Language/French/Culture/Congo–Brazzaville-Timeline

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Historical Timeline for Congo – Brazzaville - A chronology of key events
Congo-Brazzaville-Timeline-PolyglotClub.png

1882[edit | edit source]

The region becomes a Belgian colony under the reign of Leopold II. The colony is the personal property of the sovereign. The country will take the name of Belgian Congo in 1908.

1960[edit | edit source]

  • June: independence, under the name of Republic of Congo. Tensions quickly appear between President Joseph Kasa-Vubu, a supporter of federalism, and his Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, in favor of centralization.
  • July: attempted secession in Katanga led by Moïse Tshombé. This one is supported by Western mercenaries. South Kasai proclaimed itself independent in August. The country is balkanizing.
  • September: for lack of Western support, Lumumba turns to Moscow. He is dismissed by the president but obtains the support of the parliament. Colonel Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, Chief of Staff, suspends the institutions and installs a college of commissioners general in power. Patrice Lumumba is placed under house arrest.

1961[edit | edit source]

Arrested on Mobutu's order in December, Patrice Lumumba was assassinated by Tshombe's troops on January 17. A violent repression fell on his supporters. Mobutu restores the power of Kasa-Vubu.

1963[edit | edit source]

End of the Katangese secession.

1965[edit | edit source]

new coup d'etat by Mobutu. He will be proclaimed President of the Republic two months later. Etienne Tshisekedi, future leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), is Minister of the Interior.

1970[edit | edit source]

establishment of a one-party regime, the Popular Revolutionary Movement.

1971[edit | edit source]

Mobutu launches a campaign to return to African values. The country takes the name of Zaire.

1977[edit | edit source]

Shaba (ex-Katanga) war triggered by an attempt at secession.

1978[edit | edit source]

second Shaba war. Intervention of French troops in Kolwezi.

1990[edit | edit source]

deterioration of the economy. Student demonstrations are severely repressed in Lubumbashi. Formal authorization of the multiparty system.

1991[edit | edit source]

a National Conference is responsible for organizing the democratic transition. Violent riots, followed by looting, broke out in the capital. France and Belgium distance themselves from Mobutu, and evacuate their nationals.

1992[edit | edit source]

the National Conference appoints Etienne Tshisekedi as Prime Minister. Collapse of the economy.

1993[edit | edit source]

Tshisekedi is dismissed by Mobutu. Wave of inter-ethnic violence in Kivu, a border province with Rwanda, and in Shaba (ex-Katanga). Political confusion; two power structures, pro and anti-Mobutu, coexist.

1994[edit | edit source]

in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, more than a million Hutus from this country took refuge in eastern Zaire, fleeing the advance of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (mostly Tutsi) which took power in Kigali.

1996[edit | edit source]

  • August-September: fighting breaks out in Kivu between the Zairian army and Banyamulenge, Congolese Tutsi of Rwandan origin, supported by the army of Kigali.
  • October: birth of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila and sponsored by Uganda and Rwanda.
  • November: The rebels take Goma and Bukavu, throwing hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees onto the roads.

1997[edit | edit source]

  • February: the rebellion conquers Katanga.
  • March: fall of Kisangani. Mobutu, recovering in France, returns to Kinshasa.
  • May: the 16th, Mobutu flees Kinshasa. The next day, the rebels enter the capital. Zaire is renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The activities of political parties are suspended. Laurent-Désiré Kabila takes practically all the powers.
  • September: more than 2,000 people have been killed since July in Kivu during clashes between soldiers and Mayi-Mayi militias.

1998[edit | edit source]

  • June: A UN report claims that Kabila's forces committed numerous massacres in 1996/97 against Rwandan Hutu refugees in ex-Zaire.
  • August: Uganda and Rwanda support a Banyamulenge rebellion movement in Kivu. On the 16th, the rebellion announced the creation of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) .The conflict immediately turned into a regional war, bringing together two coalitions: on the one hand, the rebel factions supported by Rwanda and Uganda, who compete for control of two-thirds of the country, on the other the government forces of Kinshasa, supported by Angola and Zimbabwe.

1999[edit | edit source]

  • May 17: split within the RCD, with one party now supported by Rwanda and the other by Uganda, which supports another rebel movement, the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC).
  • July: a ceasefire agreement is signed in Lusaka by Kinshasa and its allies, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, as well as by Uganda and Rwanda who support the rebellion. The agreement was ratified in August by the three rebel movements. It never came into effect. Jean-Pierre Bemba's Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) takes control of Gbadolite. He made Mobutu's former stronghold the "capital" ofterritories it controls.

2000[edit | edit source]

  • February: the UN approves the dispatch of 5,500 men (500 observers and 5,000 peacekeepers) to ensure that a ceasefire is respected. In June, the Security Council approved a resolution ordering the withdrawal of all foreign forces, but without setting a deadline for these departures.
  • May: According to Amnesty International, thousands of civilians have been killed, tortured and disappeared in the DRC, where both government forces and the armed opposition are accused of massive human rights violations.

