Born as Zaire (renamed in 1997), possessing vast mineral riches and nearly unanimously Christian, the DRC has followed a familiar African pattern: Western colonisation followed by independence, civil war, fragmentation and dictatorship. The current situation, as summed up by Freedom House: “political corruption, weak rule of law, and violence”. For the past two decades, a Uganda-born rebel movement has taken root in eastern DRC, obtaining the support of jihadist organisations. A 2017 United Nations report concluded that the increasingly Islamist rebel movement has been responsible for “widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law”.

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