Massacre Survivors Sent to Prison

The victims of the barbarity of 30 August have not seen the last of their misfortune. The North Kivu military court handed down its verdict on Monday 9 October 2023 during a public hearing held at the Munzenze central prison in Goma. Several members of the sect and other passers-by and neighbours were sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison, while the leader of the movement was given life imprisonment.

The military justice system charged them with participation in an insurrectionary movement, criminal conspiracy and murder. Of the 115 defendants, the North Kivu military court convicted 63 and acquitted 52 others.

Major-magistrate Amsini Lazare, president of the Goma military tribunal, handed down a life sentence to eight defendants, including the main defendant, Ephrem Bisimwa, leader of the "Natural Judaic Messianic Faith towards the Nations - Uwezo wa Neno" sect. Several dozen other people, including some of his followers, eight of whom were women, were also sentenced to between 10 and 20 years' imprisonment "for their role in calling for demonstrations to be held on 30 August", according to the military courts.

A look back at the carnage wrought by certain elements of the army

A mystico-religious sect called Foi naturelle judaïque et messianique vers les nations (Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith Towards the Nations) had planned to demonstrate on 30 August to demand that the United Nations Organisation Mission for the Stabilisation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and the regional force of the East African Community (EAC-RF) leave the country. 

A few hours before the demonstration was due to take place (i.e. 24 hours before), the mayor of the town notified the prophet and his followers that the demonstration was not authorised. BISIMWA retorted and told the public that nothing and no-one was going to stop him. 

In the early hours of Wednesday 30 August (at 4 a.m.), the first Read was launched against the radio installations, reconnaissance drones in the air, and elements in military uniform burst in. At dawn, "6 people were killed, several wounded and the prophet was taken away by the Congolese soldiers", says a member of the church. Another operation was launched between 6am and 8am at the sect's church, and it proved to be the most deadly. In the end, at least 57 unarmed civilians were killed by the army that day, according to civil society sources.

The military governor of North Kivu, Lieutenant General Constant NDIMA, was urgently summoned to the Congolese capital by his superiors for consultation on 04 August. After a few days, Peter Chirimwami was appointed as interim governor.

A highly critical judgement

This decision seems not to have met with the approval of many Goma residents. Espoir Ngalukiye, a former activist with the Lutte pour le Changement - LUCHA movement, denounced the sentences. "While the population was expecting compensation and acquittal for the victims of the carnage of 30 August, military injustice has just condemned the victims of the carnage of 30 August,

Military injustice has just condemned our wazalendo compatriots, including their leader Ephraim Bisimwa. This iniquitous judgement is unacceptable. It was handed down against innocent victims instead of condemning the real executioners, including Mr Constant Ndima, who should be sentenced to death", he said.

Ephraïm Bisimwa has promised to appeal against the ruling to the military court.

By Akilimali Saleh Chomachoma - in Goma


What’s next after the movie, Black Panther?

What’s next after the movie, Black Panther?
By Maurice Robinson

“There is a new world coming and that new world is going to come from Africa” – Kwame Nkrumah.

The African world is highly excited for the anticipated Marvel-Disney movie titled the “Black Panther” which leads to the movie outselling every previous superhero film in advance ticket sales. Black Panther is a fictional super hero character created by Stanley Liber better known as Stan Lee. Many sources confirmed that Lee’s inspiration of the Black Panther logo stems from the Lowndes County Freedom Organization’s logo, which emerged from the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in late 1965 and was associated with founding members Willie "Mukasa Dada" Ricks and Kwame Toure also known as Stokely Carmichael (https://adeptpress.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/the-black--panthersthe-coal-tiger-and-us/). The Alabama group used the Black Panther as its logo but the image and term was swiftly picked up by western media in 1966 and was then used by a number of organizations, including two in California (Oakland and Watts), one in Chicago and New York City.

Mr. Lee, editor-writer of Marvel comic book superheroes, the Hulk, Iron Man, Spiderman, Thor and the X-Men developed the character, Black Panther in July of 1966. Stan Lee was also inspired by the Civil Rights movement to create the X-men comic. Lee and his partner Jack Kirby used the iconic civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and El-Hajj Malik Shabazz also known as Malcolm X as the inspirations for characters Charles Xavier also known as Professor X and Erik Lehnsherr also known as Magneto, the creators of the X-Men ”(X-Men-Malcolm-Martin). Stan Lee created the characters to fight against oppression that mutants faced in society instead of fighting aliens and criminals. In a 2000 interview Lee stated that the X-Men were “a good metaphor for what was happening with the civil rights movement in the country at that time”(X- Men-Malcolm-Martin). The X-Men mutant heroes used tactics similar to those that were used by King and Malcolm in the 1960s. Professor X strategized a non-violent tactic similar to King and Magneto took more of a defensive stance against violent oppression and prejudice similar to Malcolm.

