HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES UNDER LATE PRESIDENT MOBUTU SESE SEKO: FROM THE OVERTHROW OF PRESIDENT LUMUMBA TO HIS DEATH (1960-1997)

Abstract

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s post-independence trajectory was profoundly shaped by the authoritarian rule of Mobutu Sese Seko, who governed from 1965 until his overthrow in 1997. Emerging in the wake of Congo’s independence, Mobutu constructed a personalist state defined by political repression, economic exploitation, and social authoritarianism. His rise to power followed the destabilization of the newly independent state and the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, a pivotal moment that set the stage for decades of human rights violations. This study examines the multidimensional abuses under Mobutu, structured both chronologically and thematically. The paper begins with the overthrow and assassination of Lumumba, detailing the interplay between domestic political factions and international actors, and traces the institutionalization of repression through the establishment of the one-party state and personalist dictatorship. Subsequent sections explore state terror, censorship, forced disappearances, public executions, and the manipulation of economic and cultural structures, including the kleptocratic Zairianization program and the Authenticité campaign. The paper also considers internal conflicts such as the Shaba invasions, where military abuses targeted civilians, and examines the late 20th-century erosion of regime legitimacy, culminating in Mobutu’s overthrow by . The international dimension, including Cold War support from Western powers, is analyzed to show how external actors prolonged the regime despite widespread human rights abuses. Drawing from a combination of scholarly sources, human rights reports, and archival documents, the paper concludes that human rights violations under Mobutu were systemic, institutionalized, and multidimensional, with enduring consequences for governance, social stability, and human welfare in the Democratic Republic of Congo.