The Democratic Republic of Congo has been embroiled in violent conflict since the start of the First Congo War in 1996, followed by the Second Congo War, which was the deadliest conflict since World War II. Today there is an ongoing political crisis around opposition to the new president, multiple violent conflicts proliferated by over one hundred armed groups across the country, and an Ebola outbreak that has thus far killed almost 2,000 people and is further complicated by attacks on health and other aid workers responding to the crisis. The risk of a new mass killing in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains high, and the Early Warning Project has ranked the country in the top-10 highest-risk countries every year since 2014. Learn about the recent history of instability and conflict, as well as the continued search for justice and accountability.
For more than three decades, inter-ethnic tensions and regional instability have threatened the country’s security.
Our quantitative assessment, from the Early Warning Project, estimates the risk of a new mass killing in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Learn about the role of non-state actors in perpetrating atrocities in countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo