Increasingly, American youth are taking a stand in support of the people of Congo by calling on world leaders to become more engaged in bringing an end to the suffering in the Congo.



Join these young people in the video and become a part of the global movement.

1. There is war in the Congo: who are the major forces involved in the actual fighting?

The major forces directly involved are various rebel groups. However, behind some of the rebel groups is neighboring countries, particularly Rwanda who supports one of the major rebel groups and use them as proxies to destabilize and loot the Congo. Ultimately, The United Sates and Britain are behind Rwanda and Uganda, the two countries that unleashed the killings in the Congo through two invasions (1996 & 1998). The two countries could not have waged the war that they have in the Congo without financial, military and intelligence support from the United States and the United Kingdom.

2. There is a lot of talk about women's rights that have stemmed from the ongoing conflicts there. The sentiment seems to be that the patriarchal aspect of the culture that existed there before colonial times is the cause of the current abuse against women. Most of the reports on this issue listed on the website seem to have been drafted by women. As a Congolese man, what is your perspective?

I take deep concern about the use of the words "women's rights" given that it makes it seem as another problem we have to deal with. I believe that women's rights are human rights. If we understand that it is in fact human rights, we should be pan outraged every day about the conditions women have to endure, not just as a female, but as a human being.

We should also remember that Africans had a matriarchal system before the heavy influence of colonial powers. As a Congolese man, I recognize that on the global level patriarchy has caused many issues in terms of power and control that have affected tremendously our women. We, as men in this world, have to do a better job protecting the ones who have given us life and have made sure we are strong men in this society.

We also cannot forget that in the case of the Congo, we forget that while women are being destroyed, men also are being raped and castrated, all in an attempt to intimidate the local population and move them away from areas rich of mineral resources.

To address your question in the context of violence against women, one must remember the vital role women play in the African society. If you destroy a woman, you destroy many families thus the whole society. Women in Africa are the caretakers and the backbone of the whole entire community. Once destroyed, it becomes easy to get access to the land. In Congo, gender-based violence is directly connected to the conflict raging throughout the country. To stop it, one must stop the conflict. To stop the conflict, actions must be taken to stop the resource exploitation of the Congo.

3. There is a lot on the website about spreading the word and for people to put pressure on government entities to resolve this issue. At the same time, the interests of these governments are what continue to fuel the conflicts. Therefore, the solutions drafted by the UN, etc seem to pay mere lip service to the issue at hand. What do you see as a way that the Congolese themselves can end this conflict and rebuild a peaceful and harmonious society.

You are right. The United Nations and western governments have paid lip service to the demands of the Congolese people. It is not in there interest to change the manner in which they have been engaged in the Congo. They would like to maintain the Congo in a state of impoverishment and dependency for generations to come. As long as American citizens do not challenge their government's policies abroad, it will be much harder for weak states such as the Congo to determine and control their own affairs. A significant part of the reason Congo is in its current situation is because the United States has played a role in the assassination of Congo's first elected Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba; installed and maintained the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko for over three decades, backed the invasions of the Congo by Rwanda and Uganda and continued its practice of propping up strongmen in Africa at the expense of the people.

Remember, Congo's challenge is both internal and external. American citizens must challenge US foreign policy just as they did during the anti-apartheid movement. Remember, your government is counting on its citizens being silent and not caring about what happens to Black people in Africa. It is for this reason we are calling on the American public to be engaged.

As it relates to what the Congolese people can do and are doing. We suffer from over 125 years of slavery, colonialism, assassinations, dictatorship and imposed wars, therefore, our institutions have been weakened and made deficient. We are in the process of strengthening our institutions so that we can protect the interests of our people. Throughout our history, many figures have symbolized our struggle to control our own affairs.

Your solidarity from the outside, will help create space so that we can realize the generational pursuit of controlling our own affairs. If we were left to our own devices and all we had to do was deal with our own elites, we would have dealt with them long ago but we have to fight against our own elites and the financing, military training and arms that is provided to them from countries like the United States.

In the final analysis, if Americans hold their government accountable, it will accelerate the liberation of the Congo.

4. There seems to be a lot of involvement of the Hutus and Tutsis who were also involved in the Rwanda Genocide. What is the connection between the Genocide in Rwanda and the Genocide in the Congo and what is the continued role played by the Hutus and Tutsis throughout?

Ethnicity has to be part of the equation in analyzing the situation in the Congo. However, the predominant driving factor for the divisions along ethnic lines is the drive for power. You have select groups who want to acquire power at any cost and they use ethnicity as a means for achieving power. This is essentially what happened in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and that has spilled over into the Congo. So we have to be careful and place ethnicity in its right place. An elder shared with me a while ago that "if Religion was an ethnicity, that is what people would have used to gain power in Rwanda." The pursuit for power at any cost is the predominant reason for the conflict and instability in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

January 4th is a seminal day in Congo’s history, which serves as a national holiday. On January 4, 1959, Congolese stood in defiance of Belgian colonialism demanding independence. Congolese in Kinshasa unleashed an uprising out of frustration against the repressive Belgian colonial regime. Several hundred people died in the riots that grew out of what was otherwise a peaceful march organized by one of the leading voices at the time (ABAKO).

Nine days later the King of Belgium 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.” Without a doubt, Congolese of that era made enormous sacrifice for freedom and independence. This begs the question – what sacrifice are the Congolese youth of today making for the future of the sons and daughters of the Congo?

Click here for more information on January 4, 1959

On this New Year’s day, the Congolese youth of America wishes you a wonderful new year in 2011. May it be a prosperous and successful one that brings us closer to peace in our country.

I write to the youth, men and women, to remind you of the prophetic message of our elders who worked tirelessly and made the ultimate sacrifice for us to be called not only African, but also Congolese united in the effort to rebuild the land of our ancestors.

When Patrice Lumumba sent his appeal to the Congolese youth in the 1960s, he realized that without the youth, the future of the Congo would not be guaranteed. Our youth long asleep, long exploited, he said, must understand their role as the vanguard of the peaceful revolution and the salvation of the Congo.

Living in the United States, we have been able to learn how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., at the age of 26, began his illustrious work for equality of the black man and woman here in the West. The same is true for our Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, age 34, who embarked upon the task of leading a country the size of Western Europe. We cannot forget our brother Steve Biko in South Africa who also fought against the apartheid regime by mobilizing the youth in his country and was assassinated at age 30. I would not do justice to the history of our country if I do not invoke the name of Kimpa Vita, the young Dona Beatriz, who mobilized Congolese against the Portuguese invasion and lost her life in the process. She was only 21 when she was burned alive at the stake.

All these historic examples remind us that today we are also able to create a revival in our country. We can make the Congo a great world power. This will not be easy. We will have many difficulties, but our elders will be there for advice and wisdom. It is our duty we owe our ancestors who, even ’till death, fought so that we would not lose our land. We in the diaspora, are counting on you.

Rest assured that we, your brothers and sisters in the diaspora, and also the many people of goodwill around the world, from China, Canada, Japan, Australia, Belgium, the United States, and elsewhere are here to provide you with support, moral as well as financial.

The awakening of the Congolese youth is paramount in achieving a new and prosperous future for not only the Congo but also Africa as a whole. The pride of being Congolese should compel us to toil day and night for peace as it will come only through our hands in synergy and unity among us in the Congo and the Awaken Diaspora.

Congolese Youth, the Great Congo of today is ours. This gift is not just hereditary, but also because millions of Congolese have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country since 1482. We must do everything in our power to assure that our beautiful Congo remains in the hands of the sons and daughters of the Congo.

Long live the Congolese Youth!
Long live the Democratic Republic of Congo!
Long live Africa and Africans!

Kambale Musavuli
Friends of the Congo
New York, USA

President Barack Obama removed the Democratic Republic of Congo from the list of African countries eligible for trade preferences under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

AGOA went into law in 2000 and will expire in 2015. The decision was taken during the annual review of AGOA. "Large-scale human rights abuses by the Congolese armed forces, especially rapes" and the lack of advances made in good governance were reasons for removing the Congo from the list.