2001[edit | edit source]

  • January 16: Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his bodyguards. The next day, the direction of the government and the military high command were entrusted to Major General Joseph Kabila, his son.
  • February 15: relaunch of the peace process at a summit in Lusaka (Zambia) with the announcement of a timetable for the deployment of UN observers in the DRC.
  • March 29: The United Nations Observation Mission (MONUC) deploys a first contingent in the east, in rebel territory, then on April 4, in the government zone.
  • April 16: The UN calls for the establishment of sanctions against the rebels and the foreign countries which support them, in order to stop the plundering of local natural resources.
  • August: interethnic clashes in Ituri (northeast).
  • November - The MLC withdraws from Bunia, capital of Ituri.
  • October 13: opening, in Addis Ababa, of the inter-Congolese dialogue for national reconciliation, during which the government, opposition, rebels and civil society must discuss a future sharing of power. This is immediately interrupted for lack of agreement on the number of representatives.
  • December 9: the belligerents meeting in Abuja (Nigeria), conclude an agreement on the participants in the inter-Congolese dialogue which is to resume in February in South Africa.

2002[edit | edit source]

  • February 25-April 19: inter-Congolese dialogue in Sun City (South Africa), leading to a partial power-sharing agreement, never implemented.
  • July 30: the DRC and Rwanda sign a peace agreement providing for the disarmament of the Interahamwe extremists and the ex-FAR (former Rwandan army), then their repatriation to Rwanda, in exchange for a withdrawal of Rwandan troops.
  • September: the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) led by Thomas Lubanga, supported by Uganda, takes control of Bunia (Ituri).
  • October 5: Rwanda officially repatriates the last soldier in its contingent.
  • December 17: signing in Pretoria of a peace agreement, which should lead the Congo, under the supervision of a transitional government for two years, to general elections.

2003[edit | edit source]

  • January: MONUC reports human rights violations, including rape and cannibalism, in Ituri and North Kivu by MLC and RCD-N rebels (Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie - National, dissidence de la main Congolese rebellion, the RCD).
  • March: The Ugandan army drives the UPC out of Bunia.
  • March 18: several politico-military movements sign a ceasefire agreement for Ituri, with the exception of the UPC.
  • April 2: after 19 months of negotiations, the delegates of the inter-Congolese dialogue sign the final act of their work in Sun City.
  • End of April: start of the withdrawal of Ugandan troops from Ituri. Interethnic clashes resume in Bunia, capital of Ituri.
  • May 12: the UPC takes over the town of Bunia. France announces that it is "ready" to send a military contingent to Ituri under the auspices of the UN.
  • May 16: The leaders of five Ituri militias in Dar es Salaam commit to respecting the March 18 ceasefire.
  • June 30: appointment of a government of national unity for the transition.
  • Deployment of a French force mandated by the UN in Ituri.
  • July 12: the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) announces the end of the war against Kinshasa.
  • August 22: Installation of a transitional Parliament.

2004[edit | edit source]

  • May 16: appointment of the governors of the 11 provinces.
  • 2-9 June: the town of Bukavu (South Kivu) is briefly occupied by dissident soldiers. President Kabila accuses Rwanda.
  • June 11: coup attempt led by soldiers of the presidential guard.
  • August 13: massacre of more than 150 people in a Congolese Tutsi refugee camp in Burundi, near the Congolese border. Congolese Mai-Mai militiamen and Rwandan Hutu extremists, based in the DRC, are believed to be implicated.
  • October 1: a UN resolution increases MONUC's strength and broadens its mandate.
  • December: heavy fighting in North Kivu, between the army and pro-Rwandan Tutsi mutineers.

2005[edit | edit source]

  • May 13: adoption of a new constitution by Parliament. It establishes a semi-presidential regime in a highly decentralized unitary state comprising 26 provinces instead of eleven.
  • July: MONUC launches operations in South Kivu to neutralize the various rebel factions which terrorize civilians in this area.
  • December 18: the Congolese vote more80% for the draft Constitution submitted to referendum.
  • December 28: 86 Ugandan rebels, six Congolese soldiers and a peacekeeper are killed during an offensive against Ugandan rebels in North Kivu.

2006[edit | edit source]

  • January 23: Eight peacekeepers are killed in Ituri during a clash with Ugandan rebels. Since the creation of MONUC in 1999, 28 peacekeepers have been victims of the rebels.
  • February 13: a conference is organized in Brussels under the aegis of the UN to initiate a new humanitarian effort in favor of the Congo.
  • March 20: opening of the trial of militia leader Thomas Lubanga by the International Criminal Court, for having enrolled children.
  • April 25: A UN resolution authorizes the deployment of EUFOR RDCongo, a European Union operation made up of a force of 2,000 men to support the 17,000 MONUC soldiers, responsible for ensuring security during and after the elections.
  • May-June: the army and MONUC launch an offensive in Ituri against militiamen of the Congolese Revolutionary Movement (MRC) who are fueling terror in the region.
  • July 30: first round of legislative and presidential elections. Joseph Kabila obtains 44.8% of the votes ahead of Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba (20%), in the first democratic election for 40 years.
  • October 29: Joseph Kabila wins the second round of the presidential election with 58% of the votes against 42% for Jean-Pierre Bemba.

