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136-462: The new province's territory corresponds to most of the historic Sud-Kasaï province which existed in the early period after independence between 1963 and 1966. Kasai-Oriental is inhabited by members of the Luba tribe. Congo obtained independence from Belgium in 1960. Friction with Congo's other ethnic groups and encouragement by Belgian corporations hoping to keep their mining concessions led to

272-498: A second coup d'état against the central government and took personal emergency powers . Once established as the sole source of political power, Mobutu gradually consolidated his control in the Congo. The number of provinces was reduced, and their autonomy curtailed, resulting in a highly centralised state. Mobutu increasingly placed his supporters in the remaining positions of importance. In 1967, to illustrate his legitimacy, he created

408-517: A Polish court was the first legal verdict that mentioned the term, using Lemkin's original definition. According to the legal instrument used to prosecute defeated German leaders at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, atrocity crimes were only prosecutable by international justice if they were committed as part of an illegal war of aggression . The powers prosecuting the trial were unwilling to restrict

544-479: A bicameral legislature, with a lower chamber composed of all national deputies, senators, and provincial assemblymen elected in constituencies within South Kasai's territory, and an upper chamber filled by traditional chiefs. A judicial system was organised, with justices of the peace , magistrates' courts, and a court of appeal. The state had its own flag and coat of arms, published its own official journal ,

680-403: A degree of regional autonomy and even produced its own constitution and postage stamps. The state, supported by foreign powers, particularly Belgium , and funded by diamond exports, managed numerous crises, including those caused by the large emigration of Luba refugees, but became increasingly militarist and repressive. Soon after its secession, South Kasaian and Congolese troops clashed after

816-510: A democratic system and worked with the intellectual elite. South Kasai had five different governments in the first few months of its existence. The immediate internal problems faced by South Kasai were large number of unsettled Luba refugees and internal dissent from non-Luba minorities. The state was able to direct money from diamond exporting and foreign support to fund public services which allowed Luba refugees to be settled in employment. Social services were "relatively well-run". State revenue

952-484: A failure. Lemkin's anti-colonial conception of genocide was transformed into one that favored colonial powers. Among the violence freed from the stigma of genocide included the destruction of political groups, which the Soviet Union is particularly blamed for blocking. Although Lemkin credited women's NGOs with securing the passage of the convention, the gendered violence of forced pregnancy, marriage, and divorce

1088-806: A falling out with Kalonji in July 1961. Non-Luba groups in the region, especially the Kanyok, fought a constant but low-level insurgency against the South Kasaian government. Kalonji went to great lengths to secure international recognition and support for the state of South Kasai. The former colonial power, Belgium, distrusted the Congolese central government and supported both the governments of South Kasai and Katanga. Like Katanga, South Kasai had important mineral deposits, including diamond fields, and Belgian companies had large sums of money tied up in mines in

1224-460: A form of genocide. Pioneers of research into settler colonialism such as Patrick Wolfe spelled out the genocidal logic of settler projects, prompting a rethinking of colonialism. Many genocide scholars are concerned both with objective study of the topic, and obtaining insights that will help prevent future genocides. The definition of genocide generates controversy whenever a new case arises and debate erupts as to whether or not it qualifies as

1360-537: A genocide. Sociologist Martin Shaw writes, “Few ideas are as important in public debate, but in few cases are the meaning and scope of a key idea less clearly agreed.” Some scholars and activists use the Genocide Convention definition. Others prefer narrower definitions that indicate genocide is rare in human history, reducing genocide to mass killing or distinguishing it from other types of violence by

1496-418: A government's actions against its own citizens. In order to criminalize peacetime genocide, Lemkin brought his proposal to criminalize genocide to the newly established United Nations in 1946. Opposition to the convention was greater than Lemkin expected due to states' concerns that it would lead their own policies - including treatment of indigenous peoples , European colonialism , racial segregation in

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1632-449: A group can be targeted before triggering the Genocide Convention. The two main approaches to intent are the purposive approach, where the perpetrator expressly wants to destroy the group, and the knowledge-based approach, where the perpetrator understands that destruction of the protected group will result from his actions. Intent is the most difficult aspect for prosecutors to prove; the perpetrators often claim that they merely sought

1768-409: A group's language, culture, or way of life —was part of Raphael Lemkin 's original concept, and its proponents in the 1940s argued that it, along with physical genocide, were two mechanisms aiming at the same goal: destruction of the targeted group. Because cultural genocide clearly applied to some colonial and assimilationist policies, several states with overseas colonies threatened to refuse to ratify

1904-492: A legal pretext in Léopoldville and imprisoned, and Ferdinand Kazadi assumed power as acting head of state. UN and Congolese troops occupied South Kasai. In September 1962, shortly after his escape from prison and return to South Kasai, Kalonji was ousted by a military coup d'état which forced him into exile and brought the secession to an end. The end of South Kasai's secession is usually held to be either December 1961,

2040-607: A lesser or greater extent from the convention. The convention's definition of genocide was adopted verbatim by the ad hoc international criminal tribunals and by the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). The crime of genocide also exists in customary international law and is therefore prohibited for non-signatories. During the Cold War , genocide remained at

2176-499: A letter signed by Ngalula requesting military aid from Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd . The South African government refused to furnish military equipment but informed the delegation that they could purchase hardware offered on the South African market. After the coup d'état which removed Lumumba from power, Kalonji tried to cultivate good relations with the Congolese government. General Joseph-Désiré Mobutu , in particular,

2312-435: A nation or of an ethnic group" in which its members were not targeted as individuals, but rather as members of the group. The objectives of genocide "would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups". These were not separate crimes but different aspects of the same genocidal process. Lemkin's definition of nation

2448-435: A national, ethnical, racial or religious group". Genocide has occurred throughout human history , even during prehistoric times , but is particularly likely in situations of imperial expansion and power consolidation. Therefore, it is usually associated with colonial empires and settler colonies , as well as with both world wars and repressive governments in the twentieth century. The colloquial understanding of genocide

