Brooklyn born Playwright Lynn Nottage became only the second African American woman to win a Pullitzer Prize for drama for her play "Ruined." The play depicts the struggles and triumphs of Congolese women who are trapped in a resource war in the heart of Africa.

Nottage proves that the Congo drama is a world story that is universal and deserves the focus and attention of the global community.

Read more about Lynn's prize...

Ruined at the Manhattan Theatre Club

LA Times Interview!

Bloomberg article on Lynn Nottage

Lynn Nottage Dramatises the Congo conflict: The Economist

The Carter Center says that the people of the Congo will realize few benefits from the two-year mining review process with companies mining billions of dollars of gold, copper, cobalt, diamonds, and other minerals.

The Carter Center has drawn the following preliminary conclusions about the outcome of the process:

* Unwieldy: A major problem with the contracts was the vast array of divergent obligations that would be difficult to oversee and enforce even with a sophisticated regulatory apparatus, which the DRC lacks. That situation remains unchanged.
* Illusory: Most investors agreed to increased one-time, upfront payments; however, informed observers report that the payments are contingent and unlikely to be required under current economic conditions.
* Ephemeral: With the possible exception of conditions on debt financing for mining joint-ventures, there are no clear long-term benefits from the review. In the meantime, companies may still take advantage of weak provisions in many agreements to divert profits away from the investor company or to avoid paying taxes on real profits.

Read the entire statement from the Carter Center>>

To my beautiful sisters in the Congo: I write to you today to send you my love, my deep wishes for your peace and happiness, for the prosperity of your suffering country, and all of its people, animals and vegetation.

It’s mineral deposits, it’s diamonds and its gold. Its magical coltan. May all be blessed and may all be kept safe and secure from rapists and robbers, murderers and mischief makers of all description. May all sociopathic warlords and dictators, with their incomprehensible and endless greed, be escorted to the border. It is the women of the world who will have to put an end to war, inviting those men who truly value us, and Life, to join our crusade.

The “Holy Land” we must retake is the whole of Africa. It is the forests, the rivers, the soil. Like our Liberian sisters who stopped the war in their country, and like Wangari Maathai who planted trees all over Kenya, we must use our wisdom and intuition to stop all the forces that are destroying us. We can do this if we stand together as women, allowing neither religion nor cultural practices to come between us.

Yes, it is women rising who will save the world, if it is to be saved. We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Alice Walker

Join the International Women's Day Vigil!
Learn more about women in the Congo!

When rebel leader Laurent Nkunda launched his offensive against the people of the Congo in the Fall of 2008, one of his demands was that the Congolese government renegotiates its $9 billion deal with the Chinese. We reasoned on these pages that the root of Nkunda's demand had two possible sources: 1. He was trying to curry favor with the West because he knew the West was against the deal or 2. He was in fact being backed by the West via Rwanda to send a message to President Kabila that he needs to get back on the plantation for he had strayed too far in signing such a far-reaching deal with the Chinese.

Now that President Kabila has been apparently chastened (he has allowed Rwandan troops on Congolese soil due to Western pressure, mainly the US), we learn via the Financial Times that the West has ratcheted up its pressure for Congo to renegotiate its deal with the Chinese. Led by the Paris Club, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the West is unleashing its multi-lateral institutions on the people of the Congo.

One would have to have his/her head in the sand not to see the geo-strategic game being played out on the backs of the Congolese people. Nearly six-million dead, hundreds of thousands of women systematically raped as a weapon of war, and crushing poverty are not sufficient for the vampires sucking the blood of the people of Congo. People of conscience and good will throughout the globe must come to the side of the Congolese people as they weather the onslaught from an international cabal crushing them like grapes. We can no longer be silent in the face of such depredation. Break the Silence and take action now>>>

Americans and others in the West often ask what does the conflict in Congo have to do with us? Well, our governments continue to finance, train and arm destructive forces in Congo. Both the New York Times and Washington Post have reported US backing of military operations by Rwanda and Uganda, the United States staunchest allies in Central Africa. Both governments are responsible for gross human rights abuses, crimes against humanity and according to the United Nations maybe even genocide. In addition, both governments and their business elites have systematically looted the Congo.

Let your governments know that the militarization of the Congo in particular and Africa in general is not the answer and certainly NOT the change the people of Africa is looking for from a new U.S. Administration. Take Action Now>>

Congolese would have to be insane if they believe that the aggressor nations of Rwanda and Uganda are now agents of peace. The game has not changed, the recent developments reflect the latest attempt of Europe and America to control Congo's wealth via its pre-eminent proxy forces (Rwanda & Uganda) in Central Africa. We cannot overstate the fact that Congo's president Joseph Kabila was with Rwanda and Uganda in their 1996 invasion of the Congo. Jospeh Kabila was under the tutelage and guidance of James Kabarebe, the current aide-de camp of Paul Kagame. Hence, he is fulfilling is role as expected by the West.

The Sarkozy and Cohen Plans and most recently the Museveni proposal are all a part of the persistent effort to balkanize the Congo and place large swaths of Congo's wealth in the hands of America and British allies Rwanda and Uganda ostensibly to benefit Western corporate interests. Both Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda are firmly ensconced in the Corporate and Military complexes of America and Britain. The fact of the matter is that Rwanda and Uganda can no more relinquish its foothold in Eastern Congo than America can relinquish its foothold in Central Africa through its proxies Rwanda and Uganda. Unfortunately, its the people of the Congo who bear the brunt of the suffering of US foreign policy.

The key is for friends of the Congo on the outside of the country to continue to expose the underlying forces that produce the war, rapes and biblical scale suffering of the people of Congo. In addition, external friends of Congo need to step up its support of Congolese grassroots institutions and keep the pressure on the West's proxies in Central Africa in spite of the attempts of western intellectuals and humanitarian institutions to muddy the waters by pushing a genocide narrative and industry.

The Congolese people are obviously resolute in keeping their country in tact and securing their wealth. This will require the establishment of strong Congolese institutions to defend the interests of the people. The optimum way to be in solidarity with the people of the Congo is to provide support to Congolese institutions working to defend the interests of the people.

Take action now in solidarity with the people of the Congo.

Over the past week, events have unfolded at a dizzying pace in the Central Africa region; hence Friends of Congo thought it would be useful to add some context to the situation based on questions posed to us.

Is Laurent Nkunda’s arrest a positive development?

We have reasons to doubt that Laurent Nkunda has been arrested. Rwandan Maj. Jill Rutaremara said that Nkunda was in Rwanda but "not in jail." If Nkunda has in fact been arrested it would be a positive development but not a massive change as some analysts would like you to believe. A true marker of the veracity of Rwanda’s claims of arresting Nkunda will be the extradition of Nkunda to the Congo where he committed the crimes against the Congolese people. If Nkunda is not extradited to Congo in short order then that will be a clear sign that this is part of the shell game that Rwanda has been playing for the past 12 years, a period during which they replaced one proxy leader with another while they continued to occupy Eastern Congo. Even if Nkunda were to be arrested, it would be a fundamental flaw in one’s reasoning to believe that Nkunda was the primary cause of the conflict in the east. In essence, what has happened is that Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defense of the People has been replaced by thousands of Rwandan troops. The problem is Rwanda’s and Uganda’s aggression against the Congo backed primarily by the United States and British governments and corporate interests since 1996.

If Rwanda did in fact arrest Nkunda, doesn’t this mean that they never supported him as the December 12th UN Report documented?

No, to the contrary, over the past twelve years Rwanda has shuffled different rebel leaders according to its interests. It is in part for this reason there were so many versions of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD, former rebel militia backed by Rwanda), which Nkunda was a part of in 1998 – 2002 war. Nkunda’s apparent replacement, Jean-Bosco Ntaganda, also has an arrest warrant out for him issued by the International Criminal Court; one human rights offender has been replaced by another as Bosco now proclaims to head the CNDP.

A systemic and historical analysis is warranted in order to demystify current events in the Congo and arrive at prescriptions that will lead to lasting peace and stability. Unfortunately, the majority of Great Lakes analysts offer Rwanda-friendly analysis and prescriptions as Rwanda represents the US and British foreign policy interests in Central Africa. These analysts’ job is to provide intellectual and advocacy cover for an otherwise disastrous policy across now two US and British administrations that have led to the deaths of millions of Congolese and the systematic looting of Congo’s wealth to the benefit of U.S. allies Rwanda and Uganda as well as Western corporations.