The era of the 1960s was not only an era of the Civil Rights Movement but also filled with African Independence on the African continent with President Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah achieving independence in Ghana from 1957 to 1966, Amilcar Cabral gaining independence in Guinea-Bissau in 1963, Patrice Emory Lumumba achieving independence in the Congo in 1960 and many more. The backstory of the Black Panther, also known as T’Challa, concerned him and his nation protecting the high-technical advanced society known as the fictional country of Wakanda from European invaders like the supervillain and arch nemesis of the Black Panther, Klaue (Ulysses Klaue), who is the son of Nazi war criminal Colonel Fritz Klaue. In the comics, Klaue was sent to Wakanda to learn their secrets by European Nations and was granted asylum by the Belgium government (Fantastic Four Unlimited #1 (1993), (Marvel Comics). The East-African nation contained and produced a fictional mineral known as the sound-absorbing element of “Vibranium.” As we all know by now from seeing the trailers or the movie of the Black Panther his suit is made with Vibranium that absorbs vibratory or kinetic energy. This mineral is very similar to the Uranium mineral produced in the Congo that was exploited by Western European nations to use for the development of atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan in August 1945 during World War II (New African Magazine: January 2017 pg. 21).

The Black Panther was considered a socialist. As shown in the movie, Captain America: Civil War, there is a scene where the Black Panther states that he does not approve of American politics. Also in the BET and Marvel Knights animation adaptation of the Black Panther, he boldly identifies as a Pan-African socialist (Black Panther animated series: Episode 4, "Death of a Father"). The original concept of the Black Panther was the Coal Tiger, a media term for post- colonial African nations. The term was used in the media metaphorically to represent the first Prime Minister of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba in 1960. Lumumba, an African revolutionary leader who led resistance against the Belgian colonial government, was also an advocate for nationalizing the resources of the Congo. He was imprisoned, executed and ousted in a military coup backed by the United States of America and Belgium. Let us not forget without neo-colonialism or opportunist puppets, Lumumba would have a hell of a chance of bringing about a Wakanda-like nation in the Congo. The neo-colonialist I am referring to in this instance is Mobutu Sese Seko who served as chief of staff of the army under Lumumba but was taking orders instructed by Belgium and the United States. Mobutu eventually was put in position to deposed Lumumba in 1960. After the assassination of Lumumba, Mobutu transformed the Congo into a ruthless dictatorship nation called Zaire funded by western nations from 1971 to 1997.

Likewise in the animated BET series by writer Reginald Hudlin, The Black Panther which aired in 2010 during sleep hours when the show would likely have lesser viewers, portrayed a character named M’Butu who literally was portrayed to represent the likes of Mobutu (Black Panther animated series: Episode 4, "Death of a Father"). M’Butu was a villain of Black Panther who was backed by Western governments to overthrow the Wakandan leader but failed. M'Butu was also the Prime Minister of Niganda, a fictional country neighboring Wakanda. He was an authoritarian leader, violent with his people and proceeded to barbaric actions, such as purges against doctors (http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Panther_Vol_4_8).

It appears that Lumumba and the Black Panther have 3 main things in common:
1. Protecting their African nations from European governments, more specifically the Belgian government.
2. Having the same goal of maintaining their land and minerals independently for Africans and “Wakadans”.
3. Both being Pan-African socialists with the main goal of keeping their nations free from the exploitive system of capitalism and imperialism.

Minerals like cobalt and coltan that we use today exploited from the Congo is utilized to create the high-tech images that we see in the Black Panther movie. The same minerals make it possible for us to view, share and enjoy pictures and social media posts on our Androids and iPhones. Coltan is a black tar-like mineral found in major quantities in the Congo. The Congo possesses 64 percent of the world's coltan and it can become a heat resistant powder that can hold a high electric charge. The properties of refined coltan is a vital element in creating devices that store energy or capacitors, which are used in a vast array of small electronic devices especially in mobile phones, iPad, tablets, handheld video game devices, laptop computers, pagers, and other electronics (http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/resource-center/coltan.html). Cobalt is a shiny metal that is a result of the mining of nickel and copper and is found primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC is the largest producer of cobalt in the world, producing an estimated 60% of the world's supply. It also has the largest reserves of cobalt with about 50% of the world's reserve of cobalt. Cobalt is used in two key sectors, military and industry. In the military sector it is vital for the functioning of jet engines and in the commercial industry sector it is critical for rechargeable batteries (http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/resource-center/coltan.html).