FOTC is fascinated by the difference in treatment between Congo and Rwanda. Both countries have AGOA status. Rwanda has invaded Congo twice; supports proxy rebel groups inside Congo; has systematically looted Congo's resources; and according to the United Nations Mapping Exercise Report, the Rwandan military has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly genocide in the Congo. Yet, the United States has taken no action whatsoever against Rwanda in spite of millions of dead Congolese due in large part to Rwanda's destabilizing of the Congo.

The decision will take effect January 1, 2011. This decision is yet another sign of the conflicted relationship between the Obama administration and President Joseph Kabila's Congo. The IMF and World Bank has proceeded with debt relief and the funding of the Congolese government in spite of the lack of progress on governance on the part of President Kabila. With elections upcoming in 2011, look for more pressure on Kabila to assure a transparent and free elections.

Click here to view official statement from White House.

Democratic Republic of Congo
Senate Office
Kinshasa, December 6th, 2010
N / Réf. : 014/CPBME/12/2010
To American students, Organizers of the Dear Hillary Campaign



Dear Organizers,

On behalf of the people of the Congo that I represent as an elected official, I thank you for your support and action. Your actions are a true manifestation of Dr Martin Luther King’s famous words when he said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

Your mobilizing the American public to send Hillary Clinton a birthday card calling on her to implement the Obama Law (Public Law 109-456) was a stroke of brilliance and creativity. The enforcement of this law, especially sections 105 and 107 can certainly play a constructive role in helping to bring an end to the conflict.

I am glad that you were able to secure a meeting with Ambassador Melanne Verveer. I met with her at the United Nations in March of this year, right when she was nominated as the Ambassador at-large for Global Women's Issues. During our meeting, I shared with her how the United States can best help contribute to peace in the region by holding its allies accountable for their actions, getting more engaged diplomatically, supporting political solutions as opposed to military ones, and providing support to local institutions, especially as it relates to the greater involvement of women in the peace process.

Again, thank you for listening to the voice of Congolese people and taking our message to the highest levels of power in the United States. Thank you for being a voice for the voiceless. Opinions expressed outside of the country are often presented as solutions to our problems, but you listened to us and have taken our suggestions to your nation’s leaders. We are forever grateful for your action of support and respect. Listening to our voices is the first step towards recognizing our common humanity.

My constituents thank you for your solidarity. Together, we know that with your continued support, Congo will achieve peace and human dignity and take its rightful place among the great nations of the world.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Bazaiba Masudi Eve
Senator

Click here to learn about the Dear Hillary Campaign!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010 – This month the US and the UN Security Council must choose: will they hold accountable major perpetrators of continued atrocities in the Congo or collaborate with them to put the blame on a few guilty but minor scapegoats and some innocent people who are guilty only of challenging the major offenders?

On December 8, several US-Congolese organizations and numerous individuals sent a letter to Congressman David Wu, asking Congress to seek justice for the victims of an ongoing holocaust in the Congo and specifically asking that the long-suppressed UN “Mapping Report” showing complicity of the current government of Rwanda seriously examined and addressed. [1]

Recently, the Dutch legislature and thousands of people in Brussels as well as some officials put Paul Kagame on notice: that he cannot escape the consequences of his acts. [2]

So far, Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, has been successful in his efforts to bury reports of his atrocities in the Congo without serious examination. The Security Council agreed not to look further into the Mapping Exercise Report, and a few days ago, added several individuals and a small militia to its list of people or organizations to be sanctioned for use of child soldiers. However implicitly exempted were Uganda and Rwanda from sanctions for this or for any of the other crimes revealed in the Report and related abuses reported by others, which continue to this day. [3]

As this month's chair of the Security Council, the US has a moral obligation to take the Mapping Exercise Report off the table and deal with its contents seriously. The US also has a moral obligation to implement the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006, sponsored by then-Senator Barack Obama. [4]

The UN Mapping Exercise Report, released only after it had been leaked, makes it clear that the governments of Uganda and Rwanda are implicated in massive atrocities in the Congo continuing long after they invaded the Congo. Yet, Uganda has not been forced to pay the court-mandated financial penalty, and both invaders are given license to continue their incursions on the pretext of hunting down smaller offenders, such as the LRA, FDLR, and various "mai mai". [5] [6]

The president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, reacted to the report with threats and with diversions. He threatened to withdraw “peacekeeping” forces from Sudan if the UN report was not disavowed or modified.

