A New Congo Crisis?

By

Sarah Van Beurden

Return to Article

A map of Africa with the Democratic Republic of Congo highlighted.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo

A map of Africa with the Democratic Republic of Congo highlighted.

Ruandese workers at a copper mine.

Belgian Congo Miners

Ruandese workers at a copper mine in the Belgian Congo in the late 1920s.

A 2015 map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with provinces and adjoining countries.

Democratic Republic of the Congo Map

A 2015 map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with provinces and adjoining countries.

A miner working in 1942.

Katanga Miner

A miner working in 1942, the year after colonial authorities killed 15 striking workers.

Workers outside a mineshaft in Belgian Congo.

Belgian Congo Mineshaft

Workers outside a mineshaft in Belgian Congo ca. 1900-1915.

A 2014 aerial view of Congolese coltan mines.

Coltan Mine

A 2014 aerial view of Congolese coltan mines—a mineral used in many electronic devices like mobile phones.

Workers in a wolframite and casserite mine in the Congo.

Wolframite and Casserite Mining

Workers in a wolframite and casserite mine in the Congo in 2007.

A map of the Congo Free State.

Carte du Congo Belge

A map of the Congo Free State created sometime after 1920.

A 1906 map showing revenue divisions in the Congo Free State with crosses marking the locations of documented atrocities.

Revenue Divisions Map

A 1906 map showing revenue divisions in the Congo Free State with crosses marking the locations of documented atrocities.

An 1885 map from H.M. Stanley’s book.

Political Divisions of the Congo Basin

An 1885 map from H.M. Stanley’s book, The Congo and the Founding of its Free State; A Story of Work and Exploration.

A 1906 political cartoon depicting King Leopold II of Belgium as a snake.

In the Rubber Coils

A 1906 political cartoon depicting King Leopold II of Belgium as a snake entangling a Congolese rubber collector.

Pictures taken by British missionary Alice Seeley Harris in 1904.

Mutilated Congolese Children and Adults

Pictures taken by British missionary Alice Seeley Harris in 1904 in support of the campaign against the abuses of the rubber exploitation in Leopold's Congo. Shown here as reproduced in Mark Twain's 1905 "King Leopold's Soliloquy."

A Union Minière du Haut Katanga ore processing plant.

Ore Processing Plant

A Union Minière du Haut Katanga ore processing plant in 1917.

A photo taken by missionaries of a father who had brought his five-year-old daughter's severed foot and hand to them.

Dismembered Foot and Hand

A photo taken by missionaries of a father who had brought his five-year-old daughter's severed foot and hand to them after Belgian soldiers dismembered her in 1904.

Unilever Logo

The logo for Unilever, a transnational consumer goods company based in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

A 1905 caricature of King Leopold II with his earnings.

Leopold II and his Guineas

A 1905 caricature of King Leopold II with his earnings from the Congo Free State and exploited workers in the background.

Future Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba showing the injuries to his wrists.

Patrice Lumumba

Future Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba showing the injuries to his wrists from shackles after being imprisoned in 1960.

Patrice Lumumba and his cabinet.

Lumumba and Cabinet

Patrice Lumumba and his cabinet immediately following his swearing-in ceremony in 1960.

Joseph-Désiré Mobutu and Dutch Prince Bernhard.

Mobutu and Bernhard

Joseph-Désiré Mobutu and Dutch Prince Bernhard in 1973.

Joseph-Désiré Mobutu and President Richard Nixon.

Mobutu and Nixon

Joseph-Désiré Mobutu and President Richard Nixon in Washington, D.C. in 1973.

A political badge with the image of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu.

Mobutu Badge

A political badge with the image of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu from the 1980s.

A shirt with Joseph-Désiré Mobutu’s portrait.

Mobutu Shirt

A shirt with Joseph-Désiré Mobutu’s portrait printed on it.

Zairian currency from the 1970s.

Cinq Zaires

Zairian currency from the 1970s

A bust of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

Laurent-Désiré Kabila Bust

A bust of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

President Joseph Kabila.

President Joseph Kabila

President Joseph Kabila in 2003.

Congolese soldiers in 2001.

Congolese Soldiers

Congolese soldiers in 2001 during U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf’s visit.

Former child soldiers.

Former Child Soldiers

Former child soldiers in Congo in the early 2000s.

A map of the participants in the 'Great War of Africa.'

Second Congo War

A map of the participants in the “Great War of Africa.”

Artisan miners in the Congo.

Wollframite and Casserite Mines

Artisan miners in the Congo, including children helping their parents, in the mid-2000s.

A meeting for rape victims.

Victims of Sexual Violence

A meeting for rape victims where women receive counseling, training, and employment from the United States Agency for International Development.

Congolese women speaking with the International Rescue Committee’s gender-based violence program coordinator.

International Rescue Committee

Congolese women speaking with the International Rescue Committee’s gender-based violence program coordinator in 2010.

United Nations Force Intervention Brigade in 2013.

United Nations Force Intervention Brigade

United Nations Force Intervention Brigade in 2013 during a counteroffensive against M23 rebels.

President George W. Bush meeting with President Joseph Kabila.

Presidents Bush and Kabila

President George W. Bush meeting with President Joseph Kabila in 2007.

International observers and UN Peace Keepers in the Congo.

Congolese Elections

International observers and UN Peace Keepers in the Congo for the 2011 elections.

One of President Mobutu’s palaces in disrepair.

Mobutu Palace

One of President Mobutu’s palaces in disrepair after being ransacked.

Artisanal miners at a Tantalum mine in the Congo.

Artisanal Miners

Artisanal miners at a Tantalum mine in the Congo featured in a 2015 U.S. Government Accountability Office report detailing that most companies were unable to determine the source for their conflict minerals.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley visiting the Congo.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley visiting the Congo in 2017.

A 2009 infographic suggesting a link between heavily mined areas and conflict regions in the Congo.

Coltan Infographic

A 2009 infographic suggesting a link between heavily mined areas and conflict regions in the Congo.

A camp for Congolese refugees in Rwanda.

Refugee Camp

A camp for Congolese refugees in Rwanda in 2012.

A Statue of a Despised Belgian Colonial Aent, Maximillen Balot.

A Statue of a Despised Belgian Colonial Aent, Maximillen Balot

Diviner's Figure Representing Belgian Colonial Officer Maximillen Balot, 1931. Pende Culture (Democratic Republic of Congo) Wood, Height 24 5/8 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; Aldine S. Hartman Endowment Fund. Photo: Travis Fullerton © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

A child working in a Congolese gold mine.

Gold Mine

A child working in a Congolese gold mine in 2009.

A 2016 graph of internal displacement in Africa.

African Displacement Country Trends in 2016

A 2016 graph of internal displacement in Africa from conflict and violence.

Share: