreement in socialist and capitalist views. Some believe that the new method will not work or pay off and the country should return to the previous socialist system.