2584-526: A number of issues. It was increasingly polarised between moderate évolués and the more radical mass membership. A radical and federalist faction headed by Ileo and Albert Kalonji split away in July 1959, but failed to induce mass defections by other MNC members. The dissident faction became known as the MNC-Kalonji (MNC-K), while the majority group became the MNC-Lumumba (MNC-L). The split divided

2720-595: A party, the Popular Movement of the Revolution (MPR), which until 1990 was the nation's only legal political party under Mobutu's revised constitution. In 1971, the state was renamed Zaire and efforts were made to remove all colonial influences . He also nationalised the remaining foreign-owned economic assets in the country. Over time Zaire was increasingly characterised by widespread cronyism , corruption, and economic mismanagement. Dissatisfaction with

2856-649: A people. Raphael Lemkin , who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by means such as "the disintegration of [its] political and social institutions, of [its] culture , language , national feelings, religion , and [its] economic existence". During the struggle to ratify the Genocide Convention , powerful countries restricted Lemkin's definition to exclude their own actions from being classified as genocide, ultimately limiting it to any of five "acts committed with intent to destroy , in whole or in part,

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2992-609: A place in his cabinet. Ngalula rejected the offer and on 14 June the MNC-K resolved to establish an alternative government under his leadership. Kalonji did not recognise this government as having any authority. The Kalonjists, who felt rejected and marginalised by the central government, began supporting alternative parties. Among them, the Kalonjists supported Tshombe's CONAKAT party in nearby Katanga which, because of its strongly federalist stance, opposed to Lumumba's conception of

3128-507: A political or military enemy, thus excluding them from consideration. Most civilian killings in the twentieth century were not from genocide, which only applies to select cases. Alternative terms have been coined to describe processes left outside narrower definitions of genocide. Ethnic cleansing —the forced expulsion of a population from a given territory—has achieved widespread currency, although many scholars recognize that it frequently overlaps with genocide, even where Lemkin's definition

3264-478: A political prisoner in South Kasai. Parliament voted to remove Kalonji's parliamentary immunity and he was taken into custody by the ANC in Léopoldville. A delegation of around 400 Luba tribal elders sent to Léopoldville to protest were also briefly arrested. Mobutu and General Victor Lundula visited Bakwanga soon afterwards. Ferdinand Kazadi assumed power as acting head of state of South Kasai. On 9 March 1962,

3400-535: A regular province and, by mandating its own federated powers unilaterally, was effectively seceding from the Congo. It also did not forward any taxes to the central government and locals—drawing a comparison to the secessionist state to the south—sometimes referred to it as "Little Katanga". MNC-K deputies also initially refused to sit in the Congolese Parliament in Léopoldville. Kalonji was declared president and Joseph Ngalula prime minister. Although

3536-591: A result, hostility increased and violent clashes broke out. In August 1959, Luba demonstrations against the plan which were violently repressed by the colonial military and police. An anti-colonial Pan-African and nationalist movement developed in the Belgian Congo during the 1950s, primarily among the évolué class (the urbanised black bourgeoisie ). The movement was divided into a number of parties and groups which were broadly divided on ethnic and geographical lines and opposed to one another. The largest,

3672-476: A similar fate as they inflict on their victims. Despite perpetrators' utilitarian goals, ideological factors are necessary to explain why genocide seems to be a desirable solution to the identified security problem. Noncombatants are harmed because of the collective guilt ascribed to an entire people—defined according to race but targeted because of its supposed security threat. Other motives for genocide have included theft, land grabbing , and revenge. War

3808-521: A single person being killed. Forced displacement is a common feature of many genocides, with the victims often transported to another location where their destruction is easier for the perpetrators. In some cases, victims are transported to sites where they are killed or deprived of the necessities of life. People are often killed by the displacement itself, as was the case for many Armenian genocide victims. Cultural destruction, such as that practised at Canadian boarding schools for indigenous children ,

3944-525: A strong central government based in the capital Léopoldville . As part of this, the Kalonjists supported CONAKAT against their main local rivals, the Association Générale des Baluba du Katanga (BALUBAKAT) party led by Jason Sendwe , which, although it represented the Baluba of Katanga Province, was in favour of centralism. The Kalonjists, who believed themselves to be acting on behalf of all

4080-413: A value judgement as it is widely considered to be the epitome of human evil . In the past, violence that could be labeled genocide was sometimes celebrated —although it always had its critics. The idea that genocide sits on top of a hierarchy of atrocity crimes —that it is worse than crimes against humanity or war crimes —is controversial among scholars and it suggests that the protection of groups

4216-408: A vote of confidence. During the session, Kalonji, in his capacity as an elected deputy, criticised the proposed cabinet, expressing dissatisfaction that his party had not been consulted in its formation and declaring that he was proud not to be included in an "anti-Baluba" and "anti-Batshoke" government which had shown contempt for the wishes of Kasai's people. He also stated his intentions to encourage

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4352-574: Is a doctrine that emerged around 2000, in the aftermath of several genocides around the world, that seeks to balance state sovereignty with the need for international intervention to prevent genocide. However, disagreements in the United Nations Security Council and lack of political will have hampered the implementation of this doctrine. Although military intervention to halt genocide has been credited with reducing violence in some cases, it remains deeply controversial and

4488-471: Is considered likely to occur, the accuracy of these predictions are not known and there is no scholarly consensus over evidence-based genocide prevention strategies. Intervention to prevent genocide has often been considered a failure because most countries prioritize business, trade, and diplomatic relationships: as a consequence, "the usual powerful actors continue to use violence against vulnerable populations with impunity". Responsibility to protect

4624-401: Is dependent on their position early in the demographic transition . Because genocide is often perceived as the "crime of crimes", it grabs attention more effectively than other violations of international law. Consequently, victims of atrocities often label their suffering genocide as an attempt to gain attention to their plight and attract foreign intervention. Although remembering genocide

4760-463: Is heavily influenced by the Holocaust as its archetype and is conceived as innocent victims targeted because of racism rather than for any political reason. Genocide is not an end of itself, but a means to another end—often chosen by perpetrators after other options failed. Most are ultimately caused by its perpetrators perceiving an existential threat to their own existence, although this belief

4896-456: Is heavily influenced by the Holocaust as its archetype and is conceived as innocent victims targeted for their ethnic identity rather than for any political reason. Genocide is widely considered to be the epitome of human evil and often referred to as the "crime of crimes"; consequently, events are often denounced as genocide . Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the term genocide between 1941 and 1943. Lemkin's coinage combined

5032-460: Is inherently connected to the modern state—thus to the rise of the West in the early modern era and its expansion outside Europe—and earlier conflicts cannot be described as genocide. Although all empires rely on violence, often extreme violence, to perpetuate their own existence, they also seek to preserve and rule the conquered rather than eradicate them. Although the desire to exploit populations

5168-505: Is more important than of individuals. We have been reproached for making no distinction between the innocent Armenians and the guilty : but that was utterly impossible in view of the fact that those who are innocent today might be guilty tomorrow. The concern for the safety of Turkey simply had to silence all other concerns. — Talaat Pasha in Berliner Tageblatt , 4 May 1916 The colloquial understanding of genocide

5304-504: Is not effective in inducing people to commit genocide and that for some perpetrators, the dehumanization of victims, and adoption of nationalist or other ideologies that justify the violence occurs after they begin to perpetrate atrocities often coinciding with escalation. Although genocide perpetrators have often been assumed to be male, the role of women in perpetrating genocide—although they were historically excluded from leadership—has also been explored. People's behavior changes under

5440-424: Is not used. Other terms ending in -cide have proliferated for the destruction of particular types of groupings: democide (people by a government), eliticide (the elite of a targeted group), ethnocide (ethnic groups), gendercide (gendered groupings), politicide (political groups), classicide (social classes), and urbicide (the destruction of a particular locality). The word genocide inherently carries

5576-729: Is often dependent on controlling the victims at a specific location. Destruction of cultural objects, such as religious buildings, is common even when the primary method of genocide is not cultural. Cultural genocide, such as residential schools , is particularly common during settler-colonial consolidation. Men, particularly young adults, are disproportionately targeted for killing before other victims in order to stem resistance. Although diverse forms of sexual violence—ranging from rape, forced pregnancy, forced marriage, sexual slavery, mutilation, forced sterilization—can affect either males or females, women are more likely to face it. The combination of killing of men and sexual violence against women

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5712-401: Is often described as the single most important enabler of genocide providing the weaponry, ideological justification, polarization between allies and enemies, and cover for carrying out extreme violence. A large proportion of genocides occurred under the course of imperial expansion and power consolidation. Although genocide is typically organized around pre-existing identity boundaries, it has

5848-460: Is often intended to disrupt reproduction of the targeted group. Almost all genocides are brought to an end either by the military defeat of the perpetrators or the accomplishment of their aims. According to rational choice theory , it should be possible to intervene to prevent genocide by raising the costs of engaging in such violence relative to alternatives. Although there are a number of organizations that compile lists of states where genocide

5984-399: Is one of the reasons that the Congo has been labeled as a failed state , and has contributed violence by factions advocating ethnic and localised federalism. 06°09′S 23°36′E  /  6.150°S 23.600°E  / -6.150; 23.600 Genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of

6120-433: Is poorly understood. The foot soldiers of genocide (as opposed to its organizers) are not demographically or psychologically aberrant. People who commit crimes during genocide are rarely true believers in the ideology behind genocide, although they are affected by it to some extent alongside other factors such as obedience, diffusion of responsibility , and conformity. Other evidence suggests that ideological propaganda

6256-469: Is situated annually produces one-tenth in weight of the world's industrial diamonds, with mining managed by the Société Minière de Bakwanga. This is the largest accumulation of diamonds in the world, more concentrated than those at Kimberley , South Africa . Mbuji-Mayi handles most of the industrial diamonds produced in the Congo. The province consists of the following five territories: French

6392-536: Is the official language. Tshiluba is one of the four national languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tshiluba is spoken by about 6.3 million people in the Kasai-Oriental, Kasai-Occidental and Kasaï-Central provinces. Sud-Kasa%C3%AF Other major events Other major events South Kasai ( French : Sud-Kasaï ) was an unrecognised secessionist state within

6528-534: Is usually exaggerated and can be entirely imagined. Particular threats to existing elites that have been correlated to genocide include both successful and attempted regime change via assassination, coups, revolutions, and civil wars . Most genocides were not planned long in advance, but emerged through a process of gradual radicalization , often escalating to genocide following resistance by those targeted. Genocide perpetrators often fear—usually irrationally—that if they do not commit atrocities, they will suffer

6664-427: Is usually illegal. Researcher Gregory H. Stanton found that calling crimes genocide rather than something else, such as ethnic cleansing, increased the chance of effective intervention. Perhaps for this reason, states are often reluctant to recognize crimes as genocide while they are taking place. Lemkin applied the concept of genocide to a wide variety of events throughout human history . He and other scholars date

6800-719: The Mouvement National Congolais (MNC), was a united front organisation dedicated to achieving independence "within a reasonable" time. It was created around a charter which was signed by, among others, Patrice Lumumba , Cyrille Adoula and Joseph Iléo . Lumumba became a leading figure and by the end of 1959, the party claimed to have 58,000 members. However, many found the MNC was too moderate. A number of other parties emerged, distinguished by their radicalism, support for federalism or centralism and affiliation to certain ethnic groupings . The MNC's main rival

6936-582: The Greek word γένος ( genos , "race, people") with the Latin suffix -caedo ("act of killing"). He submitted the manuscript for his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe to the publisher in early 1942, and it was published in 1944 as the Holocaust was coming to light outside Europe. Lemkin's proposal was more ambitious than simply outlawing this type of mass slaughter. He also thought that

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7072-488: The Moniteur de l'État Autonome du Sud-Kasaï , and even produced its own postage stamps , and vehicle registration plates . Unlike Katanga, South Kasai maintained no diplomatic missions abroad. The Congolese franc was retained as the state's currency. The South Kasaian army or gendarmerie grew from just 250 members at its inception to nearly 3,000 by 1961. It was led by 22-year-old "General" Floribert Dinanga with

7208-670: The Republic of the Congo (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo ) which was semi-independent between 1960 and 1962. Initially proposed as only a province, South Kasai sought full autonomy in similar circumstances to the much larger neighbouring state of Katanga , to its south, during the political turmoil arising from the independence of the Belgian Congo known as the Congo Crisis . Unlike Katanga, however, South Kasai did not explicitly declare full independence from

7344-543: The United Nations (UN), which sent a multi-national peacekeeping force to the Congo in July 1960, would help the central government suppress both Katangese and South Kasaian secessions. The UN was reluctant to do so, however, considering the secessions to be internal political matters and its own mission to be maintaining basic law and order. Rejected by both the UN and United States , Lumumba sought military support from

7480-771: The 1970s and 1980s, as social science began to consider the phenomenon of genocide. Due to the occurrence of the Bosnian genocide , Rwandan genocide , and the Kosovo crisis , genocide studies exploded in the 1990s. In contrast to earlier researchers who took for granted the idea that liberal and democratic societies were less likely to commit genocide, revisionists associated with the International Network of Genocide Scholars emphasized how Western ideas led to genocide. The genocides of indigenous peoples as part of European colonialism were initially not recognized as

7616-483: The ANC at their current rank and pay. Kalonji and General Dinanga were placed under house arrest, while the other South Kasaian ministers were imprisoned in a single home. Kalonji and Dinanga escaped a few days later; the former took a lorry to Katanga. Kankolongo reacted by immediately flying out the remaining ministers to Léopoldville. On 5 October 1962, central government troops again arrived in Bakwanga to support

7752-596: The Baluba and Batshoke to refrain from participating in the government and to take his own steps to form a sovereign state centered in Bakwanga . On 26 June, MNC-K officials petitioned the Léopoldville Parliament to peacefully divide the Province of Kasai along the lines suggested by Kalonji. The motion, which would have required the modification of the Congo's new constitution ( Loi fondamentale ),

7888-580: The Bena Lulua who were believed to be more reactionary and stupid. As a result, from the 1930s, the state began to treat the two groups differently and applied different policies to each and promoted the Baluba to positions above other ethnicities. During the 1950s when the Belgians began to fear that the rise of a powerful Luba elite would become a threat to colonial rule, the administration began to support Lulua organisations. This further contributed to

8024-589: The British and the French, who generally favoured the system of indirect rule whereby traditional leaders were retained in positions of authority under colonial oversight. Before the start of the colonial period, the region of South Kasai formed part of the Luba Empire, a federation of local kingdoms with a degree of cultural uniformity. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Baluba spread across large parts of

8160-547: The Congo and rejected Congolese sovereignty. "[The actions of the ANC in South Kasai] involve a most flagrant violation of elementary human rights and have the characteristics of the crime of genocide since they appear to be directed towards the extermination of a specific ethnic group, the Balubas ;[ sic ]." Dag Hammarskjöld , UN Secretary-General, September 1960 Initially, Lumumba hoped that

8296-437: The Congo and that individual regions became specialised . On many occasions, the interests of the government and private enterprise became closely tied and the state helped companies break strikes and remove other barriers imposed by the indigenous population. The country was split into hierarchically-organised administrative subdivisions, and run uniformly according to a set "native policy" ( politique indigène ) – in contrast to

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8432-448: The Congolese central government ordered an offensive against it. The resulting campaign, planned to be the first act of a larger action against Katanga, was accompanied by widespread massacres of Baluba and a refugee crisis termed a genocide by some contemporaries. The state was rapidly overrun by Congolese troops. The violence in the suppression of Kasai provided much legitimacy to Joseph Kasa-Vubu 's deposition of Patrice Lumumba from

8568-454: The Genocide Convention. Despite the promise of never again and the international effort to outlaw genocide, it has continued to occur repeatedly into the twenty-first century. In the aftermath of genocide, common occurrences are the attempt to prosecute perpetrators through the legal system and obtain recognition and reparations for survivors, as well as reflection of the events in scholarship and culture, such as genocide museums . Except in

8704-459: The Holocaust, involved such large-scale logistics that it reinforced the impression that genocide was the result of civilization drifting off course and required both the "weapons and infrastructure of the modern state and the radical ambitions of the modern man". Scientific racism and nationalism were common ideological drivers of many twentieth century genocides. After the horrors of World War II , world leaders attempted to proscribe genocide via

8840-565: The Kasai region. One of the major legacies of colonial rule in Kasai was the arbitrary redivision of the population into new ethnic groups. Despite the shared language ( Tshiluba ) and culture of the two groups, colonial administrators believed the inhabitants of the Lulua river area to be ethnically different from the Baluba and dubbed them the Bena Lulua. The colonists believed the Baluba to be more intelligent, hardworking and open to new ideas than

8976-486: The Kasai region. South Kasai held important railway junctions needed by the Congolese army for its campaign in Katanga, and therefore soon became an important objective. South Kasai also had important mineral wealth which the central government was anxious to return to the Congo. The central government also misunderstood the South Kasaian position, believing that, like Katanga, the region had declared full independence from

9112-742: The Kasai-Katanga savannah along the Kasai river basin and eventually developed into a number of ethnic subgroups, notably the Luba-Kasai and the Luba-Katanga. Although never united into a single centralised state, the groups retained a degree of emotional attachment based around shared origin myths and cultural practices. Other groups, like the Songye and the Kanyok , also had long histories in

9248-623: The Luba MNC-K succeeded in obtaining a plurality but failed to take control of the provincial government. Instead, Lumumba promoted a Lulua candidate, Barthélemy Mukenge , as provincial president while Kalonji was denied an important ministerial portfolio in Lumumba's national government . Kalonji refused Lumumba's offer of the Agriculture portfolio. Mukenge attempted to form a government of unity, even offering MNC-K member Joseph Ngalula

9384-490: The Luba-Kasai had never lived in a single state before, Kalonji was able to gain the broad support of the Luba chiefs for the secession. He was able to portray the secession internationally as the result of the persecution and the failure of the Congolese government to sufficiently protect the Baluba in the rest of the Congo. South Kasai's borders frequently changed, never stabilizing during its brief existence. The state's capital