This leads us to the technology question of why is it now that we have a Black Panther movie. The answer is due to the advancement of technology. Actor, Wesley Snipes stated that he had high hopes of bringing the Black Panther to the big screen in the 1990s but failed to do so due to the lack of technology representing the fictional country of Wakanda on the big screen. Snipes reached out to black directors to help develop the film, one in particular, John Singleton. Snipes stated “I laid on him my vision of the film being closer to what you see now: the whole world of Africa being a hidden, highly technically advanced society, cloaked by a force field, Vibranium. Also at the time, we were so far ahead of the game in thinking, the technology was not there to do what they had already created in the comic book” (http://atlantablackstar.com/2018/02/01/wesley-snipes-opens-couldnt-get-black-panther-made-1990s/ ). Due to the setback of technology, Snipes continued to press on with the motion picture, “Blade” about a black vampire hunter superhero (http://atlantablackstar.com/wesley-snipes-opens-couldnt-get-black-panther-made-1990s/). The 1998 film brought in a profit of $131 million worldwide and helped Marvel to get out of debt and put an end to their 1996 bankruptcy. Blade led the way for the Marvel Comic Universe and gave birth to movies like Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America and ultimately the Black Panther. Hence, the cobalt and coltan exploited from the Congo which the fictional country of Wakanda is based on produced the seeds for the movie, Black Panther to be developed. Actress `Lupita Nyong’o who plays Nakia, Black Panther’s love interest in the Black Panther movie stated “ Wakanda is such an exciting world to be in. Like none other we have ever seen. What would Africa look like if it was not colonized? I hope the audience leaves thinking about if they can be citizens of Wakanda” (Lupita Nyong'o “Loves Physical Challenge” of “Black Panther” | E! Live from the Red Carpet, YouTube). This transitions us to what is next after we all see the movie Black Panther and how can we see Wakanda in reality and how can we see the new world that is going to come from Africa as Kwame Nkrumah stated. Some are attempting to strive for the reality by creating petitions pressuring Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Company to donate 25 percent of the profits from the movie to STEM programs in the black community. Moreover, a lot of us were already in the struggle prior to the movie working to get our people to live and experience a real Wakanda by reclaiming our home of Africa for the Africans which can only be done through the means of creating political educational organizations and study groups. Yes, we do see the Black Panther as a king who inherited the mantle of Black Panther from his father, King T’Chaka but please do not let this refocus our view that one person can alleviate the masses out of the oppression of capitalism and imperialism. Kwame Nkrumah stated “The total liberation and the unification of Africa under an All-African socialist government must be the primary objective of all Black revolutionaries throughout the
world” (Nkrumah 88 Class Struggle in Africa).

When we turn our attention to the recent 2018 film adaptation of The Black Panther we have to clearly understand that this movie is not representing the previous comic book version nor the Reginald Hudlin’s BET (Black Entertainment Television) animated series of The Black Panther. The first inconsistency of the movie begins in the year of 1992 with the father of The Black Panther, King T'Chaka traveling to Oakland, California to visit his brother, N'Jobu. Ulysses Klaue portrayed as a Black market arms dealer in the movie infiltrated Wakanda and stole vibranium, and T'Chaka accuses N'Jobu of assisting him. N'Jobu's friend reveals himself to be Zuri, an undercover Wakandan who is a spy. T’Chaka exposed his brother working with Klaue, who in the original comics was the Black Panther’s main nemesis, we do not see this in the movie. In the movie we see T’Chaka’s brother, N’Jobu working with Klaue to use vibranium to create weapons to provide to Africans in America to start a revolution against their oppressors. Yes, I know this sounds confusing and misleading due to N’Jobu working with Klaue, who is a colonizer in the comics, to bring an African revolution in America. Once T’Chaka exposes his brother, N’Jobu, N’Jobu becomes defensive by attempting to kill the Wakandan spy, Zuri (who is portrayed by actor Forest Whitaker) but failed to do so after being murder by his brother T’Chaka (the main Black Panther, T’Challa’s father). We have in the first scene of the movie, black on black violence, furthermore black family violence which sets the tone for the remainder of the movie. However, we do have quick scenes of T’Challa along with his beautiful African female bodyguards, the Dora Milaje, fighting Klaue and European enemies but these scenes last for approximately 30 to 45 minutes out of a 2 hour and 15 minute length motion picture.

