civilian killings in African civil wars

[Jooglae]

I've seen a documentary program about this civil war in Sierra Leon and Congo, and it showed footages of rebel troops shooting civilians who raised their hands into the air(as to show that they surrender). Also, I've seen interviews of girls and women who were raped by rebels, and people who were intentionally crippled and maimed(their hands and feet cut off by machetes)by the militia.

At first I was horrified, and wondered why rebels would try to create such unnecessary casualties. I don't know anything about the cultures and customs of African people, but I initially guessed that it had something to do with ethnic enmity and strife. But reportedly, that was far from the truth, for the rebels were little or less racial clans, but more of political clans. Then is the civilian killing in Africa more of a political matter rather than racial?

I would like some clear explanation on these matters.

[Trident-za]

There is no single answer to your question - it depends a lot on which particular African country you are referring to. In Sierra Leone, killings/maimings were mostly political as far as I know. In Zimbabwe, 2.5 million people were killed by Mugabe's army in the early 80s - all belonged to one single tribe. Was this "racial"? Tribal? Or political? It's difficult to tell really - the tribes often see other tribes as "subhuman", and political parties are often arranged primarily along tribal lines.

Tribal hatred is amazingly prolific in Africa, as is a hate for "foreigners". Here in South Africa there has been a massive influx of so-called political refugees from the rest of Africa - these "foreigners" are hated by most black South Africans, and there has been quite a bit of violence against these guys.