The unsuitability of Rwanda as an instrument of peace and stability in the Great Lakes region of Africa is augmented by its president's efforts to divert attention from the Mapping Exercise Report by imprisoning political opponents absurdly charged with conspiring to renew genocide in Rwanda. Within days of the October “Mapping Report” release, he re-arrested Victoire Ingabire, who had been arrested for “genocide denial” last spring to prevent her standing as a 2010 presidential candidate challenging his re-election; now, to divert attention from his documented culpability, he jailed her in life-threatening conditions and introduced the more serious charge of conspiring to overthrow his government by force and perpetuate genocide, naming a bizarre set of co-conspirators. [7]

American lawyer Peter Erlinder went to Rwanda last spring to defend Victoire Ingabire, after her first arrest, and he too was arrested and imprisoned under life-threatening conditions that provoked an outcry from US citizens and legislatures, resulting in an official US request for his release on humanitarian grounds. He is home and safe, but Rwanda demands his return for trial or “dead or alive.” [8]

Bizarrely, Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of "Hotel Rwanda" (who rescued so many Tutsis who might otherwise have been killed in 1994) has been called a "genocider" conspiring with Victoire to attack Rwanda, overthrow the government and kill Tutsis; he would be in a Rwandan jail if he had not already in sought safety in exile. [9 ] [10]

Some call Victoire Ingabire the Aung San Suu Kyi of Africa or the female Mandela, but she is not just a symbol of resistance to oppression by a dictator; she is a real person, a wife and mother whose husband and children plead for people to intervene and free her from a squalid and dangerous prison in which she has been held (without trial) for two months. [11]

We join in their plea, seeking justice for courageous individuals wrongly imprisoned as well as for the millions who have died and the millions who continue to suffer in the Congo, and endorse the letter sent to congress on December 8 providing details, additional documentation, and precise steps the US and UN need to take to bring justice, healing, stability, and a better future for a long-abused people.

REFERENCES:

[1] “Seeking Justice for the Victims: The UN mapping report of October 1, 2010 on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Letter sent to Congressman David Wu on December 8, 2010 by Africa Faith and Justice Network, Friends of the Congo, Neema Corporation, Chicago Congo Coalition, and others.

http://afjn.org/focus-campaigns/promote-peace-d-r-congo/71-policy-objectives/908-seeking-justice-for-the-victims-un-mapping-exercise-report-of-october-1-2010-on-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-ngo-letter-to-congressman-david-wu.html

[2 ] “...'The president of Rwanda is a criminal', says Paul Rusesabagina. The famous manager of Hôtel des Mille Collines is one of the demonstrators who are gathered on Albertina square in Brussels... President Kagame didn’t hold his announced speech during the European congress. He left early to Rwanda for more pressing issues. His minister of Foreign Affairs replaces him and thanks Europe for all the support...Ms Mushikwabo says: 'We respect the decision of the Netherlands to stop direct aid for Rwanda. But our relationship with the European Union remains very friendly'...”http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/europe-stays-true-rwanda

[3] Agreed 1 December 2010: "...three FDLR leaders and one individual responsible for targeting children in situations of armed conflict, to be added to the list of individuals and entities subject to a worldwide travel ban and asset freeze..." http://ukun.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=286240682

[4] Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement and subsequent withdrawal of foreign forces in 2003, both the real and perceived presence of armed groups hostile to the Governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi continue to serve as a major source of regional instability and an apparent pretext for continued interference in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by its neighbors."
Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006 (sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL]) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-2125

[5] INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE REPORTS OF JUDGMENTS,ADVISORY OPINIONS AND ORDERS CASE CONCERNING ARMED ACTIVITIES ON THE TERRITORY OF THE CONGO (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO v. UGANDA)

JUDGMENT OF 19 DECEMBER 2005
EXCERPT: "... the Republic of Uganda, by the conduct of its armed forces, which committed acts of killing, torture and other forms of inhumane treatment of the Congolese civilian population, destroyed villages and civilian buildings, failed to distinguish between civilian and military targets and to protect the civilian population in fighting with other combatants, trained child soldiers, incited ethnic conflict and failed to take measures to put an end to such conflict; as well as by its failure, as an occupying Power, to take measures to respect and ensure respect for human rights and international humanitarian law in Ituri district, violated its obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law..."
http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/116/10455.pdf

[6] Oil, African Genocide and the USA's LRA Excuse Dec 6, 2010 ... President Obama seemed either unaware or unconcerned about the UN Mapping Report, released on October 1st, which documents Ugandan President ...
www.blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/.../2010-12-06.html

[7] Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire arrested. “...Rwandan government security operatives surrounding her home in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, had been replaced by police with firearms, and that six of them were visible from inside. Others reported that there were Rwandan troops in her neighborhood and that shops had been ordered to close. ..”

http://sfbayview.com/2010/rwandan-opposition-leader-victoire-ingabire-arrested/

Ingabire trial: Rwanda prosecution fails ‘evidence test’

http://rwandinfo.com/eng/tag/martin-ngoga/

[8] Kagame wants US law professor brought to Rwanda, 'dead or alive' “According to high-level Rwandan officials at a meeting in Kigali in mid-October, President Kagame ordered that IHLI Director and WMCL law professor Peter Erlinder be brought back to Rwanda “dead or alive.”http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/300669#ixzz17aSQxGSP

[9] Rwandan Prosecutor wants to bring “Hotel Rwanda” hero Rusesabagina to justice. "...exiled opposition politician Paul Rusesabagina and jailed Victoire Ingabire have been in constant contact and fundraising for the FDLR rebels, says the Prosecutor General..."

http://rwandinfo.com/eng/rwandan-prosecutor-wants-to-bring-hotel-rwanda-hero-rusesabagina-to-justice/

Kagame's Rwanda accuses real-life Hotel Rwanda hero of terrorism

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/291869#ixzz17aSBcfLa

[10] Kagame regime demands Professor Peter Erlinder return to Kigali to stand trial. "The Kagame regime continues on the offensive in the wake of the “U.N. Mapping Report on Human Rights Abuse in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1993-2003,” released on Oct. 1, which documents the Rwandan army’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal massacres of civilian Rwandan Hutu refugees and Congolese Hutus in Congo..."
http://sfbayview.com/2010/kagame-regime-demands-professor-peter-erlinder-return-to-kigali-to-stand-trial/

KPFA News: Kagame wants Peter Erlinder back in Rwanda 'dead or alive'

http://anngarrison.blogspot.com/2010/11/kpfa-news-professor-peter-erlinder-on.html

[11] Meet the daughter of Victoire Ingabire "...Even though it is difficult for me, I would let her leave again, because my mother does what she thinks is just. To prevent her from being involved in politics and fighting for a more just Rwanda would be to destroy a part of my mother..."
http://sfbayview.com/2010/meet-the-daughter-of-victoire-ingabir

KPFA Radio interview with Victoire Ingabire's daughter Raissa, December 12, http://anngarrison.blogspot.com/2010/12/kpfa-news-victoire-ingabires-daughter.htm

American coltan processing company, Cabot Corporation recently released a press statement declaring that they are conflict free. One supposes they could be conflict free by sourcing their minerals strictly from Australia. However, Cabot took their conflict free claim into questionable territory when they intimated that they had been conflict free for ten years. Cabot's press statement noted, "We are pleased that our customers now have independent confirmation that Cabot is a reliable supplier of ethically sourced tantalum products. Over the last decade, we have maintained a strict policy of purchasing raw materials only from ethical, non-conflict sources and this audit result is confirmation of our long-standing commitment in this area."

In spite, of Cabot’s claims, they were identified in the 2002 United Nations report on the illegal exploitation of Congo’s natural resources as one of the companies illegally exploiting Congo’s natural wealth. See list of companies named by the United Nations here! The March/April 2002 issues of Passive Component Industry page 8 reports "African ore sales are also made directly to Cabot Corporation, tracked via IM145 shipment data from Africa to Pennsylvania, where Cabot maintains its tantalum processing plant."

Based on this evidence, international NGOs, Friends of the Earth (FOE) and Rights and Accountability in International Development filed a complaint against Cabot and three other American companies (OM Group, Trinitech Holdings, Eagle Wings), calling on the State Department’s National Contact Point to investigate Cabot and the other companies for possibly violating OECD guidelines and fueling the conflict in the Congo.
http://oecdwatch.org/files/raid-foe_vs-_us-companies_complaint

The October 1, 2010 UN Mapping Exercise Report said that the victims of Congo’s conflict are entitled to reparations from the multi-national corporations implicated in the conflict in the Congo. Congolese are adamant about pursuing justice for the over six million lives lost in the scramble for Congo’s minerals.

During the first week of December a number of events took place in Washington related to the Congo. FOTC research analyst, Saran Traore provides an overview and analysis of one of the events.

Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies' (SAIS) Great Lakes Policy Forum, along with several partners have yet again hosted in its 15years a groundbreaking forum to help shape the discourse of one of the most troubling crisis at the dawn of the 21st century. The forum on December 2nd 2010 focused on the report released on October 1st by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report contains a mapping of the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo between March 1993 and June 2003. The report is much celebrated amongst activists because of its truthful and fact based investigation and its implications for justice for the people of Congo. It implicates Congolese and foreign parties responsible for abuses, including state and non-state armed groups from Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Angola. The findings say the atrocities committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Forces, “if proven before a competent court, could be characterized as crimes of genocide.” In addition, the report also documents the pilfering of the Congo by multi-national corporations, and calls for reparations for the Congolese people.

The forum was broken into two panels, the first to address the next steps towards justice with the publication of the report, and the second panel to address implications for regional and US foreign policy. The first panel had Mvemba Dizolele, a SAIS visiting scholar and independent journalist, Carina Tertsakian, a Senior Research at Human Rights Watch's African Division, and Peter Rosenblum, the Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein Clinical Professorship of Human Rights Law at Columbia Law School. The second panel included Anthony Gambino, a former USAID Mission Director for the DRC and Independent Consultant and Laura Seay, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Morehouse College. Peter Lewis, the Director of the African Studies Program at SAIS, moderated the program.
The discussion was vibrant from the onset as the panelists gave their take on the report and its impact. It is important to note that the report does not necessarily convey new information. There have been previous reports by the UN and other organizations that have detailed these events in the course of the ten years that it covered. The unique and “big deal” about this report is that for the first time there is a comprehensive official UN report detailing over 617 incidents in the time covered. The policy prescriptions or possible course of actions suggested in the report was also discussed in the forum. The one prescription that seemed to be favored yet posed a source of problems to accomplish was the establishment of a Tribunal. This tribunal, mirrored after the one in Bosnia, would possibly consist of Congolese and international judges, governed by Congolese law. It was suggested that universal jurisdiction be established to prosecute higher ranked military perpetrators.

The very first consensus was that there needed to be an initiative to make sure that the campaign for justice was geared towards helping the Congolese people. From the concentration on Eastern Congo to the root causes of the conflict, there is a skewed sense of where the focus should be in order to help the country on a recovering path. The panel was in agreement that the humanitarian crisis of the Congo is a product of the political disasters that have taken place in the country as a whole for the past couple of decades. It is also important to account for the fact that Eastern Congo is not all of the DRC. The problems stem from throughout the country and should be given the same attention. These misdirected concepts of the Congo may have led to the negative reactions that came up as a result of the report along side the positives. The report was “held hostage” by alleged perpetrators in the report, when in actuality the focus should have stayed on the DRC. The DRC has become an “appendix” of its neighbors in the grand scheme of things. Policies intended for the DRC are made to appease its neighbors, instead of the reverse.