After these scenes, the movie takes a dive when C.I.A agent, Everett Ross teams up with The Black Panther to take down Klaue. The Black Panther and Ross fail to take down Klaue due to T’Challa’s cousin, Erik Stevens Killmonger, son of N’Jobu who also was not related to T’Challa in the original comics, breaks Klaue free from the constraints of The Black Panther and C.I.A agent Ross. Once Klaue is free, 10 to 15 minutes later in the movie, Erik Killmonger who is played by Michael B. Jordan turns against Klaue and murder’s him and delivers his corpse to Wakanda. From this scene on throughout the entire movie, black on black violence occurs until literally the end of the movie. As the movie carries on, the viewers begin to realize that Killmonger is trying to carry out his father’s goal of a African armed revolution against oppressors but is eventually prevented by The Black Panther and C.I.A agent Ross shooting down aircrafts with weapons being delivered to Africans in the diaspora. Furthermore, viewers come to another realization that the villain Killmonger is the revolutionary not the Black Panther who was a revolutionary in the original comics and Hudlin’s animated BET series. In one scene, Killmonger attempts to persuade The Black Panther to use Wakanda resources to free Africans in the diaspora but The Black Panther denies Killmonger’s request and later murders him. During this scene when The Black Panther murders his cousin, Killmonger, Killmonger states “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, because they knew death was better than bondage”.

In relation to the scene of Killmonger attempting to persuade The Black Panther to use the resources of Wakanda to liberate the masses of Africans on the continent and the diaspora, I want us to focus our attention to a another quote from, Kwame Nkrumah, “We have to be able to develop our great resources of Africa fully for the well-being of African people as a whole (Nkrumah, Axioms of Kwame Nkrumah). In the final scene of the movie, The Black Panther travels to Oakland, California to the apartment building where his father, T’Chaka killed his uncle, N’Jobu, to purchase the building and transform it to a STEM foundation for black inner-city youth. Are you kidding me? The richest superhero in comic book history who is worth well over a trillion dollars kills his cousin who wanted to create a African revolution with Africans in the diaspora decides to build a STEM facility in Oakland, California, the birthplace and home of the real Black Panthers, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. In the bonus scene after the credits, The Black Panther gives a speech at the United Nations declaring that Wakanda will share its resources with the world while agent Ross was smiling. Also, please do not forget that this movie was release on February 16th, a day before Huey P. Newton’s birthday on February 17th. To add insult to injury, during the scene when T’Chaka murder’s his brother in his apartment in Oakland, the viewer will see a poster of Huey P. Newton in the background on the wall of N’Jobu’s apartment.

In conclusion, overall this Marvel Black Panther movie produced by the racist cartoonist, Walt Disney’s company named after him, Disney, was a counter-revolutionary film. I suggest Black Panther fans to stick with the comics and animated series. Furthermore, if readers and Black Panther fans of African ancestry want to bring about a real Wakanda in Africa, we must organize, unify and free Africa from colonialist like Klaue, Imperialist Western European nations and Neo-Colonialist puppets. In order for a real Wakanda to exist in Africa as a whole, us as Africans must create a union of African states on the continent, eliminate artificial boundaries in Africa that were created by imperial powers and finally as Kwame Nkrumah stated “If we do not formulate plans for unity and take active steps to form political union, we will soon be fighting and warring among ourselves with imperialist and colonialist standing behind the scenes and pulling vicious wires, to make us cut each other’s throats for the sake of their diabolical purposes in Africa (Axioms of Kwame Nkrumah). This is what the Marvel Universe and Disney Company did with our beloved African superhero movie and also what the COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) did with the real revolutionary organization group known as the Black Panther Party. We must unite and organize to bring about a real Wakanda in Africa.
----------------------------------------------------
Sources:
https://adeptpress.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/the-black-panthers-the-coal-tiger-and-us/
http://atlantablackstar.com/2018/02/01/wesley-snipes-opens-couldnt-get-black-panther-made-1990s/
http://atlantablackstar.com/2018/01/31/lupita-nyongo-hopes-black-panther-will-help-many-envision-
africa-look-like-never-colonized/

http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/
https://libyadiary.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/46691356-axioms-kwame-nkrumah.pdf
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Panther_Vol_4_8
www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/03/xmen.legacy.go/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtTjpOZEccs
Class Struggle in Africa, Nkrumah, Kwame
New African Magazine: January 2017

Kabila’s New Years Eve Message to the Congolese People: We Will Crush You!

In the tradition of liberation theology, faith leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo called on the Congolese people to stand up (#Telema) and reclaim their country. They appealed to the population to participate in a peaceful march throughout the country on Sunday, December 31st, 2017. They instructed the people to march in their local neighborhoods while reciting bible verses and incantations. Civil society, citizens movements formations and the opposition all responded to the call from the faith leaders.

The primary demand of the faith leaders is for Joseph Kabila - who has overstayed his constitutional mandate which expired on December 19, 2016 - to declare that he will not run in the next elections. In addition, they called for the unconditional release of political prisoners, the return of exiled political figures, opening of media that have been shuttered, along with a number of other demands to ultimately ease the tense political climate.

A more radical call came from the Congolese youth, civil society and the opposition. They want Kabila to step down. They have no faith that he will organize elections and even if he does, they believe that the elections will certainly be rigged.

Sunday’s march is a result of a year of frustration for the faith leaders, particularly Catholic Church leaders belonging to the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO in French). They facilitated talks between Joseph Kabila and opposition that resulted in a New Year’s Eve deal on December 31, 2016. The deal gave Kabila an additional year to organize elections by December 2017. The CENCO was widely seen as the entity that prevented a clash between the Kabila regime and the Congolese people in December of 2016.

The United States under the leadership of President Barack Obama and other Western leaders had put enormous pressure on the opposition to abort a planned demonstration at the end of Kabila’s term (December 19, 2016) if he did not step down. To the chagrin of many Congolese, The Obama Administration had pushed for Kabila to organize elections in 2017, even though Kabila’s term expired in December of 2016. It appears that the Obama Administration took the path of least resistance – let Kabila stay and have the next Administration deal with the issue - with less than a couple months left in Obama’s presidency.

CENCO stepped in to be the arbitrator between the opposition and the Kabila regime. However, another year has passed and Kabila refused to organize elections per the December 31, 2016 deal. Kabila spent the past year strengthening his hand by arresting certain opposition figures and buying off others. One of the major weaknesses of the Congolese political class is that it lacks any clear political ideology and can wind up on either side at any moment – opposition or majority – depending on the offer from the regime.

The Trump Administration has pursued a similar policy path to the Obama Administration.  After US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley visited the Congo in October, the U.S. called for elections to be held in 2018 with Kabila remaining as President. Although the electoral commission finally published an electoral calendar that set the election date for December 2018, the people have very little faith that elections will be held and even if they are held, they will likely be rigged in favor of Kabila’s presidential majority coalition.

The major regional and international bodies (United Nations, European Union, African Union and Southern African Development Community - SADC) have aligned with the December 2018 calendar putting them at odds with the masses of Congolese who want to see Kabila gone and a new electoral commission set up to organize free and fair elections, which are impossible to organize under Kabila and the current electoral commission. SADC has been a key player led by Jacob Zuma who has been a staunch supporter of Joseph Kabila, many believe in large part because of economic interest his family has in Congo. Kabila granted Zuma’s nephew, Khulubuse Zuma a R100 billion oil fortune in the northeast of the Congo.

The signal these regional and continental bodies, along with the West, have sent is that as long as elections are held, they will be satisfied even if Kabila’s majority coalition rigs the results and maintain the same set of actors in power. The Congo holds the distinction of having every one of its elected officials at the federal level staying in office beyond their legal mandates. Renowned Congolese medical doctor and moral voice for the Congo, Dr Denis Mukwege says, all elected institutions in the country are illegal. Lacking legitimacy among the people, the Kabila regime has ruled by fear and force. For all intents and purposes, millions of people are being held hostage by an illegal regime that has militarized public space throughout the country.

Early reports from the New Year’s eve march reinforce the nature of the repressive rule by the Kabila regime. In an attempt to prevent the march, security forces and tanks were dispatched in major cities; roadblocks were set-up; tanks blocked entrance to churches in some areas; in other areas police were stationed to prevent access to houses of worship; and some church doors were sealed and/or locked by the security forces.

For those who succeeded in making it to church, the brutality was raw and naked. Parishioners were met with tear gas fired inside the church, stun grenades, live bullets, choir boys were arrested and pastors were beaten and jailed. The brutality and massive demonstration of force against unarmed civilians left little doubt that we are dealing with a people under occupation by an illegal, illegitimate military regime. Major media outlets have reported three dead and many arrested.

Meanwhile the organizers of the march have claimed about a dozen dead, fourteen seriously injured and about 20 people arrested including two pastors and many churches ransacked and damaged. Video and photo documentation of the repression is slowly surfacing due to the fact the government issued a decree the night before to all major telecommunications operators to shut down Internet and SMS services across the country.

Faith leaders and people of conscience throughout Africa should be outraged that 80 million people in the heart of the continent are facing such depraved brutality from a regime that has surpassed its constitutional mandate and lacks legitimacy among the people. In spite of the Kabila regime’s repression and the brutality, the people are as determined as ever to rid themselves of Kabila and his accomplices. They have responded to the faith leaders’ call to take their destiny into their own hands. The New Year Eve’s events have only strengthened the resolve of the people to resist until a new order is installed in the Congo by the masses of Congolese.

Adam Branch Tackles The Kony Issue

Adam Branch
Senior Research Fellow
Makerere Institute of Social Research

March 8, 2012
Kampala, Uganda
From Kampala, the Kony 2012 hysteria is easy to miss. I’m not on Facebook or Twitter, and I don’t watch YouTube—but over the last twenty-four hours, I have received dozens of emails from friends, colleagues, and students in the US about the video by Invisible Children and the massive on-line response to it.

I have not watched the video. As someone who has worked in and done research on the war in northern Uganda for over a decade, much of it with a local human rights organization based in Gulu, the Invisible Children organization and their videos have infuriated me to no end—I remember one sleepless night after I watched their “Rough Cut” film for the first time with a group of students, after which I tried to explain to the audience what was wrong with the film while on stage with one of the filmmakers.

My frustration with the group has largely reflected the concerns expressed so eloquently by those individuals who have been willing to bring the fury of Invisible Children’s true believers down upon themselves in order to point out what is wrong with this group's approach: the warmongering, the self-indulgence, the commercialization, the reductive and one-sided story they tell, their portrayal of Africans as helpless children in need of rescue by white Americans, and the fact that civilians in Uganda and central Africa may have to pay a steep price in their own lives so that a lot of young Americans can feel good about themselves, and a few can make good money. This, of course, is sickening, and I think that Kony 2012 is a case of Invisible Children having finally gone too far. They are now facing a backlash from people of conscience who refuse to abandon their capacity to think for themselves.

But, as I said, I wouldn’t have known about Kony 2012 if it hadn’t been for the emails I’ve been receiving from the US. I have heard nothing about Kony 2012 here in Kampala because, in a sense, it just does not matter. So, as a response to the on-line debate that has been going on for the last couple days, I want to explain why, from here, Kony 2012 can be ignored.

First, because Invisible Children is a symptom, not a cause. It is an excuse that the US government has gladly adopted in order to help justify the expansion of their military presence in central Africa. Invisible Children are “useful idiots,” being used by those in the US government who seek to militarize Africa, to send more and more weapons and military aid, and to build the power of military rulers who are US allies. The hunt for Joseph Kony is the perfect excuse for this strategy—how often does the US government find millions of young Americans pleading that they intervene militarily in a place rich in oil and other resources? The US government would be pursuing this militarization with or without Invisible Children—Kony 2012 just makes it a bit easier. Therefore, it is the militarization we need to worry about, not Invisible Children.

Second, because in northern Uganda, people’s lives will be left untouched by this campaign, even if it were to achieve its stated objectives. This is not because things have entirely improved in the years since open fighting ended, but because the very serious problems people face today have little to do with Kony. The most significant problem people face is over land. Land speculators and so-called investors, many foreign, in collaboration with the Ugandan government and military, are trying to grab the land of the Acholi people, land that they were forced off of a decade ago when they were herded into camps. Another prominent problem is nodding disease—a deadly illness that has broken out among thousands of children who grew up in the government’s internment camps, subsisting on relief aid. Indeed, the problems people face today are the legacy of the camps, where over a million Acholi were forced to live, and die, for years by their own government. Today’s problems are the legacy of the government’s counterinsurgency, which received full support from the US government and international aid agencies.