Isn’t the new collaboration between Congo and Rwanda a good sign on the road to peace and stability in the region?

On December 5th, Rwanda and Congo signed a secret pact in Goma that the Congolese people know nothing about (President Kabila is scheduled to speak to his nation on this issue on Saturday, January 31, 2009). James Kabarebe, Chief of General Staff of the Rwandan Defense Forces and former private secretary and aide-de-camp of Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame was later dispatched to Kinshasa to consummate a deal with President Kabila. Thus, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, James Kabarebe, and President Kabila worked out a deal that resulted in over 5,000 Rwandan soldiers entering Congo. These are the same characters that collaborated in 1996 when Congo was first invaded by Rwanda during the Clinton administration. During that period they traversed the Congo slaughtering Hutu man, woman and child and anyone else who was in the way. The United Nations says that the killings were so massive and systematic that they can be considered crimes against humanity and possibly genocide. The United Nations investigation into these crimes against humanity by the Rwandan army, Kabarebe and Kabila was blocked and still remains to be resolved (see the UN investigations: http://www.inshuti.org/onua.htm). Once a responsible and credible government is in place in Congo all these crimes must be investigated and justice must be delivered so that the Congolese people can be made whole. Find out more about the Kagame, Kabarebe, Kabila connection in our January 20th Blog. In the final analysis, more troops and further militarization of the region is not the answer. A robust political path must be established in order to lead to peace and stability in the Great Lakes region.

So are you saying that President Kabila allowing Rwandan troops on Congolese soil to hunt down those responsible for the 1994 genocide is not a good thing?

The logic that allowing Rwandan soldiers on Congolese territory to hunt down Hutu rebels will bring about peace is fundamentally flawed. Below are some factors to consider:

1. The deal allowing Rwandan soldiers on Congolese soil was not between the Congolese government and the Rwandan government. It was between the Congolese president Joseph Kabila, whom many suspect is not even Congolese and the Kagame regime in Kigali. Neither the Congolese parliament nor the Congolese people were either consulted or addressed regarding Rwandan troops entering Congolese territory. In fact some Congolese are calling for the impeachment of Kabila. When it comes to matters in Africa, we tend to drop all critical faculties and common sense. Can you imagine troops entering US territory without the US Congress knowing about it and the president not even addressing the population to explain why? What is even more farcical is that some Congolese government officials are trying to convince the world that thousands of Rwandan soldiers are coming into the Congo as advisers to the Congolese troops. It has even been stated that the Rwandan troops will be under Congolese command. Will they be under the same compromised command that Nkunda chased out of North Kivu?

2. It is beyond imagination that Rwanda is going to do in a few weeks what it was not able to do or interested in doing when it occupied the Congo from 1996 – 2002. During this period of the occupation of eastern Congo they did not wipe out the so-called Hutu militia. In fact, the biggest battle they had was with their ally Uganda over mining concessions. Also, during this time they systematically looted Congo of its wealth. (See UN Reports from 2001 – 2003). It is this looting of Congo’s wealth that spurred the economic miracle that President Clinton and other Western officials wax eloquently about in Rwanda. You will notice that they never mention the degree to which ill-gotten wealth from the Congo contributed to Rwanda’s “economic miracle”. Former Secretary of State for African Affairs, Herman Cohen says it best when he notes “Having controlled the Kivu provinces for 12 years, Rwanda will not relinquish access to resources that constitute a significant percentage of its gross national product”.

3. What is almost certain is that Rwandan troops on Congolese soil will lead to more suffering of the people of the Congo. Analysts in the West have not fully appreciated the enmity that the average Congolese holds toward Rwanda. Remember, it was the US and British backed Rwandan and Ugandan invasions of 1996 and 1998 that unleashed the deaths of estimated millions of Congolese. So, for one to say that Rwandan soldiers are now going to make things better for the people of the Congo does not take history into account. One merely has to look at the Congo-Ugandan action against Ugandan rebels inside Congolese territory to see where this latest action is heading. Over 600 Congolese civilians lost their lives as a result of military action against the Lord’s Resistance Army in Congo, which began over a month ago. Moreover, that operation was supposed to take a few weeks and now Uganda is requesting more time on Congo’s soil, while Congo’s gold and timber continue to find its way into Uganda.

What role are great powers playing in what is unfolding in the Congo?

It is key to understand how the game is played to keep Africa dependent and impoverished. Because the West is more powerful than the divided and weak African nations, they have been able to assassinate or systematically sideline leaders who truly serve the interest of the people. They facilitate the ascension to power of those who demonstrate a proclivity for killing their fellow Africans. Once these feckless leaders are in power and predictably incapable of governing, western diplomats condescendingly intervene on the premise that those they have assisted in acquiring power either through elections or otherwise cannot in fact justly govern. This narrative is buttressed by superficial media coverage of African society, intellectuals for hire by Western powers and the humanitarian industry. It is in this context that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Herman Cohen, have proposed the balkanization and economic neutering of the Congo. They have made proposals to reward Rwanda and their Western support structure for the systematic looting of Congo, which has resulted in unmatched death and terror for the Congolese people. Nearly 125 years since Europe gave Congo to King Leopold II of Belgium as his own personal property, the situation is fundamentally the same whereby the affairs of the Congolese people are not determined by themselves; but rather by external forces.

So what can be positively drawn from recent events?

Several things can be looked at positively:

1. It is clear that international pressure works. It has moved Rwanda to at least announce the arrest of Nkunda. As was said, the litmus test for whether Nkunda has actually been arrested is his extradition to Kinshasa, otherwise for all intents and purposes he is vacationing in Rwanda at the behest of Kagame while Rwandan troops roam the hillsides of Eastern Congo with the blessing of Joseph Kabila. The U.S. is finding it increasingly difficult to defend its proxy, Rwanda, as both French and Spanish courts (the same Spanish court that ruled against Pinochet of Chile ) have arrest warrants out on President Kagame’s top officials for commission of war crimes, one of whom, Rose Kabuye, was arrested in Germany in November 2008. Despite such repeated damning evidence against the Kagame regime, under the auspices of Donald Rumsfeld’s AFRICOM program, the US sent a shipment of military equipment to Rwanda for peace keeping purposes in Western Sudan in early January 2009, coinciding with Rwandan troops intervention in Congo. The military shipment is supposed to be used for peace keeping in Western Sudan. Both Sweden and the Netherlands suspended aid to Rwanda and of course the damning December 12th UN Report have made it difficult for anyone to defend Rwanda except for some ideologically-driven humanitarian institutions. Even the New York Times editorial board continues to call for international pressure on Rwanda.

2. Kagame felt a necessity to adjust to the new realities in Washington. He could not necessarily count on President Obama to give him carte blanche as he has received from Presidents Clinton and Bush. Rwanda is certainly still a staunch ally of the U.S. However, Kagame cannot be certain that President Obama will fully support him in spite of some of the old guards (Susan Rice at the UN and Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State) being in the administration. The Obama administration can hardly present itself as an administration of change with an old policy for the Great Lakes in particular and Africa in general. The new administration would be best served to implement policies that serve the people and not strongmen like Kagame and Kabila.

3. The US and British baked resource war of aggression is being disrobed on a daily basis. The hunt for the Hutu rebels is an attempt to recast the conflict in an ethnic context. The Hutu rebels, otherwise know as the Interahamwe or Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR in French) need to be dealt with, but not in the manner currently underway. Remember, it has been the Congolese people who have been the primary victims of the presence of the Hutu rebels in the Congo. Nonetheless, what is happening in Central Africa is a high stakes geo-political battle for precious and strategic resources that are vital to the world’s military, aeronautics, electronics and technology industries. This interview with British Foreign Minister David Miliband provides some insight and perspective on the vital corporate interests in Central Africa.

4. The average person is becoming better informed and more engaged about the root causes of the deadliest conflict in the world since World War Two. They are better equipped to demand action from their elected officials and challenge humanitarian institutions that come to their communities peddling warmed over ethnic explanations for the suffering of the people of Congo.

We are confident that with persistent education, organization and mobilization, the people of Congo will be free from the forces that have her sons and daughters living in absolute misery while we in the West benefit from her riches.

Join the global movement in support of the people of the Congo and strike a blow for justice and human dignity.

Produced by the FOTC Team

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Listen to weekly podcast.
Let President Obama know that a change is needed in US policy towards the Congo.
Sign-up for the Break the Silence Speakers Spring Tour.
Read the analysis on the latest UN Report on Congo by Kambale Musavuli.
Become a Friend of the Congo.

Let us see if we got this right. The United Nations publish a groundbreaking study that affirms what the Congolese people have been saying since 1996, that U.S. backed Rwandan aggression against the Congo has not ceased since that time. The report documented Rwanda's support of rebel leader Laurent Nkunda. So in response, the Congolese government invite to its capital one of the most infamous butchers on Congo's soil, James Kabarebe, Chief of General Staff of the Rwandan Defense Forces and former private secretary and aide-de-camp of Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame. Both Kabarebe and current Congolese President Joseph Kabila were a part of the human slaughter of Congolese and Hutu refugees (men, women and children) in 1996/'97.

It is quite shocking that the people of Kinshasa allowed Kabarebe the butcher to saunter in and out of the nations capital without a peep. It is no surprise however that President Kabila welcomed Kabarebe. Kabila was under the tutelage of Kabarebe in the late 1990s and was with him at the massacre of Tingi Tingi. Today the 1996 invasion crew of Kagame, Museveni, Kabarebe and Kabila has come full circle undoubtly to heap more pain and suffering on the people of the Congo. It is far beyond time that the Congolese people rise up and reject the further militarization of their country whether it comes from Kigali or Kinshasa and ostensibly backed by Washington and London.

For the past twelve years, U.S. ally, Rwanda has used the so-called Hutu presence in Congo as a pretext for invading the country and systematically looting it of its enormous natural wealth. Unfortunately, the same pre-text is being cynically used in collaboration with the Kabila-led Congolese government to divert the mounting global pressure on the Kagame regime’s transgressions in the Congo through its proxy rebel forces in the East of Congo.

Should the newly sworn in Obama administration not want the stain of the blood and deaths of millions of Africans on its hands like the Clinton and Bush administrations, it should cease the US's militarization of the African continent and Central Africa in particular. Congo's soil has become the military playground for the United States and its Rwandan and Ugandan allies. Just over the holiday season hundreds of Congolese were slaughtered as a result of the joint Ugandan-Congo military offensive against the Lord's Resistance Army of Joseph Kony.

Militarization is not the answer. Robust political solutions are needed to address the myriad crises in Central Africa. The strengthening of Congolese institutions is needed. The Congolese people need justice and reconciliation not thousands of Rwandan troops.

A Few Key Links:

• Rwanda Stirs Deadly Brew of Troubles in Congo
• Johann Hari: How we fuel Africa's bloodiest war
• Countering the FDLR
• Primer on Conflict in the Congo
  

Speech to be delivered on January 17, 2009 in Raleigh

48 years ago, on this 17th day of January, the first freely elected Prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Patrice Emery Lumumba, was brutally murdered by the United States, Belgium, and certain local elites because he wanted the resources of the Congo to benefit the Congolese people. He, as a public servant to his people, fought day in and day out to bring the Congolese people independence from Belgium. On this day we commemorate him, we need to always remember that he gave his life for us to have a better future than he had. His legacy lives and his bullet-proof ideas still resonate in our generation. As I speak to you today, the underlying reason of his murder still remains the central question for the conflict in the Congo since 1996. The underlying issue is who is going to control Congo's wealth and for whose benefit.

To those of you that may not know what is taking place in the Congo, I would like to tell you that Congo is bleeding and dying a thousand deaths. The Congo is the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today where nearly 6 million people have died since 1996; half of them children under the age of 5 and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped all as a result of the scramble for Congo's wealth. The United Nations said it is the deadliest conflict in the world since World War Two.