9520-485: The Luba-Kasai, created an animosity between the Luba-Kasai and the Luba-Katanga but also failed to gain the full support of CONAKAT, much of which had racial prejudice against the Baluba and supported only the "authentic Katangese". Congolese: The Republic of the Congo received independence on 30 June 1960 with Kasa-Vubu as president and Lumumba as prime minister. The Chamber of the Léopoldville Parliament had convened one week prior to review Lumumba's cabinet and give it

9656-681: The Republic of the Congo or reject Congolese sovereignty. The South Kasaian leader and main advocate, Albert Kalonji , who had represented a faction of the nationalist movement (the Mouvement National Congolais-Kalonji or MNC-K) before decolonisation, exploited ethnic tensions between his own ethnic group, the Baluba , and the Bena Lulua to create a Luba-focused state in the group's traditional heartland in

9792-544: The South Kasai Minister of Public Works, protested, soldiers beat him and fatally injured him. Many Baluba first fled in terror, but then began resisting with home-made shotguns. As a result, the ANC perpetrated a number of large massacres of Luba civilians. In September, Dag Hammarskjöld , the UN Secretary-General who had recently deployed a large peacekeeping force to the Congo, referred to

9928-583: The South Kasian flag. Kalonji eventually removed the flag and the two reconciled. In mid-1961, conferences were held at Coquilhatville (modern-day Mbandaka) and later in Antananarivo , Madagascar to attempt to broker a peaceful reconciliation between the secessionist factions and the central government in the face of a rebel government in the Eastern Congo led by Antoine Gizenga . It

10064-667: The United States , and Soviet nationalities policy - to be labeled genocide. Before the convention was passed, powerful countries (both Western powers and the Soviet Union) secured changes in an attempt to make the convention unenforceable and applicable to their geopolitical rivals ' actions but not their own. Few formerly colonized countries were represented and "most states had no interest in empowering their victims– past, present, and future". The result severely diluted Lemkin's original concept; he privately considered it

10200-485: The area. A Belgian company, Forminière , was the state's principal supporter and received concessions from South Kasai in exchange for financial support. After the secession, South Kasai's diamonds were rerouted through Congo-Brazzaville for export to international markets. The comparatively large income from the mining companies meant that South Kasai was able to support significant public services and cope with large numbers of internally-displaced Luba refugees. In

10336-556: The assistance of nine European officers. In 1961, the military led a campaign to expand the size of the state's territory at the expense of neighbouring ethnic groups. Despite receiving some support from Belgium, the gendarmerie was poorly equipped and constantly low on supplies and ammunition. As government authority in South Kasai was consolidated, the regime became increasingly militaristic and authoritarian . Non-Luba groups were increasingly marginalised. Political opponents were killed or driven into exile, including Ngalula, who had

10472-404: The campaign, the South Kasaian state was able to provide substantial aid to its refugees, many of whom were resettled in homes and jobs. Nevertheless, the invasion caused considerable disruption to the local economy; by December the number of diamonds cut by Forminière and the number of people it employed both had fallen by thousands. Despite the occupation of South Kasai, the South Kasaian state

10608-487: The case of the Holocaust , few genocide victims receive any reparations despite the trend of requiring such reparations in international and municipal law. The perpetrators and their supporters often deny the genocide and reject responsibility for the harms suffered by victims. Efforts to achieve justice and reconciliation are common in postgenocide situations, but are necessarily incomplete and inadequate. The effects of genocide on societies are under-researched. Much of

10744-524: The central government until it too collapsed in January 1963 after UN forces began to take a more aggressive stance under Thant. As a compromise, South Kasai was one of the 21 provinces formally established by the federalist constitution of 1964. As the Mobutu regime launched a centralist restructuring of the Congolese state from 1965, South Kasai was one of the few provinces which were retained. The province

10880-519: The chaos in the rest of the Congo could be used to secede unilaterally and declare full local independence. This decision was further re-enforced by the full secession of the State of Katanga ( État du Katanga ), led by Tshombe, on 11 July 1960. Kalonji visited Katanga at the start of August 1960, shortly after its secession, where, on the 8 August, he declared that Kasai "must be divided at all costs." On 9 August 1960, Kalonji, still in Katanga, declared

11016-501: The communist Soviet Union . Within days of the secession and with Soviet logistical support, 2,000 ANC troops launched a major offensive against South Kasai. The attack was successful. On 27 August, ANC soldiers arrived in Bakwanga. During the course of the offensive, the ANC became involved in ethnic violence between the Baluba and Bena Lulua. When government troops arrived in Bakwanga, they released Lulua detainees from prison and began requisitioning civilian vehicles. When David Odia,

11152-587: The context of the Cold War , Kalonji was supported by Western powers and moderates in the Congolese government who viewed him as both a moderate pro-Westerner and anticommunist . Although both Katanga and South Kasai were supported by South Africa , France and the Central African Federation , neither state ever received any form of official diplomatic recognition . A South Kasaian delegation went to South Africa in September 1960 with

11288-520: The convention unless it was excluded. Most genocide scholars believe that both cultural genocide and structural violence should be included in the definition of genocide, if committed with intent to destroy the targeted group. Although included in Lemkin's original concept and by some scholars, political groups were also excluded from the Genocide Convention. The result of this exclusion was that perpetrators of genocide could redefine their targets as being

11424-459: The course of events, and someone might choose to kill one genocide victim while saving another. Anthropologist Richard Rechtman writes that in circumstances where atrocities such as genocides are perpetrated, many people refuse to become perpetrators, which often entails great sacrifices such as risking their lives and fleeing their country. It is a common misconception that genocide necessarily involves mass killing; indeed, it may occur without

11560-518: The date of Kalonji's arrest, or October 1962 with the anti-Kalonji coup d'état and final arrival of government troops. European colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium , frustrated by his country's lack of international power and prestige, attempted to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion around the then-largely unexplored Congo Basin . The Belgian government's ambivalence about

11696-414: The enslavement or forced assimilation of women and children—often limited to a particular town or city rather than applied to a larger group—is a common feature of ancient warfare as described in written sources. The events that some scholars consider genocide in ancient and medieval times had more pragmatic than ideological motivations. As a result, some scholars such as Mark Levene argue that genocide