Which brings up the question that I am constantly asked in the US: “what can we do?”, where “we” tends to mean American citizens. In response, I have a few proposals. The first, perhaps not surprising from a professor, is to learn. The conflict in northern Uganda and central Africa is complicated, yes—but not impossible to understand. For several years, I have taught an undergraduate class on the conflict, and although it takes some time and effort, the students end up being well informed and able to come to their own opinions about what can be done. I am more than happy to share the syllabus with anyone interested! In terms of activism, I think the first thing we need to do is to re-think the question: instead of asking how the US can intervene in order to solve Africa’s conflicts, we need to ask what we are already doing to cause those conflicts in the first place. How are we, as consumers, contributing to land grabbing and to the wars ravaging this region? How are we, as American citizens, allowing our government to militarize Africa in the name of the War on Terror and securing oil resources? That is what we have to ask ourselves, because we are indeed responsible for the conflict in northern Uganda—however, we are not responsible to end it by sending military force, as Invisible Children tells us, but responsible for helping to cause and prolong it. In our desire to ameliorate suffering, we must not be complicit in making it worse.

Long Live the Spirit of Floribert Chebeya

We are outraged by the loss of Floribert Chebeya, a champion for human rights and justice in the Congo. Indications are that the repressive Kabila regime is increasingly extinguishing the voices of the people as the regime looks to maintain power by any means.

Listen to Radio France Internationale (RFI) reports on the assassination of Congolese Human Rights activist, Floribert CHEBEYA BAHIZIRE. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1291835&id=1252894080&comments&alert#!/video/video.php?v=402579444658

Mr. Chebeya's assassination is part and parcel of a climate of impunity that pervade Congolese society, which has resulted in the systematic murder of journalists and human rights activists under the regime of Joseph Kabila. An independent investigation with the full participation of civil society and the parliament is a bare minimum.

The Cause of Death of Chebeya to be known in 3 to 5 weeks:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hFs-EjJvIysW4oR4LlwyxF_ZmGGw

Congolese Grassroots Undertake a Month of Activism to Culminate in the Burial of Chebeya on June 30, the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of the Congo
http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/floribert_en.pdf (English)
http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/floribert.pdf (French)

Message From the Human Rights Community of the DRC
http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/pressreleases/chebeya_human_rights_collective.php

A Song For Floribert Chebeya
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdnz65_une-chanson-pour-floribert-chebeya_news

Congo: One Hundred Years of Colonialism, Dictatorship and War (1908 – 2008)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 marked the 100-year anniversary of the removal of the Congo from King Leopold II of Belgium as his own personal property. Global outrage of the King’s brutal rule resulted in his losing the Congo treasure trove on November 15, 1908.

Leopold II accumulated spectacular wealth for himself and the Belgian state during his 23-year dominion (1885 – 1908) over the Congo. During this period an estimated 10 million Congolese lost their lives while Leopold systematically looted the Congo of its rubber and ivory riches. Congo was handed over to Belgium who ruled as a colonial power from 1908 to 1960. Congo finally got its independence on June 30, 1960 when Patrice Emery Lumumba, its first democratically elected prime minister took office. Unfortunately, the western powers, primarily the United States and Belgium could not allow a fiercely independent African to consolidate his power over such a geo-strategic prize as the Congo. He was removed from power in a western backed coup within weeks and assassinated on January 17, 1961. Belgium apologized for its role in Lumumba’s assassination in 2002 and the US still downplays its role in Lumumba’s assassination. The US replaced Lumumba with the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and backed him until he was overthrown in 1997. The overthrow of Mobutu unleashed an ongoing resource war that has caused deep strife and unbearable suffering for the Congolese people, particularly the women and the children. It is estimated that Congo has lost nearly six million people since the 1996 invasion by Rwanda and Uganda with support from the United States and other Western nations.

A century later, Congo is at another crossroads. In spite of the advances in technology and the shrinking of the world, it is curious that there is such silence around the suffering of the Congolese people due to the exploitation of powerful corporate and foreign forces beyond its people’s immediate control. Unlike the early 1900s, remarkably, today there are few if any voices the likes of Mark Twain who wrote King Leopold’s Soliloquy, Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness (PDF) (Often misread as Congo or Africa being dark but he was referring to the dark hearts of the exploiters of the Congo), and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame who wrote Crime in the Congo. The Congo Reform movement that drew from the work of African Americans such as William Sheppard and George Washington Williams and led by European figures such as Robert Casement and E.D. Morel gave birth to the modern international human rights movement.

One hundred years later we are again calling on the global community to be at the side of the Congolese. This time, there is one fundamental difference, the Congolese are agents in this narrative and the call this time is not a hand-over to a colonial power or neo-colonial institutions but rather to the people of the Congo.

