sentences:  Ultimately, nine African countries and around twenty armed groups became involved in the war, which resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people.The two wars devastated the country.President Laurent-Désiré Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards on 16 January 2001 and was succeeded eight days later by his son Joseph, under whom human rights in the country remained poor and included frequent abuses such as forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment and restrictions on civil liberties according to NGOs.