11832-461: The famine was almost entirely resolved by March 1961. UN relief workers were withdrawn following the April 1961 Port Francqui incident due to security concerns, though food aid continued to be brought to the border. Allegations of genocide and brutality by the ANC were used to provide legitimacy to Kasa-Vubu's dismissal of Lumumba, with the support of Mobutu, in September 1960. In the aftermath of

11968-494: The first genocides to prehistoric times . Prior to the advent of civilizations consisting of sedentary farmers , humans lived in tribal societies, with intertribal warfare often ending with the obliteration of the defeated tribe, killing of adult males and integration of women and children into the victorious tribe. Genocide is mentioned in various ancient sources including the Hebrew Bible . The massacre of men and

12104-412: The following acts committed with intent to destroy , in whole or in part, a national , ethnical , racial or religious group, as such: A specific " intent to destroy " is the mens rea requirement of genocide. The issue of what it means to destroy a group "as such" and how to prove the required intent has been difficult for courts to resolve. The legal system has also struggled with how much of

12240-550: The growing ethnic polarisation between the two groups. In 1952, an organisation called the Lulua Frères (Lulua Brothers) was established to campaign for socio-economic advancement of the Lulua group and became an unofficial representative of the Bena Lulua. In 1959, Luba-Lulua animosity was brought to a head by the discovery of a colonial proposal to move Luba farmers out of Lulua land to the less fertile land on Luba territory. As

12376-497: The head of a government, regain his immunity. As dissatisfaction with the secession grew, Ngalula and other South Kasaian émigrés in Léopoldville plotted to overthrow the regime in Bakwanga. In September 1962, the Léopoldville government appointed Albert Kankolongo, a former minister in Kalonji's government, as Special Commissioner ( commissaire extraordinaire ) for South Kasai, giving him full military and civil power, to dismantle

12512-470: The idea led Leopold to eventually create the colony on his own account. With support from a number of Western countries, who viewed Leopold as a useful buffer between rival colonial powers, Leopold achieved international recognition for a personal colony, the Congo Free State , in 1885. The Luba Empire , the largest regional power in the Kasai region , was annexed into the new state in 1889. By

12648-426: The innocence, helplessness, or defencelessness of its victims. Most genocides occur during wartime, and distinguishing genocide or genocidal war from non-genocidal warfare can be difficult. Likewise, genocide is distinguished from violent and coercive forms of rule that aim to change behavior rather than destroy groups. Some definitions include political or social groups as potential victims of genocide. Many of

12784-420: The law against genocide could promote more tolerant and pluralistic societies. His response to Nazi criminality was sharply different from that of another international law scholar, Hersch Lauterpacht , who argued that it was essential to protect individuals from atrocities, whether or not they were targeted as members of a group. According to Lemkin, the central definition of genocide was "the destruction of

12920-490: The leading agents when the genocide takes places in remote frontier areas. A common strategy is for state-sponsored atrocities to be carried out in secrecy by paramilitary groups, offering the benefit of plausible deniability while widening complicity in the atrocities. The leaders who organize genocide usually believe that their actions were justified and regret nothing. How ordinary people can become involved in extraordinary violence under circumstances of acute conflict

13056-577: The level of rhetoric because both superpowers (the United States and the Soviet Union) felt vulnerable to accusations of genocide, and were therefore unwilling to press charges against the other party. Despite political pressure to charge "Soviet genocide", the United States government refused to ratify the convention fearing countercharges . Authorities have been reluctant to prosecute the perpetrators of many genocides, although non-judicial commissions of inquiry have also been created by some states. The first conviction for genocide in an international court

13192-492: The local state. Ngalula approached Kankolongo to lead a mutiny and coup d'état against Kalonji. On the night of 29–30 September 1962, military commanders in South Kasai, led by Kankolongo, launched a coup d'état in Bakwanga against the Kalonjist regime. An appeal was broadcast over Radio Bakwanga to all officers of the South Kasaian gendarmerie to support the central government with the promise that they would integrated into

13328-829: The massacres as "a case of incipient genocide". The Baluba were also attacked by the Katangese from the south. In the ensuring massacres, in which ANC or Katangese troops often participated, around 3,000 Baluba were killed. The violence of the advance caused an exodus of many thousands of Luba civilians who fled their homes to escape the fighting; more than 35,000 went to refugee camps in Élisabethville (the capital of Katanga) alone. As many as 100,000 sought refuge in Bakwanga. Diseases, notably kwashiorkor but also malaria , smallpox and anemia , were widespread and reached "epidemic proportions" among Luba refugees between October and December 1960. The World Health Organization sent one million small pox vaccines to South Kasai to alleviate

13464-401: The more sociologically oriented definitions of genocide overlap that of the crime against humanity of extermination , which refers to large-scale killing or induced death as part of a systematic attack on a civilian population. Isolated or short-lived phenomena that resemble genocide can be termed genocidal violence . Cultural genocide or ethnocide—actions targeted at the reproduction of

13600-622: The mutineers and help suppress the last Kalonjist loyalists, marking the end of the secession. Kalonji took up residence in Kamina and attempted to meet Tshombe, but was rebuffed by Katangese Minister of Interior Godefroid Munongo . He then fled to Paris before settling in Barcelona in Francisco Franco 's Spain . In October 1962, South Kasai returned to the Republic of the Congo. The State of Katanga continued to hold out against

13736-470: The national pattern of the victim with that of the perpetrator, was much broader than the five types enumerated in the Genocide Convention. Lemkin considered genocide to have occurred since the beginning of human history and dated the efforts to criminalize it to the Spanish critics of colonial excesses Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomé de Las Casas . The 1946 judgement against Arthur Greiser issued by

13872-474: The new provincial government until 1963 when they also accepted integration into the ANC. Soon after the end of the secession, the city of Bakwanga was renamed Mbuji-Mayi after the local river in an attempt to signify a Luba intra-ethnicity reconciliation. Regardless, violence among Luba factions lasted through 1964, and a political solution was not reached until 1965 with the election of J. Mukamba as Provincial President of South Kasai. In 1965, Mobutu launched

14008-428: The office of prime minister in late 1960 and Lumumba's later arrest and assassination. As a result, South Kasai remained on relatively good terms with the new Congolese government from 1961. Its leaders, including Kalonji himself, served in both the South Kasaian government and the Congolese parliament. South Kasai continued to exercise quasi-independence while Congolese and United Nations troops were able to move through