Yet, Doctors without borders say that it is one of the most under-reported stories of our time. The media is silent, the government is silent, and the world is silent.

Why is the world silent? A time comes when silence is betrayal says Dr. King. He goes on to say that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". It is a scar to the human conscience to know what is happening in the Congo and do nothing about it. It is up to all of us to help the children of the Congo who live in a refugee camp for months, sometimes years just because the world need the resources of the Congo. As Guevara stated years ago, Congo's problem is a world's problem". As Gaza receives the media attention due to the unthinkable tragedy taking place there, we shall not forget that immeasurable tragedies that are taking place in the Congo with 45,000 people dying every month just for the blings of our lives and the rings of our phones.

What can we all do to work with our brave brothers and sisters in the Congo waging a fight for peace and human dignity?

I will start with you, my Congolese brothers, sisters, and elders. I want you to remember what Lumumba said before his death in his last letter to his wife

"The future of the Congo is beautiful and that it expects for each Congolese, to accomplish the sacred task of reconstruction of our independence and our sovereignty; for without dignity there is no liberty, without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free men." A greater sacrifice on the part of Congolese is needed for the sons and daughters of the Congo.

What sacrifices are we willing to make so that our brothers and sisters in Congo can live peacefully as we do in America, what kind of sacrifices are we making so that our Congolese children can go to school as they do here, so that our young mothers are not widowed, so that our sisters are not raped, so that our brothers are not joining militias because there is no better option, so that people do not go hungry in the most fertile land in Africa, what sacrifices are we willing to make so that our Congolese families can live in dignity, as we do here... WHAT SACRIFICES ARE WE MAKING?

We are the ones who will rebuild our beautiful country. We need you in every sector of life. The world will help us, but they won't fight for our country. The world would put pressure on their government, but will not elect our leaders in 2011, the world will advocate for us, but will not reform our political system for us. We must sacrifice our time to the Congo, our life if necessary.

Some of us are Congolese Americans and should pressure the American government by lobbying day in and day out to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters at home. Some of us work for hospitals, and could help in sending medical supplies to many clinics that need it at home. Some even owns companies, and they could help in any way possible. Our people on the ground need your help. Always remember our origin. They can take you out of the Congo, but cannot take Congo out of you. We need to support our people at home. The future of the Congo is bright as I can see in the eyes of students and people I meet all over the country.

[personal testimony].

KIPP DC: Will Academy, a local elementary school in Washington, DC

The Avonside Girls’ High students

North Carolina A&T Students

Through all my travels, I met so many compassionate people from all races and faith. And all of them were ready to support the Congolese people. To all of you who are here on this cold day, remember that Congo needs you. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

The forces against the Congo are tremendous. We want you to join the global movement to break the silence around the atrocities taking place in the Congo. We hope that this new wind can be TODAY what the Free South Africa movement was yesterday. Bring your talents, your ideas, your skills to help us support the Congolese people.

Call your local leaders, radio stations, inform your professors in your universities, talk with Congolese as they try to find healing from this suffering. Let people in your network know about the Congo.

Just imagine Congo's spectacular potential which ranges from its fauna and flora to its untapped reserves of resources. It is a storehouse of strategic minerals we use in our daily lives. 64% of the world's reserve of coltan is found in the Congo. It is a part of the second largest rainforest in the world behind the Amazon. It has the hydro capacity to provide electricity for the entire African continent, southern Europe and parts of the Middle East. It could feed the entire world through 2050. Did you know that the oldest mathematical artifact was found in the Congo? It is called the Ishango bones and is about 22,000 years-old.

All the potential of the Congo can be realized with unity, dedication, and the submission of individual/personal aspirations to collective will. We ask that you BREAK THE SILENCE... in your daily lives and support us in our quest to bring about fundamental changes in the Congo.

Lumumba stated, We are not alone. Africa, Asia, and free and liberated people from every corner of the world will always be found at the side of the Congolese, I hope you will stay engaged in our quest to bring peace and stability in our Congo, and finally start rebuilding our country and help it rise like a phoenix.

"Together, my brothers, my sisters, we are going to begin a new struggle, a sublime struggle, which will lead our country to peace, prosperity, and greatness".