The 17-year quest for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken a significant step in the right direction after the national military routed the Rwanda and Uganda-backed M23 militia and declared an end to its reign of terror against the Congolese people; however, many concerns remain.

In order to support this victory and make lasting improvements in stability and security in the region, it is critical to understand why, after such a long time, these efforts to defeat a Rwanda-backed  militia group have finally met with success. The following factors have played a decisive role:

1. The group was weakened earlier this year after an internal split that drove an estimated 600 of its members to seek refuge in Rwanda. The leader of one wing of the group, Bosco Ntaganda, was delivered to the International Criminal Court to stand trial.

2. Through demonstrations and rallies the Congolese people have been increasingly pressuring their government to defend the nation and provide its soldiers the necessary tools to protect the people.

3. The Congolese military in the North Kivu province was restructured and reorganized to better orchestrate offensive operations.

4. The United Nations implemented resolution 2098 issued in March 2013 and fielded a new 3,000 strong Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) made up of South African, Tanzanian and Malawian soldiers. The FIB provided back-up and support for the newly retooled Congolese forces.

5. After 17 years of providing virtual carte-blanche to the Rwandan regime and its repeated interventions in the DRC, both the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom and the Secretary of State of the United States called President Paul Kagame and impressed upon him the importance of his noninvolvement; President Kagame was instructed to refrain from sending back-up and reinforcement to the M23 while they were being confronted by the Congolese military and the UN's Force Intervention Brigade.

The international political pressure brought to bear on President Paul Kagame and the Rwandan regime is probably the most critical element resulting in the defeat of the M23 militia.

After 17 years marked by impunity and lack of accountability, the last two years of instability in eastern Congo (supported mainly by Rwanda and to a lesser extent Uganda in their backing of the M23 militia) has driven Washington to act. A series of factors contributed to the U.S. taking a reluctant stance against its key ally in the Great Lakes region of Africa. UN reports documenting Rwanda's support for the M23 led the U.S. to withdraw military aid from its staunch ally in the summer of 2012.

A number of European nations followed suit in withholding aid from Rwanda on the basis of the UN findings. A game-changer came only a few months after. In November 2012 the Rwanda backed-M23 captured the city of Goma (a city with an estimated 1 million inhabitants) and humiliated the nearly 20,000 strong UN troops who are in the Congo ostensibly to protect Congolese civilians. UN reports subsequently documented the role of Rwandan soldiers in the capturing of the city by the M23. The U.S. sanctioned Rwanda in the fall of 2013 for its support of M23 who continued to recruit and abduct children and again withheld military aid to Paul Kagame’s regime.

Until recently the U.S. has been largely silent on its allies’ destabilization of Congo despite a law on the books since 2006 that unequivocally calls for holding them accountable (Section 105 of U.S. Public Law 109-456, authorizes the Secretary of State to withhold aid from neighboring countries that destabilize the Congo).  Damning evidence of the destabilizing role that Rwanda and Uganda have played is well documented and some international actors have sought to hold them accountable.

In 2005 the International Court of Justice ruled against Uganda in a case involving war crimes, crimes against humanity and the pilfering of Congo’s riches. The court ruled that Congo was entitled to $10 billion in reparations as a result of Uganda's crimes in the Congo. (The Wall Street Journal also reports that fearing possible action by the ICC, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni asked Kofi Annan to block an investigation).

In 2008, the Spanish Courts under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction issued an international arrest warrant for 40 of Rwanda's top officials for crimes they committed both in Rwanda and the Congo. The documents show that President Paul Kagame would have been indicted, himself, if heads of states were not immune from such an indictment. That same year, both the Netherlands and Sweden withheld aid from Rwanda for its support of militia (Congress for the National Defense of the People – CNDP, the precursor and parent of M23) in the DRC.

Although many other militia groups remain active in the DRC and must be dealt with in order to stabilize eastern Congo, responsible reportage must acknowledge that M23 is unique and more symptomatic of a regional and international problem than a merely national one. M23 is not simply “a militia;” it is a proxy military force that has been repeatedly reinforced and backed by neighboring states. Enabled by their status as U.S. allies, Rwanda and Uganda have been free to act with impunity in the region and at the same time shielded from the institutions of justice put in place to ensure accountability. Despite the mounds of evidence, neither the U.S. nor the UN has placed any of the top level Rwandan leaders recommended by the UN Group of Experts on its sanctions list – a sure sign of the continued favor and protection that has been feeding the cycle of military aggression and instability in eastern Congo.

Unless stronger political action is taken and these violent actors face justice, history indicates that this cycle is likely to repeat.  The M23 constitutes the latest iteration of so-called rebellions that have, in fact, been a series of militia groups backed by both Rwanda and Uganda since 1996. The militia backed by Rwanda include: Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire, 1996 - 1997; Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) 1998 - 2003; National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), 2004 - 2009; and M23, 2012 - Present.  Rwanda is still holding militia leaders who are either on the UN and US sanctions list or wanted by the Congolese government for their war crimes in the Congo – most notably Jules Mutebusi, Laurent Nkunda and Jean-Marie Runiga and Uganda is in possession of Sultani Makenga. These individuals and other top-level officials in the Rwandan regime must face justice.