14144-516: The other South Kasain deputies in attendance. A new Congolese central government was formed on 2 August with Ngalula as Minister of Education, and Kalonji went back to South Kasai. In late October 1961 Kalonji and several Lulua leaders made a symbolic union in an attempt to end the Luba-Lulua tribal conflict. On 2 December 1961, Kalonji was accused by another deputy, the communist Christophe Gbenye , of having ordered corporal punishment against

14280-409: The outcome of strengthening them. Although many scholars have emphasized the role of ideology in genocide, there is little agreement in how ideology contributes to violent outcomes; others have cited rational explanations for atrocities. Genocides are usually driven by states and their agents, such as elites, political parties, bureaucracies, armed forces, and paramilitaries. Civilians are often

14416-569: The party's support base into those who endured with Lumumba, chiefly in the Stanleyville region in the north-east, and those who backed the MNC-K, popular in the south and among Kalonji's own ethnic group, the Baluba. The MNC-K later formed a cartel with ABAKO and the Parti Solidaire Africain (PSA) to call for a united, but federalised, Congo. The 1960 elections degenerated into an "anti-Baluba plebiscite" in Kasai as

14552-467: The problem. The epidemic had been preceded by widespread famine which by December was killing an estimated 200 people daily. The UN appealed to its member states for relief, and by late January government and private aid had reduced mortality by 75 percent. Further assistance in the form of an emergency food airlift, additional medical personnel, and seeds from the Food and Agriculture Organization ensured that

14688-534: The province in January 1960, the Kalonjists made an official call to the Baluba across the Congo to return to their Kasaian "homeland" on 16 July. Initially, the Kalonjists envisaged the division of Kasai Province in two in order to allow for the creation of a quasi-autonomous MNC-K and Luba-dominated provincial government. The proposed province was termed the Federated State of South Kasai ( État fédératif du Sud-Kasaï ). Rapidly, however, Kalonji realised that

14824-562: The qualitative research on genocide has focused on the testimonies of victims, survivors, and other eyewitnesses. Studies of genocide survivors have examined rates of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia , suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder , and post-traumatic growth . While some have found negative results, others find no association with genocide survival. There are no consistent findings that children of genocide survivors have worse health than comparable individuals. Most societies are able to recover demographically from genocide, but this

14960-627: The recently re-convened Léopoldville Parliament, under Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula, agreed to modify the Constitution and gave South Kasai official provincial status. In April 1962, UN troops were ordered to occupy South Kasai as part of Secretary-General U Thant 's new aggressive stance against secession following Hammarskjöld's death. In Léopoldville, Kalonji was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. On 7 September, however, Kalonji escaped from prison and returned to South Kasai where he hoped to regain an official position in local elections and, at

15096-546: The regime in Kasaï-Oriental was particularly strong. The issues of federalism, ethnicity in politics, and state centralisation were not resolved by the crisis and partly contributed to a decline in support for the concept of the state among Congolese people. Mobutu was strongly in favour of centralisation and one of his first acts, in 1965, were to reunify provinces and abolish much of their independent legislative capacity. Subsequent loss of faith in central government

15232-426: The region of south-eastern Kasai to be the new Mining State of South Kasai ( État minier du Sud-Kasaï ) or Autonomous State of South Kasai ( État autonome du Sud-Kasaï ). Unlike Katanga, however, South Kasai's secession did not explicitly mean the rejection of its position within the Republic of the Congo. Rather, it resembled the self-declared local governments in Équateur Province . The " Autonomous State " title

15368-556: The removal of the group from a given territory, instead of destruction as such, or that the genocidal actions were collateral damage of military activity. Attempted genocide , conspiracy to commit genocide, incitement to genocide , and complicity in genocide are criminalized. The convention does not allow the retroactive prosecution of events that took place prior to 1951. Signatories are also required to prevent genocide and prosecute its perpetrators. Many countries have incorporated genocide into their municipal law , varying to

15504-436: The secession of the province of South Kasai as a separate state headed by Albert Kalonji . After being repulsed, the Congo occupied the province in September 1961. Several thousand people were killed during the "pacification" of South Kasai, which lasted through the spring of 1962. The population of Mbuji-Mayi grew rapidly with the immigration of Luba people from other parts of the country. The region in which Mbuji-Mayi

15640-407: The settlers want to acquire land from indigenous people making genocide more likely than with classical colonialism. While the lack of law enforcement on the frontier ensured impunity for settler violence, the advance of state authority enabled settlers to consolidate their gains using the legal system. Genocide was committed on a large scale during both world wars . The prototypical genocide,

15776-424: The south-eastern parts of the Kasai region . As sectarian violence broke out across the country, the state declared its secession from the Congo on 9 August 1960 and its government and called for the Baluba living in the rest of the Congo to return to their "homeland". Kalonji was appointed president. Although the South Kasaian government claimed to form an autonomous part of a federal Congo-wide state, it exercised

15912-503: The support of the South Kasaian évolués who saw his elevation as flagrant opportunism. Soon after his elevation, Kalonji was publicly condemned and disavowed by 10 of South Kasai's 13 representatives in the Léopoldville Parliament, beginning the disintegration of the secessionist state. When South Kasai seceded, government troops from the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC) were already fighting Katangese troops in

16048-467: The territory without conflict with the South Kasaian gendarmerie . In April 1961, Kalonji took the royal title Mulopwe ("King of the Baluba") to tie the state more closely to the pre-colonial Luba Empire . The act divided the South Kasaian authorities and Kalonji was disavowed by the majority of South Kasai's parliamentary representatives in Léopoldville . In December 1961, Kalonji was arrested on

16184-403: The truce. Throughout much of the period, the South Kasaian gendarmerie fought with Kanyok and Lulua militias across the region while local ethnic violence persisted. In January 1961 Kasa-Vubu flew to Bakwanga to meet with Kalonji. The trip began acrimoniously as Kasa-Vubu refused to recognise the South Kasaian honour guard present at the airport and ride in the provided limousine, which was flying

