Congo Democratic History Republic

The area known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as early as 10,000 years ago and settled in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. by Bantus from present-day Nigeria. Discovered in 1482 by Portuguese navigator Diego Cao and later explored by English journalist Henry Morton Stanley, the area was officially colonized in 1885 as a personal possession of Belgian King Leopold II as the Congo Free State. In 1907, administration shifted to the Belgian Government, which renamed the country the Belgian Congo. Following a series of riots and unrest, the Belgian Congo was granted its independence on June 30, 1960. Parliamentary elections in 1960 produced Patrice Lumumba as prime minister and Joseph Kasavubu as president of the renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... [Read More]

Congo (Brazzaville) (04/05)

The Congo's economy is based primarily on its petroleum sector, which is by far the country's major revenue earner. The Congolese oil sector is dominated by the French oil company TotalFinaElf. In second position is the Italian oil firm Agip. ChevronTexaco (in partnership with TotalFinaElf) is the primary American oil company active in petroleum exploration or production. Murphy Oil has signed a contract but has not begun exploration or production. Congo's oil production is expected to decline over the next 15 years with fields yielding less. However, based on an agreement with Angola signed in 2002 to jointly administer certain Congo-Cabinda border areas, Congo's production could rise if exploration is successful. Murphy Oil signed a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with Congo in 2003 for two deepwater off-shore permits. Congo hopes to offset declining production in other fields with these new PSAs. ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

The owner's initials should also be on all containers. Liftvans are commonly used. Insure automobiles against all possible damage. Route all air shipments to Kinshasa. Customs, Duties, and Passage Customs and DutiesLast Updated:  6/13/2005 3:33 PM All Embassy staff members have free-entry privileges for their HHE, automobiles, and reasonable amounts of goods and liquors if they are shipped with staff members’ effects and received within 6 months of arrival. Free-entry privileges on a regular basis are accorded only to the Ambassador and family. PassageLast ... [Read More]

U.S. Department of State FOIA Electronic Reading Room--Post Reports

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Senegal (06/05)

Senegal has participated in many international and regional peacekeeping missions. Its history of participation in peacekeeping is impressive. Most recently, Senegal provided peacekeeping forces for the ECOWAS mission in Liberia (ECOMIL) as well as the ECOWAS mission in Cote d’Ivoire (ECOMICI), with General P.K. Fall, who is now Chief of Defense of the Senegalese Armed Forces, acting as overall Force Commander. In 2000, Senegal sent a battalion to the Democratic Republic of Congo to participate in MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission, and agreed to deploy a U.S.-trained battalion to Sierra Leone to participate in UNAMSIL, another UN peacekeeping mission. A Senegalese contingent was deployed on a peacekeeping mission to the Central African Republic in 1997, and in 1994, Senegal sent a battalion-sized force to Rwanda to participate in the UN peacekeeping mission there. In 1992 Senegal sent 1,500 men to the ECOMOG peacekeeping group in Liberia, and in 1991, it was the only Sub-Saharan natio ... [Read More]

Central African Republic (06/05)

Political parties: Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ADP), Central African Democratic Assembly (RDC), Civic Forum (FC), Democratic Forum (FODEM), Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), Movement for Democracy and Development (MDD), Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC), Patriotic Front for Progress (FPP), People's Union for the Republic (UPR), National Unity Party (PUN), and Social Democratic Party (PSD). ...

Under military restructuring plans formulated 1999-2000, the civilian Minister of Defense controlled and directed all armed forces, including the Presidential Security Unit (UPS), which had previously been seen as a militia supporting the president. In April 2001, the C.A.R. armed forces numbered about 3,000, including army, navy, air force, gendarmerie, national police, Presidential Security Unit, and local police personnel. An estimated 1,200 members of the army and gendarmerie fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the failed coup attempt of May 2001. ... [Read More]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes Region of Africa

The DDR process will be a difficult one. In order for MONUC to reach those rebels desiring repatriation, secure conditions must exist in eastern Congo. The present continuing violence is both an obstacle to DDR and a source of continuing acute humanitarian need. Presently, there are reports of continuing violence among various Congolese rebel groups including the Congolese Rally for Democracy – Goma faction (RCD-G); the Movement for Congolese Liberation (MLC); the Congolese Rally for Democracy – Nationale (RCD-N); the Congolese Rally for Democracy – Liberation Movement (RCD-ML); the Mai Mai; and other ethnic Congolese militias. We continue to impress upon all parties, particularly the Kabila government, the RCD-G, and Rwanda, the need to stop supporting militias and to avoid further military aggression in eastern Congo. ... [Read More]

Rewards for Justice: Fugitives From the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

All these fugitives have been indicted for genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the Geneva Convention and continue to play a destructive role. We are determined to find these fugitives. I am pleased that President Kabila has given his personal assurance to pursue these individuals as an effort to bring peace, justice and improve the lives of his citizens. Their apprehension, however, will require a broad effort on behalf of the international community, the regional governments, and the citizens of the Congo. We urge all governments in the region – the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Central African Republic, Zambia, Gabon – to join us in this campaign. We ask the citizens of the Congo, anyone and everyone who possesses knowledge as to the whereabouts of those wanted, to come forward to help their country. In order to truly secure peace, the people of the Congo must do their part. We have set up a special task force here in Kinshasa. We ask anyone who knows of the whe ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

The Democratic Republic of the Congo straddles the equator in the heart of central Africa and shares a border with nine other countries: the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola. Congo has access to the Atlantic Ocean on the west through a strip of territory that narrows to 13 miles wide at the coast. Its area includes the greater part of the Congo River Basin and covers 1,465,553 square miles-about the size of the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. ... [Read More]