Though there’s much current celebration around the “defeat of M23,” it is important to understand that peace will ultimately take root in the DRC only when at least three conditions are met:

1. Rwanda and Uganda must definitively cease its 17 years of intervention and military aggression in the DRC. Although the U.S. and UK have put pressure on Rwanda to abandon its support of the M23, pressure must be placed on both Rwanda and Uganda to permanently abandon their interventions in the DRC.

2. The Congolese people must have a legitimate government that has the support and popular will of the population at large. The current government, which lacks legitimacy, has mainly served to exacerbate the conflict and has contributed to serious diplomatic blunders at the regional, continental, and international levels.

3. Finally, and most importantly, it is only once the Congolese people control and determine their own affairs that lasting peace, stability and human dignity can be restored in the heart of Africa.

Kambale Musavuli is based in New York City, and serves as the spokesman for the Friends of the Congo, a group that raises global consciousness about the situation in the Congo and provides support to local institutions. He is featured in the short film "Crisis in the Congo: Uncovering the Truth," an abbreviated version of the upcoming feature length documentary that explores the role that the United States and its allies, Rwanda and Uganda, have played in triggering the greatest humanitarian crisis at the dawn of the 21st century.

As we embark upon the sixth anniversary of Breaking The Silence Congo Week, we greet you in a period of opportunity and possibilities. Due to your engagement, an increasing number of people throughout the globe is becoming aware of the situation in the Congo and demanding of their leaders that they do all in their power to bring an end to the deadliest conflict in the world since World War Two.

The United Nations, African Union, the United States and other countries are getting more involved, however, greater engagement is not a prescription in and of itself. The application of policies grounded in justice for the Congolese people is paramount to bringing about peace and lasting stability in the Congo and the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Young Congolese both inside and outside of the Congo along with their allies in the global community are mobilizing to assure that policies are implemented to benefit the Congolese people as a whole. Each year, Breaking the Silence Congo Week provides a platform to commemorate the millions of lives lost, elevate the profile of the Congo and engage an increasing number of supporters in the global Congo movement.

We encourage you this year to join us from October 20 - 26, 2013 as we build a global consensus for peace and justice in the Congo.

This year, we are prioritizing three concrete actions:

1. Participate in the Dear John Campaign (A campaign to send a letter/postcard to Secretary of State John Kerry demanding that the US hold its allies in the region accountable for their destabilizing of the DRC)

2.  Organize a fundraiser or benefit event to raise at least $500 to support Congolese youth both inside and outside of the DRC who are organizing for peace and justice. Find out more here: http://congoconnect.org

3. Recruit individuals and organizations (student, women, peace, labor, faith-based, human rights, environmental, etc) to participate in Congo Week and join the Congo Week organizing committee by emailing us at support@congoweek.org.

We encourage you to seize this moment and become a part of a noble pursuit for peace, justice and human dignity in the heart of Africa, our home, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Samya Lugoma
Youth Coordinator

Kambale Musavuli
Spokesperson

Sign-up for Congo Week!
http://congoweek.org/participation-form.html

Remember to post your event on the events calendar:
http://congoweek.org/component/events/

Share the Congo Week promotional video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiDxvt3pveA&feature=player_embedded

Download Congo Week Organizers Tool Kit and Materials:
http://congoweek.org/downloads.html

Screen our film Crisis in the Congo: Uncovering the Truth
http://congojustice.org

Participate in the CELL-OUT, on October 23, 2013. The CELL-OUT is a one-hour digital moment of silence in support of the Congolese people.
http://congoweek.org/the-cell-out.html

The Hard Truths We Must Swallow: The Rwandan Government Wreaking Havoc in Congo
By
Alice Gatebuke
Rwandan genocide survivor
The Rwandan Genocide was 19 years ago. Though the genocide ended in 1994, its consequences are still deeply felt today. For myself and other survivors, those memories are ever-present. We have never forgotten the horrors we lived through, as unimaginable violence overtook our country. We grapple with mixed emotions, trying to process, and come to terms with today's reality. Our struggle has evolved from physical survival, to that of emotional turmoil caused by our trauma. Some days, we are grateful to be alive, to breathe, and to feel. Other days are fraught with anger, guilt, and sadness. We wrestle with endless, unanswerable questions. Many days we feel unworthy to be alive. We cannot comprehend why we are still alive and why many others perished. Why me, we wonder? Why not my family or friends? We wonder why we had to witness their demise and are angry because we felt so helpless. Try as we might, we can never reverse the darkest moments of our lives. We cannot undo the damage, no matter how hard we wish we could. The genocide was real, it happened, and we live with its consequences to this very day. I was a powerless child, but still, what if there was something I could have done? And what if it happened again?

It is precisely this fear of another genocide carried out by the same perpetrators that carried out the genocide of 1994 that motivated the current Rwandan government's first invasion of Congo in 1996. It is this fear that has sustained the Rwandan government's justification for repeated intervention in the Congo over the last 16 years. And it is precisely why the world continues to live with the consequences of the Rwandan Genocide. Even though as survivors of the Rwandan Genocide we understood the security the Rwandan government sought when they first invaded Congo, we did not sanction the human catastrophe they triggered. We did not sanction the torture, rape, and possible genocide of women, children, and the elderly that were targeted in Congo when the Rwandan Government sent troops inside of Congo for "our protection." And we certainly did not sanction the government of Rwanda's "Six-Day War" against Uganda over a diamond mine inside Congo, leaving significant numbers of Congolese people dead, injured, and displaced. And even now, we do not sanction the violation of the United Nations arms embargo, undermining of peace deals and processes, and commanding proxy rebel groups who kill, torture, rape, and displace people, while illegally capturing cities in Congo. And most of all, we do not sanction any attempt to annex any part of Congo in our name.

Since the first invasion, more than 5 million people have died in Congo, making it the deadliest conflict since the Second World War. And many of those deaths lie at the hands of the Rwandan government. These are hard truths we must swallow. Not only must we come to terms with crimes that were committed against us, we must now deal with crimes committed in our names. These crimes are not simply committed in our names, survivors of the Rwandan Genocide, but in the name of the entire global community that stands still, providing tacit approval. They are also committed for the same international community that justifies, excuses, and protects, the Rwandan government, as it continues to wreak havoc in the Congo. Though we could not stop or stand up against the violent acts that were committed against us during the Rwandan genocide, we can and we must stop and stand up against crimes committed against others, crimes committed in our name in Congo.

After 16 years of invasion and intervention through proxy groups, it is still difficult for people in the international community to accept that the Rwandan government is guilty of anything but justified intervention in Congo. But members of the international community must look past the glowing economic reviews, look past the constant denials, and well-oiled public relations machine, and deal with the hard truths. The Rwandan government is committing unspeakable crimes against humanity in the Congo under false pretenses, and we must stop it. U.S. President Barack Obama understood this when as Senator, he authored and passed into law the Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security and Democracy Promotion Act, PL 109-456 in 2006 that called for accountability for Congo's neighbors who destabilize the country. And he understood it last summer when he cut $200,000 in military aid to Rwanda. And he understood it last December when he personally made a call to Rwandan President Paul Kagame and asked him to cease support of the M23 rebel group, currently wreaking havoc in Congo.

Despite all these steps from the Obama administration to address the conflict, the Rwandan government continues to relentlessly support, arm, and command rebel groups such as the M23, while these groups continues to commit war crimes and human rights violations in Congo. It is precisely because we refuse to swallow these hard truths that the Rwandan government continues to commit such atrocities unchallenged and with impunity. If we can muster the courage to face these truths, we can impose accountability measures consistent with the degree of suffering and instability wrought by the Rwandan government against the Congolese people. We can and we should sanction and impose travel bans and freeze assets of identified Rwandan military personnel responsible for committing atrocities in Congo. And we should cut or withhold military aid to a dangerous regime that wages and sponsors war and conflict in the territory of another nation.

Survivors of the Rwandan Genocide mourned and commemorate the 19th anniversary of the genocide this past spring. As we commemorate our loved ones, we continue to grapple with traumas of our past, and issues of our present. Our responsibility lies in what we do with our future, and how we stand up to evil perpetrated against our neighbors. We, along with the rest of the world, must no longer refuse to swallow difficult and painful truths, and dedicate consistent focus and action towards resolving the deadliest conflict since the Second World War in Congo.

President Jakaya Kikwete
Magogoni Road
P.O. Box 9120,
Dar es Salaam,

Re: President Obama’s Visit to Tanzania and Sustainable Solutions to Regional Conflicts

We, the African Great Lakes Coalition (AGLC), a USA diverse and broad-based coalition of Advocacy and human rights activists and organizations, were encouraged by your recent remarks at a special meeting of Heads of State from the Great Lakes Region in Addis Ababa. For nearly two decades, Congolese groups across the board have been calling for an inter-Rwandese dialogue as a means to advance peace and stability in the region.

We write to you to encourage your nation to continue to serve in its legacy of peaceful mediation, as it once did, in pre-genocide Rwanda through the negotiations of the Arusha Peace Accords. We also urge you to raise your proposed approach to regional stability to President Obama on his upcoming visit with Tanzania.

We thank you for your engagement, and encourage you to continue to pursue sound and sustainable measures of peace and security in the African Great Lakes Region. We strongly believe in holding all parties involved in the conflict, including the current Rwandan government accountable, and believe any peaceful and sustainable solutions will require engaging all parties.