2007[edit | edit source]

  • March: opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba's refusal to separate from his personal guard provokes violent fighting in Kinshasa, leaving around sixty dead.
  • April: Jean-Pierre Bemba leaves the residence of the South African ambassador in Kinshasa where he had taken refuge in March. He is fleeing to Europe.
  • May: Pakistani peacekeepers are accused of trafficking in gold and arms in Ituri.
  • May 28: massacre of 18 civilians in South Kivu. The Archbishop of Bukavu, Mgr François-Xavier Maroy Rusengo, warns a few days after that "the elements are apparently reunited for a new war in South Kivu". He denounces a Congolese army "incapable of defending the population" against the atrocities of the militias.
  • June: murder of a journalist from Radio Okapi, the third journalist killed since 2005.
  • End of August: start of clashes in North Kivu between the regular army and insurgent soldiers rallied to Tutsi warlord Laurent Nkunda, deposed general of the Congolese army, supported by Rwanda. The fighting leads to the departure of thousands of refugees.

2008[edit | edit source]

  • January: a peace conference is organized to end the fighting in North and South Kivu. A peace agreement is signed providing for General Nkunda's fighters to withdraw from their positions in the east of the country.
  • May 24: Jean-Pierre Bemba is arrested in Belgium on a mandate from the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as part of the investigation into crimes committed in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003.
  • August: resumption of clashes in the
  • North Kivu.
  • October-November: a vast offensive by the rebellion of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) led by Laurent Nkunda in North Kivu routs the national army and causes the exodus of 250,000 refugees.
  • December 5: in a spectacular reversal of alliance, the DRC and Rwanda sign in Kigali an agreement for the disarmament of the Rwandan Hutu militias of the FDLR, based in the east of the country since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
  • December 8: negotiations between the government and CNDP rebels led by Laurent Nkunda, in Nairobi, in the presence of United Nations and African Union mediators.
  • December 14: Sudanese, Congolese and Ugandan soldiers launch a joint military operation in northeastern DRC against rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebellion movement, author of countless massacres, in Uganda and in Congo.
  • December 22: the Security Council authorizes the sending of 3,000 additional people to reinforce MONUC (which has 17,000 men).

2009[edit | edit source]

  • January 5: a group of CNDP officers led by Bosco Ntaganda (wanted by the International Criminal Court) claims to have dismissed Laurent Nkunda from his post for "bad governance".
  • January 16: Bosco Ntaganda announces the signing of a ceasefire between the CNDP and the Congolese government.
  • January 20: More than 3,000 Rwandan soldiers enter Congo. The armies of Congo and Rwanda are jointly attacking the rear bases of the Rwandan Hutu militias installed in the east of the country.
  • January 22: Laurent Nkunda is arrested by the Rwandan authorities and placed under house arrest in the border town of Gisenyi.
  • August 6: resumption of relations between the DRC and Rwanda, interrupted since the entry of Rwandan troops into Congolese territory in August 1998.
  • August 10: visit by Hilary Clinton. She pledges $ 17 million in aid to help fight sexual violence.
  • Octobre: a senatorial report denounces the looting of mineral wealth.
  • November 24: opening of the trial of two militia leaders, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo, before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, for a massacre committed in the village of Bogoro (Ituri), in February 2003.

2010[edit | edit source]

  • January: baptized "Amani Leo", a new military operation is launched in the east of the country in an attempt to liberate areas controlled by Rwandan Hutu militiamen.
  • June 6: the government announces the arrest of several police officers and the suspension of its director, General John Numbi, after the murder of Floribert Chebeya, president of the NGO La Voix des sans-voix, a human rights activist. man, murdered earlier this month.
  • July-August: the UN denounces mass rapes in North Kivu committed by rebels of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) and Mayi-Mayi militias.
  • October: publication of a UN report on the crimes committed in the DRC between 1993 and 2003. Tens of thousands of people were killed and many other victims of abuses, between the fall of Mobutu and the five years of 'an armed conflict that has involved some twenty Congolese armed groups and the military forces of at least eight neighboring countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Angola. According to the report, all militias have used rape as a weapon against civilians and at least 30,000 children have been recruited, often by force.
  • November: opening of the trial of former vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

2011[edit | edit source]

  • January: The constitution is revised to allow the election of the president by simple majority in a single-round ballot.
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Kibibi Mutware is sentenced to 20 years in prison for mass rapes in South Kivu.
  • June: UN condemns the rape of more than 150 civilians in the region of Minembwe in South Kivu.
  • November 28: general elections. NGOs express "serious doubts as to the possibility of holding credible, transparent and democratic elections within the official deadlines".

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