Kambale Musavuli
23 October 2009
opinion
Since 1996, it is estimated that nearly six million people have died in the Congo and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped as a means of terrorizing communities to get access to valuable minerals that are central to the functioning of the many of the electronic gadgets and devices used in modern society.
Unfortunately and sadly, we as a world community have arrived at a default consensus that it is acceptable for millions to die while we benefit from the riches in Congo’s soil. A global consensus has existed for the past thirteen years. It basically says that it is fine to remain silent in the midst of the deadliest conflict in the world since the Holocaust, while the most unspeakable acts of atrocities are waged on the bodies of women and children in the heart of Africa. What has been allowed to continue in the Congo is truly a scar on the conscience of humanity.
As recent as this last week, Human Rights Watch issued a detailed report of the ongoing atrocities backed and supported by policies from the United Nations. Kimia II, a joint military operation with the Congolese government, UN mission in the Congo, and US military advisors through AFRICOM aimed at neutralizing the threat from a Rwandan militia group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has resulted in exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Congo.
As a result of the prioritizing of a military solution over a political solution we are seeing close to a million Congolese fleeing their homes and moving into refugee camps, thousands killed, and hundreds more rape victims and mutilated civilians. In a bleak calculation by the coalition, for every rebel combatant disarmed during the operation, one civilian has been killed, seven women and girls have been raped, six houses burned and destroyed, and 900 people have been forced to flee their homes says the Human Rights Watch Report.
What we are seeing from the world community in the face of the sever situation in the Congo is a deafening silence. “With an investment this big, the UN has clout and should not remain silent when abuses occur,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Looking at the UN mandate, it has a strong mandate to protect civilians but there seems not to be a will on the part of nation members of the UN Security Council. The United States, a key player in the geo-strategic battle for Congo’s resources, has not exercised its power to truly follow and apply recommendations from Congolese civil society, Congolese politicians or the UN recommendations in order to stop the conflict in the Congo.
Knowing that American companies such as Kelso and Company, Pegasus Capital, Resource capital have been equity partners to Traxys, a company involved in the trade of coltan in the Congo, one should ask why has the U.S. been reluctant to hold its corporations accountable for the looting of Congo’s resources. This silence on the part of the U.S. government regarding U.S. corporate involvement has been devastating, especially when we look at the business practices of American companies such as Blattner Group, OM Group, and the copper giant Freeport McMoran, all of whom mine minerals that are key to the U.S. military and aerospace industries.
Given this overwhelming silence on the part of western governments, especially the U.S., students and community activists throughout the globe are increasingly breaking the silence in an effort to change the consensus that says it is acceptable for so many to die and suffer in the heart of Africa. Hence, we have mobilized to bring an end to the deadliest conflict since World War Two and assure that the affairs of the Congo are determined by the people of the Congo.
In order to achieve these objectives students, community activists and ordinary people throughout the globe have been pursuing three key strategies:
1. Education – learn as much as you can about the root elements of the Congo challenge
2. Mobilization – Get your family, friends, loved ones and others in your network involved
3. Support – provide support to local Congolese institutions working in the interest of the people
A key instrument for breathing life into the education, mobilization and support efforts (EMS) is the advent of Congo Week.
From October 18–24, 2009, students worldwide will join in solidarity with the people of the Congo in breaking the Silence about both the tragedy that has occurred in the Congo and also about its enormous potential that has been hidden for centuries. Congo Week is a global movement, which calls on people of goodwill all around the world to speak out about the injustices in the Congo. Students at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University initiated the effort in March 2008.
We believe that if ordinary people put enough pressure on world leaders and corporate figures who are currently involved in the Congo in a destructive fashion, change will come. The United States and Great Britain have a unique role to play in bringing about peace and stability in the Congo if for no other reason than that both governments and the corporations in their countries have played a decisive role in fueling the conflict and exploiting the Congo's resources. Both governments can follow in the footsteps of Sweden and Netherlands by doing the following:
1. Marshal a diplomatic offensive with the aim of supporting a political framework for ending the conflict as opposed to the military framework they have supported since 1996 and continue to support to this day.
2. Call on their allies, Rwanda and Uganda to be partners for peace and stability as opposed to the destructive and destabilizing roles they have played
3. Hold the corporations within their borders accountable for the role they have played in fueling the conflict and exploiting the people
4. Support the strengthening of local institutions instead of the strengthening of strongmen like Museveni and Kagame
As ordinary people continue to pressure their governments, we can be reassured that we will achieve extraordinary results in the Congo. Their actions from Japan to Costa Rica, Sweden to Australia, Ireland to South Africa are making a difference and are exactly what is needed to bring an end to the suffering of our fellow family members in the heart of Africa.
Kambale Musavuli is the spokesperson and student coordinator for Friends of the Congo, an advocacy group based in Washington DC. The organization's website can be found at http://www.friendsofthecongo.org.
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