Our stories are those of tragedy. We lived through pre-genocide Rwanda, where a raging war between the former Rwandan military, and the former Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels created conditions that easily facilitated one of Rwanda’s darkest and saddest moments, the Rwandan Genocide. We subsequently lived through the Rwandan Genocide, and miraculously survived. In both pre, and genocidal Rwanda, we lost friends, and relatives.

We also lived through and witnessed the eventual escalation of the carnage in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where six million people have lost their lives, with the conflict still in motion as the M23 and other militias supported by outside powers, continue to wreak havoc on Congolese societies. In both countries, the conflicts were devastating for us personally, and for our communities.

We can no more accept what happened in Rwanda, both with the genocide, and the preceding war, than we can accept the continuation of the deadliest conflict since the Second World War.

Please raise your proposed approach to lasting solutions for regional peace during President Obama’s impending visit to Tanzania! It is in line with a law he passed as a Senator in 2006, PL 109-456 popularly known as the Obama law.

Sincerely,

African Great Lakes Coation: African Great Lakes Action Network, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, Friends of the Congo, Foreign Policy in Focus, Mobilization for Peace and Justice in Congo

Cc:
Barack Obama, United States President
John Kerry, United States Secretary of States
David Cameron, United Kingdom of Great Britain Prime Minister
Justine Greening, United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Development
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, African Union Secretary General
Uwe Corsepius, European Union Secretary General
Ban Ki Moon, United Nations General Secretary

Bosco Ntaganda's Surrender: What Must Be Different This Time
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken into custody war crimes suspect Bosco Ntaganda.  The U.S. Department of State confirmed on Monday, March 18th that the Rwandan native, wanted by the ICC on seven counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity, turned himself in to the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, and asked to be sent to the ICC.  He is the first suspect to surrender himself voluntarily to the ICC.  Bosco Ntaganda has two ICC warrants (2006 & 2012) against him for war crimes and crimes against humanity, accused of child soldier use, murder, rape and sexual slavery. He is the third high-profile veteran of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and Rwanda-backed militia leader in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to have fled to Rwanda after having committed heinous crimes in the Congo. Jules Mutebesi, formerly of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), did the same in 2004 while Laurent Nkunda continued the illicit Rwanda-backed network under the guise of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) in 2006. In 2009, when global pressure built on Rwanda to cease its support of the CNDP and its leader Laurent Nkunda, Rwanda  placed Laurent Nkunda under house arrest (he remains under house arrest in Rwanda) and replaced him with Bosco Ntaganda. Today, due to pressure, Bosco Ntaganda has been removed from the equation and Sultani Makenga now stands to take Bosco's place presiding over the same Rwanda-backed illicit network that has been a fixture in the eastern provinces of the DRC for the past 15 years.

It is vital for the global community to understand that Bosco Ntaganda neither acted alone nor as a "rebel" in the sense that many portray him, but as a Rwandan proxy.  It has been a common political tactic, on Rwanda's part, to install top military officials in the Congolese military. When Rwanda first invaded the DRC in 1996, for instance, it installed James Kabarebe as Army Chief of staff.  Kabarebe, who is currently Rwandan Chief of Defense, was named in the November 2012 UN Group of Experts Report as among the top level officials in the Rwandan government orchestrating and commanding the M23 militia in the DRC. He was also responsible for replacing Laurent Nkunda with Bosco Ntaganda as head of the CNDP in 2009.

Bosco Ntaganda has been transferred to the ICC and many wonder what secrets he will reveal. The fate of this individual and the content of his testimony during the trial may divert attention from the real question at hand: will the global community allow the Rwanda-backed illicit network in the eastern provinces of the DRC to remain intact?  As clearly shown when Mutebesi and Nkunda were removed from the field, the military aggression in the region does not require Bosco Ntaganda to continue its operations. Moreover, both Bosco and Makenga took up arms against the Congolese people and Makenga is under U.S. and U.N. sanctions for the use of child soldiers and other crimes, reminding us that the issue is not Bosco alone, but the network and/or system that produces the likes of Bosco, Mutebesi, Nkudunda, Makenga and a host of others. The DRC's current president, Joseph Kabila, who lacks legitimacy, is complicit in preserving this network rather than laying the groundwork for peace and security in the country. He utilized the network to intimidate voters and appropriate the 2011 elections. Will he once again enter into a deal with yet another Rwanda-backed militia leader--Sultani Makenga--leaving the illicit network intact and operational?

Although there has been a recent increase in focus and attention on the region and the U.S. has acknowledged on several occasions the destructive role that its allies Rwanda and, to a lesser extent, Uganda have been playing in destabilizing the eastern provinces of the DRC, the administration has clearly hit the threshold of its willingness to hold these client states to account-a threshold that is too low to exert the pressure needed for significant change. The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, effectively reinforced the Obama administration's official stance when she recently stated that, while the U.S. recognizes that Rwanda has been "negatively involved" in the DRC, holding them accountable is "complicated."  Complexity is not a viable reason to continue "business-as-usual" when the result is widespread suffering.  Rwanda and Uganda, both led by strongmen and lauded in the international community, have invaded the Congo twice and consistently sponsored militia groups inside the Congo resulting in the death of millions of Congolese civilians, and yet the political will of the United States and the global community to hold them accountable remains lamentably weak.

Congolese people are seeking peace and justice. Trying Bosco Ntaganda at the ICC may lead to some measure of justice for the crimes perpetrated at his behest; however, it appears that his backers in Rwanda may very well be let off the hook yet again and allowed to continue their military aggression against the DRC. While the drama has been unfolding in Rwanda, Paul Kagame has been on an image rehabilitation tour in the U.S., getting support from Harvard University, Coca-Cola, the World Bank, and long-time supporter and Civil Rights icon, Andrew Young. Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair and Howard G. Buffet, son of multi-billioniare Warren Buffet, have been on a public relations offensive to cleanse Rwanda's image of any association with criminal activity in the DRC.

Public propaganda and promotional appeals must not be allowed to cover for Rwanda's destructive role in the region.  Though support for Paul Kagame and the Rwandan regime exists at the highest levels of government and industry in the West, volumes of studies and reports from 1997 to present have established the verity of their longstanding aggression against the DRC.  The responsibility of those working for peace in the region remains to acknowledge the body of evidence and to put pressure on Rwanda to cease its sponsorship, support, and backing of illicit networks in the DRC that have visited untold suffering upon the people of Congo. When searching for solutions, it is vital to examine recent history for ways to avoid feeding cycles of violence. The Congolese government must not integrate the Rwanda-backed M23 network into the Congolese military as it did in 2009, which laid the foundations of the current crisis, or we will face a similar problem in another few years.

Militia leaders who have fled to Rwanda after having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the DRC should face justice. Figures such as Laurent N'Kunda Batware, Jean-Marie Runiga, Baudouin Ngaruye and Jules Mutebesi would be a good start. As a result of the UN-created Peace Framework for the DRC, former Irish Prime Minister, Mary Robinson was appointed as UN Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region. As Special Envoy, Prime Minister Robinson can seize the opportunity to push for these other war criminals in Rwanda to face justice.  This would send a signal to leaders in the region that the global community is finally serious about combating impunity and lack of accountability in the DRC.

Since President Obama's 2009 Speech in Ghana, where he declared that the U.S. was ready to support "strong institutions" and not "strongmen" in Africa, many have been awaiting this much-needed shift in U.S. foreign policy.  Unfortunately, the declaration rings hollow, especially to the nearly one million Congolese who have been displaced since Spring 2012, because, in spite of all the mayhem and suffering that Rwanda's strongman, Paul Kagame has sponsored in the DRC, he continues to receive strong support and backing from Washington and a plethora of powerful institutions and individuals in the West.  The arrest of Bosco Ntaganda should not be seen as a solution, but as a test-a test of the global community's political will to help dismantle the destabilizing networks in the eastern provinces of the DRC that produces the likes of Bosco Ntaganda.

By Kambale Musavuli
Spokesperson, Friends of the Congo

Obama Administration Official Provides Insights on U.S. Congo Policy
Last week (Monday, February 11, 2013) at the Brookings Institution, outgoing Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, presented an outline of the Obama Administration's policy position on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The purpose of Ambassador Carson's presentation-  titled "Finding a Lasting Solution to Instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo-" was twofold: discussing why efforts should be redoubled to bring stability to the Congo and laying out a framework for "moving forward." He outlined four main reasons for action: 1. The moral imperative to respond; 2. The consequences of Congolese instability for U.S. National Interest; 3. The fiscal and financial imperatives calling for attention to the situation; 4. The contention that failure in bringing stability to DRC is not an option for the world. Ambassador Carson asserted in clear terms  "that the international community has a moral imperative to act more effectively in the D.R.C. to break this cycle of death and suffering and to address the other consequences of this violence" He laid out the Administration's strategy for action and moving forward, which includes:
1. Implementation of the UN Framework Agreement (PDF) - to be signed on Sunday, February 24th
2. Establishment of a comprehensive and inclusive peace process around the UN Framework Agreement (PDF) led by a UN Special Envoy
3. Restructuring of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) including the integration of a regional intervention brigade
4.Enactment of Governance and security sector reform in the DRC

Ambassador Carson called for greater attention to and response to the crisis in the DRC. However, it appears that the administration continues to operate on the notion that "quiet diplomacy" is the best way forward when it comes to holding its allies Rwanda and Uganda accountable for their role in destabilizing the Congo.

The most telling and poignant point in Ambassador Carson's remarks came, not in his presentation of the Obama Administration's four pronged approach, but in the question and answer session. The first question posed to Ambassador Carson asked for his input on the matter of Congo's neighbor, Rwanda, and its persistent destabilization of the DRC:

"You spoke about the actions that have been taken, sanctions against five members of the leaders of the M23, five members of FARDC that we supported, actions taken. You mentioned as well the concern that the M23 was supported by external forces, and the report of the UN panel and your own testimony last December indicate that Rwanda had provided that kind of support. Why haven't we pressed for any of those individuals - individual soldiers - officers of Rwandan military to be sanctioned?"

Ambassador Carson gave an unsatisfactory response that betrayed the claims in his presentation, asserting that the actions the U.S. has taken to date-cutting of $200,000 in military aid and a phone call to Paul Kagame from President Barack Obama-"have been appropriate for the time." This response pinpoints the failure of U.S. policy, in particular, as well as other nations and institutions in the international community: reluctance to fully hold to account Congo's neighbors who have played a direct role in the deaths of millions of Congolese, the pilfering of the country's resources and the perpetuation of the conflict through repeated invasions and the sponsoring of proxy militia. Evidence of this reluctance has manifested itself in the persistent inaction and burying of the UN Mapping Exercise Report, which documents serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law carried out mainly by U.S. allies Rwanda and Uganda in the DRC from 1993 to 2003. The Mapping Exercise report is unequivocal in its identification of the destabilizing roles by outside support, going further to argue that "the apparent systematic and widespread attacks described in this report reveal a number of inculpatory elements that, if proven before a competent court, could be characterised as crimes of genocide." The report is referring, in this section, to the Rwandan army.

Other than to argue for greater attention and higher priority in the US foreign policy portfolio, Ambassador Carson did not clearly lay out how U.S. Congo policy will substantially change from the past 16 years. Unless accompanied by a break with current policy, greater attention will not bring increased peace or security to the DRC.  The current policies have their roots in the Clinton Administration's Entebbe Principles of unfettered support for the so-called "new breed of African leaders," a political approach that has been disastrous for the people of the Congo and the Great Lakes Region of Africa.  It is the entire policy position that must change, not degrees of attention to the same modes of approach.

Key omissions from Ambassador Carson's presentation are calls for adequate measure of accountability and justice as outlined by 220 Congolese organizations. One would not know from listening to Ambassador Carson that a substantial portion of the North Kivu province is still under occupation by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.

A number of local Congolese news papers have been consumed with Ambassador Carson's statements about Yugoslavia and Sudan:
"Clearly, a sophisticated and internationally backed solution is the only way forward. We were able to achieve such a solution to end the conflict in the former Yugoslavia through the Dayton Accords. We were able to end Africa's longest running civil war, the conflict in Sudan, through the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that was negotiated by the IGAD states and supported by the United States, Norway, and Great Britain. [A similarly energetic and international effort is now required for the D.R.C.] "

The local papers believe that Ambassador Carson was signaling that greater U.S. involvement in the DRC peace process would doom the DRC to the fate of both the former Sudan and Yugoslavia and result in the break-up of the country. 

Although Congolese must be vigilant about any attempt to balkanize the DRC, the local newspapers may have read too far into that part of Ambassador Carson's statements. He mentioned the DRC in the context of Yugoslavia and Sudan not necessarily to laud the specific outcomes in both countries, but to emphasize the priority and profile both countries received from the U.S. to push for a peace process. President Obama has been clear and unequivocal about the territorial integrity of the DRC and, in a follow-up blog to his speech on February 21, 2013, Ambassador Carson noted that his four-point prescription is meant to "protect the territorial integrity of the DRC."

Though the U.S. government claims it wants to uphold the territorial integrity of the DRC, its current policies do not bode well for doing so. The four point plan articulated by Ambassador Carson  gives a pass to U.S. allies Rwanda and Uganda who pose the greatest threat to the territorial integrity of the DRC. Key shifts on the part of the U.S. in regard to its policies in the region should include:

1. Stronger steps in holding Rwanda and Uganda accountable - withholding of further military aid, placing both the Rwandan government and its high-level officials named in the UN reports on the sanctions list, and investigating whether the Leahy Amendment has been violated in U.S. training of Rwandan troops.

2. Just as the U.S. is demanding democratic reform in the DRC, it should also demand democratic reform in both Rwanda and Uganda. The authoritarian nature of both regimes has been a significant component in their destructive role in the DRC over the past sixteen years. Not only have both governments militarized political space inside their countries, they have also exported this militarization to the DRC to the detriment of the Congolese civilian population.

3. Support must be given to democratic institutions and the democratic process in the DRC. Ambassador Carson's public opinion on the DRC elections was ill advised. When asked about the 2011 elections he answered: "my own impression, as someone who looks the situation, is that even if we had had a fair accounting throughout this process, I think President Kabila probably would have still had won." This is pure speculation.  His point was to dismiss the need for a "fair accounting" of the 2011 elections, which is troubling; the concern of U.S. officials in his position should always be to ensure the electoral processes are transparent, fair, and just. The U.S. must play a constructive role in supporting democratic processes in DRC.  With the help of U.S. policies, democracy in the DRC has been repeatedly sacrificed in the name of security; history shows that such approaches lead to the current situation, in which there is neither democracy nor security.