The second panel addressing regional and US foreign policy in response to the implications of the report was intense in that it called for accountability both internally and externally. The Congolese have been deemed as being qualified to do the tasks needed to address the issues if given the political space to do so by its neighbors and international powers. The Congolese would also need to address the role that its own national army has played in the violence and continues to play. Regionally, all the countries named in the report for their part in the incidents in the past and current crisis will need to be held accountable. The obvious issue is that no current state in the Great Lakes is ready to openly admit to their involvement in these reported incidents.

Although the US is gradually expressing any displeasure with countries in The Great Lakes that have been contributing to the destabilization of the DRC, it has yet to clearly express any actions it wishes to take in light of the UN report. The Friends of the Congo has posited several reasons for the silence and lack of action on the report. Many individuals serving in the current Obama administration, also served in either the State Department or in a diplomatic position when the incidents of 93-03 had taken place under the Clinton administration. US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice is a standing example, as she was the Assistant Secretary of State, Africa Division in 1996. Some believe that the lack of definite action or even comment from the diplomatic realm of the US could be guilt and shame for their lack of action during these incidents. No genocide intervention groups in Washington DC have engaged this issue since the release of the report. To have ignored these crimes against humanity so long ago, and to have the same issue come back so many years later for lack of action is a cause for embarrassment and explanation. One should hope, as we at FOTC do, that this report be viewed as a second chance for all involved parties to finally bring about justice against these heinous crimes that did occur on their watch.

Click here to join the global call for justice for the people of Congo.

President Kagame did not attend the round table discussion he was supposed to participate in, nor did he show up for his keynote speech in Belgium on Monday, December 6th. The Belgian Prime Minster, the Foreign Minister, and the Development Minister all told Kagame that there schedules were too full to meet with him.

Activists demonstrated against Kagame's presence in Belgium and called on European leaders to hold him accountable for the atrocities committed in Congo and the repressive practices in Rwanda proper.

See below press release from the Paul Rusesabagina Foundation:

December 6, 2010
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kitty Kurth
Email: kitty@kurthlampe.com
Intl. number: +44 7587 063130
U.S. Mobile: 312-617-7288
U.S. Office: 312-464-0260


Rusesabagina Asks International Community to Hold Rwanda Accountable;Responds to Rwandan Government Harassment

Brussels, Belgium -- Today Paul Rusesabagina, President and founder of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) will join peaceful demonstrators to protest the appearance of Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the European Development Days conference.

The demonstration will be held at 14:00 (2:00 p.m.) at Rue Mont des Arts 1000 in Brussels.

Demonstrators wish to call the attention of the international community to the killing and human rights violations being committed by the current Rwandan regime. Some of these actions are detailed in the report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) “Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1993-2003, The Report of the Mapping Exercise.”

Today Rusesabagina is also releasing a copy of his letter to United States President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Yves Leterme (attached) asking Obama to prevent Kagame from doing even more harm to his own Rwandan people and to millions of others in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

The letter cites the violence and oppressive tactics used by Kagame’s government including well-documented assaults, arrests, suppression and assassination of political opponents and all independent media.

In the letter, Rusesabagina addresses charges that the Rwanda government has made against him in the press. “I have never given money to terrorists,” said Rusesabagina.

The most recents attacks on Rusesabagina came after the HRRF sent out a press release about the UN mapping report. Today he said: “The Rwandan government must be very afraid of the facts about their actions in Congo that are disclosed in this report. They are going to great lengths to discourage the international community from taking action on the crimes documented in the report.”

Rusesabagina will be available for interviews at the demonstration or by telephone. He can be reached directly by calling +32 4874 10774 or call Kitty Kurth at +44 7587 063130 to schedule an interview.