After an Internet blackout, Congolese are taking to the streets of Brazzaville: Here’s why Carol Jean Gallo July 11, 2017 Last month, people in the Republic of Congo lost their Internet -- and they remained offline for a week. People immediately suspected the government was behind the shutoff. This would come as no surprise as the...
The Kasai Region of the Congo Could Become Africa’s Next Hotspot Carol Jean Gallo May 30, 2017 Earlier this year, on March 12, two United Nations investigators – American Michael Sharp and Swedish-Chilean Zaida Catalan – went missing in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Just ove...
A Famine is Never Just a Famine — It’s Political Violence By Starvation. Carol Jean Gallo March 22, 2017 We are entering an age of famine. But the extreme food crises facing South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and Northern Nigeria are not solely a consequence of natural disaster or climate change. Rather, people are star...
The New UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Just Made Some Progress on a Long Stalled Dispute in North Africa Carol Jean Gallo March 1, 2017 Around the world there are a number of conflicts and disputes that have essentially been frozen in place for many years -- and in some cases many decades. These include territorial disputes in places like Cypr...
Why You Should Care About More Than Just “Conflict Minerals” in the Congo Carol Jean Gallo November 28, 2016 Chances are, the consumer electronic product in which you are reading this blog post can trace some of its key parts to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And chances are, you already know that. Starting ...
Where Risk of a “Rigged” Election is Very Real, Major Unrest Expected Carol Jean Gallo October 25, 2016 There is a major crisis looming in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. President Joseph Kabila is facing a constitutionally imposed term limit, yet he clearly wants to stay in power. And unable to fundamental...
With a New Investigation in the Works, Can the ICC Improve its Reputation in Africa? Carol Jean Gallo October 10, 2016 The tiny west african country of Gabon is newest place the International Criminal Court may probe for serious human rights violations. Allegations of abuse stem from a disputed election last month which set off...
Why You Need to Pay Attention to Election Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Carol Jean Gallo September 27, 2016 The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the most conflict prone countries in central Africa. Between August 1998 and April 2007, a regional war and its aftermath resulted in 5.4 million "excess dea...
The ICC’s First Hunger-Striking Defendant Poses a Courtroom Conundrum Carol Jean Gallo September 23, 2016 At the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Bosco Ntaganda, who is on trial for his role in war crimes committed in the Ituri district of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2002 and 2003,...