In his July 2009 Ghana speech, President Obama publicly recognized the need for a new approach and a clean break from Clinton era practices; he said that the U.S. must support strong institutions in Africa, "not strongmen." This is a clear vision for changes in foreign policy approaches that has yet to be made a reality.

On February 16, 1992, Congolese Christians responded to a call by the Catholic Church to protest peacefully and demand the reopening of the Sovereign National Conference (Conference National Souveraine - CNS in French). The conference was a democratic forum composed of delegates who represented all layers of the society in the Congo (Zaire at the time) from members of civil society, political parties, the military, the diaspora, as well as the president himself (Mobutu Se Seko). This conference was tasked with interrogating the country’s history and finding a way to deal with the multidimensional national crisis (political, economic, social, cultural, and moral) that the country was facing in 1990.

On January 19, 1992, then-Mobutu-appointed prime minister Nguza Karl-I-Bond announced the suspension of the Sovereign National Conference on radio and television. This decision to suspend the CNS angered many Congolese who had high hopes that this democratic process would help the country extricate itself from dictatorial rule. The Catholic Church, which at the time distanced itself from Mobutu's regime and became more vocal about Mobutu's human rights abuse, made a call to all Christians and civil society groups for a massive demonstration to reopen the Sovereign National Conference. Thousands of marchers from all backgrounds converged on the Tata Raphaël stadium. Police and soldiers opened fire on the marchers before they could reach their destination, killing more than forty people. This incident, which caused international outcry as news began to enter the western world, forced the government to reinstate the CNS in April 1991 and served as a pivotal point in Congo's struggle toward democratization.

In his book "The History of the Congo," Dr Didier Gondola revisits this important date and give us the reason why Christians in the Congo took to the streets. He says: "In early 1992, Mobutu decided to disband the Sovereign National Conference (Conference Nationale Souveraine - CNS), an assembly whose main task was to create a new constitution and organize democratic elections. In response to this decision, strong opposition mounted among Kinshasa's independent churches. On February 16, 1992, thousands of church members took their grievances to the streets of the capital in what was dubbed by its organizers as the "March of Hope" (Marche de l'Espoir). Marchers held banners demanding the reopening of the CNS, and they chanted songs against violence and dictatorship. The peaceful march ended in a bloodbath when the army intervened and gunned down dozens of demonstrators. The March of Hope has since been held up as a major turning point in the relations between the church and state. It was also an event that precipitated the end of Mobutu's regime."

Today, the Catholic Church, Civil Society and the political opposition have been prevented from marching to commemorate this day in the march toward democracy and social change in the Congo. The Kabila regime has prohibited any marches from being organized. The rationale given by the state is that they are prohibiting gatherings for security reasons. On February 16, 2012, the Kabila regime violently suppressed marches organized on that day to demand the truthful results of the November 2011 elections, which were appropriated by the Kabila regime.

Church leaders along with the non-violent pro-democracy forces have settled for participating in masses and have encouraged their followers to observe the day by going to church. Today serves as yet another indication of the lack of legitimacy of the Kabila regime and its fear of an open democratic society. Kabila has issued a call for a national dialogue but if today is any example, such a dialogue should it occur, will hardly be open, democratic or fruitful.

Today I am addressing the youth, the young men and women of the Republic of the Congo.

In speaking to them, I am addressing these words to future generations because the future of our beloved country belongs to them.

We are fighting our enemies in order to prepare a better and happier life for our youth.

If we had been egoists, if we had thought only about ourselves we would not have made the innumerable sacrifices we are making.

I am aware that our country can completely liberate herself from the chains of colonialism politically, economically and spiritually only at the price of a relentless and sometimes dangerous struggle. Together with the youth of the country, we have waged this struggle against foreign rule, against mercantile exploitation, against injustice and pressure.

Young people who have been inactive and exploited for a long time have now become aware of their role of standard-bearer of the peaceful revolution.

The young people of the Congo have fought on our side in towns, villages and in the bush. Many of our young men have been struck down by the bullets of the colonialists. Many of them left their parents and friends in order to fight heroically for the cause of freedom. The resistance that the young people offered the aggressors in Leopoldville on January 4 and in Stanleyville on October 30, 1959, deserves every praise.

With deep emotion I bow in memory of these courageous patriots, these fighters for African freedom.

The time is not far distant when large numbers of young men and women were driven out of schools by their white teachers and instructors on the suspicion of having nationalist ideas. Many brilliantly gifted young people turned down the opportunity to receive a higher education for the simple reason that they no longer wished to be indoctrinated by the colonialists, who wanted to turn our young men and women into eternal servants of the colonial regime.

During the heroic struggle of the Congolese nationalists, the young people, even those who were still sitting at school desks, resolutely opposed all new forms of colonialism, whether political, social, spiritual or religious.