The clarion call is for the combating of the forces (local elites and rebels, foreign governments, foreign corporations, and multi-lateral institutions) that have the Congolese people in a death trap. The charity prism of the humanitarian industry is not the answer. It only perpetuates dependency and dis-empowerment. Should Congo be truly liberated, the Darfurizaton (emptying of agency from the afflicted people) of the global movement in support of the Congo
must be avoided at all cost. Congolese must be agents rather than objects in the pursuit of the control of their land and their lives. The sovereignty of the people and control and ownership of the riches of their land is the fundamental human right for which we must advocate. It is a call not only for the Congo but the entire African continent.

Becomea part of the global movement to Break the Silence as the Congolese pursue
true sovereignty and liberty.

Kambale Musavuli, Student Coordinator, FOTC
Maurice Carney, Executive Director, FOTC


Useful links:
Rapper and Spoken Word Artist
Omekongo's "Welcome to the Congo"
Powerpoint Primer on the
History of the Congo (PPT)
Dan Rather All Mines Report on I-Tunes
FAIR on media coverage of Congo

Huffington Post Journalist Says Next President Must Address Congo Crisis

The current tragedy in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not an "ethnic conflict," as reported by the US State Department and seconded by the candidates. It is a proxy war, fueled by international competition for the vast mineral wealth of Congo.

Over ten years of war propagated on a scramble for the vast resource wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo has intensified in recent weeks as "rebel" leader General Laurent Nkunda (CNDP) intensified his offensive against the regular Congolese army (FARDC) and threatened to take the city of Goma, headquarters of MONUC, the United Nations Mission to Congo.

Read entire article and make comments so that the Huffington Post can continue to report on the Congo in an in depth manner.

Who jendayi Frazer Should See and What She Should Say

It is reported that Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer was heading to Kinshasa, Congo and would arrive today. She issued a statement on yesterday warning Nkunda's rebel group not to take Goma, capital of the North Kivu province of Congo.

We believe that Secretary Frazer's first stop in the region should be in Kigali to speak to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. According to La Libre Belgique, rebel Leader Larent Nkunda is also in Kigali convalescing from an illness or injury. She should deliver a clear message to US Allie Rwanda that they should immediately stop supporting Nkunda in the Congo and cease once and for all the destablization of Eastern Congo. Far too many people have died and suffered as a result of Rwanda's intervention in the Congo. Moreover, she should make it clear to Kagame that its time to genuinely participate in a political process that would result in the return of the Rwandans who are now in the Congo.

The United States has considerable leverage on Rwanda and can play a decisive role in bringing this conflict to an end. There is no way that thousands of rebels should be allowed to hold millions of Congolese hostage because of the backing from Rwanda.

Rebels in Congo Continue to Wreak Havoc

The situation in eastern Congo is beyond the pale. Due to the fact that the world community and the key players in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa have not fully and comprehensively addressed the root causes of the conflict in the Congo. At the root of the conflict as the scramble for Congo's spectacular wealth.

When Rwanda and Uganda first invaded the Congo in 1996 and again in 1998, the invasions unleashed what the United Nations calls the deadliest conflict in the World since World War Two. Several peace accords later and the holding of historic elections in 2006 have not brought peace and stability to the beleaguered people of the Congo. This is in large part due to the fact that the world community has not demonstrated the will to put the necessary pressure on Paul Kagame of Rwanda to cease his support of rebel groups in the Congo. In addition, the international community's rush to install a weak government that would provide unfettered access to Congo's wealth but not the ability to mobilize a nation to properly deal with its historic challenges has compounded the problem.

The prescriptions for resolving the conflict have been clear for quite sometime now but they require the political will of the global community and they include the following:
1. An understanding that there is no military solution to the conflict. A political solution must be sought.
2. Pressure must be put on Rwanda to stop its support of Launrent Nkunda's rebel movement in the Congo. Rwanda continues to benefit from instability in the Congo.
3. A peace process that engages Rwanda, Uganda, Congo and the Rwandan Hutu rebels in the Congo
4. The creation of political space inside Rwanda that will accommodate disparaged groups in Congo
5. The creation of a system that punishes perpetrators of crimes against humanity, particularly the outrageous rapes of women and children. The climate of impunity in the Congo must be stopped now and the global community can play a constructive role in this process.

Latest News:
Thousands of protesters attacking UN in east Congo

UN: Rebels fire rockets at peacekeepers in Congo

DR Congo rebels seize army camp