16320-525: The turn of the century, the violence of Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and the ruthless system of economic extraction had led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country, which it did in 1908, creating the Belgian Congo . Belgian rule in the Congo was based around the "colonial trinity" ( trinité coloniale ) of state , missionary and private company interests. The privileging of Belgian commercial interests meant that large amounts of capital flowed into

16456-403: Was Bakwanga. In 1962 its population was estimated at 2,000,000. Once established in power, Kalonji positioned himself personally as " big man " and patron from whom state power originated. Tribal leaders from Luba and other ethnic groups enjoyed a close, client-like relationship with Kalonji himself and received preferential treatment in exchange for services rendered. In particular, Kalonji

16592-433: Was a disincentive to extermination, imperial rule could lead to genocide when resistance emerged. Ancient and medieval genocides were often committed by empires. Unlike traditional empires, settler colonialism —particularly associated with the settlement of Europeans outside of Europe—is characterized by militarized populations of settlers in remote areas beyond effective state control. Rather than labor or economic surplus,

16728-458: Was able to use South Kasai for the execution of his political opponents and dissident Lumumbists including Jean-Pierre Finant . Such activity led the secessionist state to be nicknamed "the national butcher's yard". Because of the importance of the Luba ethnicity to South Kasai, Kalonji used his support from the traditional Luba tribal authorities to have himself declared Mulopwe . The title, Mulopwe (usually translated as "King" or "Emperor"),

16864-498: Was believed that, with Lumumba dead, it might be possible to create a federal constitution that could reconcile the three parties. The agreements instead led to more uncertainty. The ousting of Ngalula—the chief organiser of the South Kasai state—in July hastened internal collapse. He established his own political party, the Democratic Union, to oppose the Kalonjists. Later that month Parliament reconvened with Kalonji and

17000-601: Was bestowed on Kalonji's father on 12 April 1961, who then immediately abdicated in favour of his son. With the accession of Kalonji to the title of Mulopwe on 16 July, the state's title changed to the Federated Kingdom of South Kasai ( Royaume fédéré du Sud-Kasaï ). Kalonji's accession to the position of Mulopwe was heavily criticised even by many Luba in South Kasai. The move was also mocked in Western media. Kalonji remained popular among some groups, but lost

17136-465: Was chosen in order to re-enforce the impression that the secession was not a rejection of Congolese sovereignty, but the creation of a federally-governed region of the Congo. The secession had some support among journalists, intellectuals and politicians in Léopoldville, with one newspaper calling it "a model by which the many new states now mushrooming in the Congo might form a new federation". In practice South Kasai had considerably more independence than

17272-496: Was estimated to total $ 30,000,000 annually. The state produced three constitutions, with the first being promulgated in November 1960 and the last on 12 July 1961. The July constitution transformed the state into the Federated State of South Kasai ( État fédéré du Sud-Kasaï ), declaring the state itself both "sovereign and democratic" but also part of a hypothetical "Federal Republic of the Congo". The constitution also provided for

17408-402: Was extremely symbolic because it was the title employed by the rulers of the pre-colonial Luba Empire and had been disused since the 1880s. By taking it, along with the extra name Ditunga ("homeland"), Kalonji was able to closely tie himself and the South Kasaian state to the Luba Empire to increase its legitimacy in the eyes of the Baluba. In order to avoid accusations of impropriety, the title

17544-512: Was in 1998 for a perpetrator of the Rwandan genocide . The first head of state to be convicted of genocide was in 2018 for the Cambodian genocide . Although it is widely recognized that punishment of the perpetrators cannot be of an order with their crimes, the trials often serve other purposes such as attempting to shape public perception of the past. The field of genocide studies emerged in

17680-459: Was later restructured to include new territory in Kabinda and Sankuru Districts and renamed Eastern Kasai ( Kasaï-Oriental ). The majority of the South Kasaian soldiers were integrated into the ANC after the dissolution of the state but nearly 2,000 loyalists went into hiding to await Kalonji's possible restoration. The rebels were led by General Mwanzambala and fought a guerrilla war against

17816-716: Was left out. Additionally omitted was the forced migration of populations —which had been carried out by the Soviet Union and its satellites, condoned by the Western Allies, against millions of Germans from central and Eastern Europe . Two years after passing a resolution affirming the criminalization of genocide , the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Genocide Convention on 9 December 1948. It came into effect on 12 January 1951 after 20 countries ratified it without reservations . The convention defines genocide as: ... any of

17952-405: Was not dismantled and co-existed with the rest of the Congo. Congolese delegates, as well as ANC and UN troops were generally able to move around the territory without conflict with the South Kasaian authorities while their sporadic campaign against Katangese forces continued. A UN-sponsored ceasefire in September 1960 gave pause to the Luba-Lulua conflict, but by November Kalonji's forces had broken

18088-524: Was received by a legislature divided between Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu factions and no agreement could be reached. In the aftermath of independence, ethnic tensions flared up across the country, much of it directed against the Baluba, and a number of violent clashes occurred. On 3 July the central government ordered the arrest of the rival MNC-K Kasai government, precipitating unrest in Luluabourg. Despite rejecting earlier proposals for Luba repatriations to

18224-400: Was reliant on tribal leaders to mobilise paramilitaries to support the South Kasaian army. Governance of South Kasai was complicated by the dynamic Luba politics in which it was embedded. Tensions rose between Kalonji and Ngalula, who had different ideas for how the state was to be run; Kalonji wanted the government to be based in tradition and relied on customary chiefs, while Ngalula preferred

18360-513: Was sufficiently broad to apply to nearly any type of human collectivity, even one based on a trivial characteristic. He saw genocide as an inherently colonial process, and in his later writings analyzed what he described as the colonial genocides occurring within European overseas territories as well as the Soviet and Nazi empires. Furthermore, his definition of genocidal acts, which was to replace

18496-593: Was the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO) led by Joseph Kasa-Vubu , a more radical party supported among the Kongo people in the north, and Moïse Tshombe 's Confédération des Associations Tribales du Katanga (CONAKAT), a strongly federalist party in the southern Katanga Province . Although it was the largest of the African nationalist parties, the MNC had many different factions within it that took differing stances on

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