Their only dream was national liberation. Their sole aim was immediate independence. Their only resolve was to wage an implacable struggle against the puppets and emissaries of the colonialists.

Thanks to the general mobilisation of all the democratic youth of the Congo, the Congolese nationalists won independence for the nation. We received this independence at the price of a grim struggle, at the price of all sorts of privations, at the price of tears and blood.

After independence was solemnly proclaimed on June 30, 1960, the colonialists and their black emissaries started a barbarous war in the young Republic of the Congo. They began this perfidious aggression because the nationalist Government now in power did not want them to continue exploiting our country as they did prior to June 30, the historic day when the people of our country said Adieu to the Belgian colonialists.

Not having any support whatever, particularly among the working class, who have had their fill of colonial exploitation, the colonialists and their henchmen now want to force certain sections of the youth to serve them in order to be able to propagandise the revival of colonialism. That is why a certain part of the youth, luckily not a very numerous part, have plunged into national defeatism.

Happily, the vast majority of the young people saw through this last attempt of the imperialists, who are turning into account the dissatisfaction of some malcontents, of those who failed in the elections because they did not have the confidence of the people.

This nationalist youth recently held demonstrations in various towns in the Republic to show their absolute and total opposition to imperialist intrigues.

Young people, I salute you, and congratulate you on your civic and patriotic spirit. Young people, specially for you I have created a Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports under the Central Government. It is your Ministry. It is at your disposal. Many of you, without any discrimination, will be called upon to direct this Ministry, its different services and activities.

Today, in the free and independent Congo we must not have a Bangala, National Unity Party, Association of Bakongo, Mukongo, Batetela or Lokele youth but a united, Congolese, nationalist, democratic youth. This youth will serve the social and economic revolution of our great and beloved country.

You must energetically combat tribalism, which is a poison, a social scourge that is the country's misfortune today. You must combat all the separatist manoeuvres, which some of the preachers of the policy of division are trying to pass off to young and inexperienced people under the name of federalism, federation or confederation.

In reality, young people, these names are only a new vocabulary brought by the imperialists to divide us in order the better and more conveniently to exploit us. Your entire future will be threatened if you do not oppose these manoeuvres, this new, disguised colonisation.

You must be proud that you belong to a great nation, a great country, a mighty power. This power, which the imperialists envy today, is embodied in national unity. This unity must be the heritage that you, in your turn, shall leave to your children.

The Government will soon send 300 young people to study in the U.S.A., 150 in the Soviet Union and 20 in Guinea, not to mention other countries.

The Congo is no longer a national reservation, a national park, a zoo which we could not leave. Tomorrow you shall go everywhere to study, to learn a speciality, and to get to know the world. Workers, working people will have an equal share in these study missions.

You shall go everywhere, to all the parts of the world. These contacts with the outside world, this direct confrontation with the reality of life will make you experienced people, whom the free and independent Congo needs today.

You will go there not as representatives of Association of Bakongo, National Unity Party, Congo National Movement or African Regroupment Centre youth. You will be Congolese citizens, simply Congolese. And by your behaviour, devotion, intelligence and political maturity you must be a credit to your Congolese motherland.

Young people, the Congo belongs to you. The national Government, the people's Government will do everything in its power to prevent the Congo from being torn away from you.

Long live the Republic of the Congo!

Long live the people's, democratic youth!

Source: Patrice Lumumba: Fighter for Africa’s Freedom, Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1961, pp 33-36.
Written: by Patrice Lumumba;
Transcribed: by Thomas Schmidt.

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January 4th is a seminal day in Congo’s history, which serves as a national holiday. On January 4, 1959, ordinary Congolese stood in defiance of Belgian colonialism demanding independence. Congolese in Kinshasa unleashed a spontaneous uprising out of frustration with the repressive Belgian colonial regime. In his seminal work "Congo: From Leopold to Kabila," Dr Georges Nzongola Ntalaja said the march on January 4, 1959 "sounded the death knell of Belgian Colonialism in the Congo." The unifying chant of the marchers was "Indépendance Immediate" or "Independence Now" in English. The uprising represented the radicalization of the struggle for independence. It frightened not only the Belgian authorities but also the Congolese elites know as évolués.

Nine days later on January 13, 1959 both the King of Belgium and the Belgium government announced that in due time Belgium would grant Congo full independence. In the conscience of the nation, the day represents the historic point of departure for the independence of the Congo from Belgian colonialism.

The courageous stance by that generation of Congolese served as a key catalyst for Congo’s independence in 1960. Since the 1960s Congolese have celebrated and commemorated that generation’s actions and named the day “la journée des martyrs de l’indépendance,” or in English, independence Martyrs Day. Without a doubt, Congolese of that era made enormous sacrifices for freedom and independence. This begs the question – what sacrifices are the Congolese youth of today willing to make for the future of the sons and daughters of the Congo?

Join the global movement in support of a peaceful and just Congo!