Abstract
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO IN TERMS OF ARMED CONFLICT LAW
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the African countries with rich underground resources, gained its independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960, as a result of its struggle against colonial rule. The DRC, which spent a significant part of its history under colonization, witnessed power struggles with very serious humanitarian consequences after independence. The country's first president, Joseph Kasavubu (1960-1965), was overthrown in 1965 as a result of the coup carried out by General Staff Joseph-Desire Mobutu, citing internal turmoil and instability. Although the conflicts relatively stopped in the country where the coup took place during the Mobutu period (1965-1997), the seeds of the conflicts that took place in the 90s were sown with the practices carried out in this period. Conflicts have ceased to be civil wars and have reached the level of international conflict. Especially between 1996-1997 and 1998-2003, it is seen that there were intense conflicts. Ituri, which was defined as the bloodiest region of the DRC at the aforementioned dates, has been a place where massacres took place at high levels during the conflicts. In the study, the process of internationalization of conflicts and human rights violations will be discussed within the framework of international law.
Keywords
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Armed Conflict, International Law
