What the World Must Know About the Congo

As I watched President-elect Barack Obama deliver his victory speech and lay out his philosophy of leadership, I immediately thought of what is possible around the world. It is my hope that the "Yes We Can" motto that inspired millions of Americans will spread to the Congo and its neighboring countries to stop the atrocities fueled by inhumane leadership and sales of arms by Western nations.

Fresh from a two-week visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, I watch on television the escalation of war, one that has already claimed five million lives since 1998. There is deep despair, especially among women and girls, who have already suffered unspeakable violence.

I am Congolese and have lived in the United States for most of my life. As the head of the Africa program at the Global Fund for Women, I help support women's groups in Africa working on development and advancing human rights. But Congo's human rights have been violated for too long and the weak international response makes us wonder whether our lives matter.

Congo's violence will end when the countries rushing to send humanitarian aid after millions of innocent lives have been massacred stop sending and selling weapons to rebel movements in the Congo. Congo's violence will end when African leaders, elected or imposed, stop using these weapons on innocent civilians. Congo's violence will end when the international community refuses to roll out the red carpet to a rebel movement that claims to protect a Tutsi minority in Congo. This rebel army, rather than engaging directly with the Interhamwe that escaped into Congo after committing the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, takes the easier route of terrorizing Congolese civilians that have nothing to do with the Interhamwe. The international community, guilty for just standing by during the Rwandan genocide, continues to be hoodwinked by Rwanda as it arms this rebel movement in neighboring Congo and fuels another genocide.

It is not coincidental that rebel forces armed with sophisticated weapons are in regions where minerals are most abundant. The country has been plundered for more than 100 years by explorers, colonial governments, multinational corporations from every continent, African opportunists, and a small circle of Congolese. Sadly, profits from armed conflict and the exploitation of natural resources in the Congo are more alluring than any human rights agenda. Meanwhile the majority of 66 million Congolese don't have access to food, sanitation, education, transportation, sustainable livelihoods, or justice. Another major problem Congolese face is the U.N.'s slow response to protect them from armed groups. Thousands of Congolese have organized many demonstrations throughout the Congo against the UN Mission for their apparent inaction. When will we see bold action to protect Congolese people, especially women?

I have visited diamond mines and witnessed the slave-like working conditions and the context under which sexual abuse takes place. On the drive, we passed lines of people making the long trek to try their luck to dig for diamonds by hand. We passed rows of densely-packed, dilapidated wooden structures that double as diamond selling counters, homes, and fast-food eateries. We finally arrived at the deep excavations where hundreds of people dig by hand through the silt water working to find a speckle of hope. Women do most of the digging then the sifting is left to the men to find the nuggets to sell. The girls selling food there make about 20 cents a day, and sexual exploitation and trafficking of minors is rampant. There are terms to refer to girls aged 6-8 or 9-15. You can make an order just as easily as you can at McDonald's.

When I think of the women and girls who told us their horrifying experiences of sexual torture, I keep thinking of the modern weapons that make this torture possible, and the origins of these weapons. They are not made in Congo.

I am often asked what can be done to help the Congo. I let them know about the efforts undertaken by women's rights NGOs that are trying to rebuild their country. But these efforts will remain an uphill task as long as Western governments send arms deliveries to the rebel movements and the governments that support them. These efforts will remain in vain as long as the media courts armed rebel leaders that terrorize the people. No change will be made when there is no political will to respect past peace talks and accords. The Congolese people are waiting for a time when we will see action instead of empty proclamations. We know that 5 million deaths constitute a genocide; we are waiting for the rest of the world to agree and act with us.

Comments

[problemchild]

Unfortunately, I think the new policies are going to be use of military intervention to stabilize areas. AFRICOM is pretty set. Oil from Africa would be easier to get by ship than oil from the Middle East, etc. In The Atlantic today, Clive somebody links to reviews about a book by an ex-world bank economist from Oxford (until 2003). Sorry, forget the name but all the policy makers seem to be buyin it. The World Bank project in Chad was just promising to be successful, with a pipline and everything planned for public welfare, but then in 2005 neighboring Sudan got jealous and ran in to destabilize the country. They ended up buying arms with the proceeds and it all fell apart. Throwing money into the problems doesn't work at all. Even if one country manages to help itself, the neighbors get jealous. The Israeli Palesinian conflict is just like this. It's strange but what they've attempted to do in Iraq is just this, imposing a nation state. A Swedish firm is building a truck plant in Iraq. I know, it goes against what we hear in the press, but it does sound like progress. On the other hand, South Korea just got use of 1.3 million hectares in Madagascar to grow food (1/2 size of Belgium). They didn't buy the land, but they're offering development and employment in return for food security. Bartering might be the only other way? There must be better ways..

[BlackTom]

This is not a Africa problem, it is a human problem, and the same thing could happen here.

What would YOU do, if you lost your home, job, car, savings, and there was no hope to regain these nor any government benefits?. What if all your family and friends were in the same situation? What if the streets of the cities were crowded with starving , homeless, desperate people, and the rural areas controlled by local militias protecting their food supplies?

Would desperation drive you to steal, to kill ? Would you sacrifice your morals for simple survival? Would you take a job as an armed thug, and do anything they told you to keep food in your belly or provide for your family? If you wouldn't, do you think this would be a minority or a majority point of view?

When you follow the money in Congo or Darfur you find that respected global corporations and national governments refuse to stop doing business with these countries, becasue they know that an exercise of scruples will allow less scrupulous competitors to swoop in and take over the natural resource markets.
Only by focusing world attention and action can the problems in the countries be addressed. They can't do it themselves, because there is far too much outside influence that is currently benefitting from the chaos. This last fact will not change, until all the resources are gone, or the outside influences are controlled by coordinated global agreement and action.

[ScooterLiddy]

The West owes a tremendous debt to the Congo. Belgium for the plunder of the 19th Century. The US CIA for the subversion of democracy (Lumumba) and the installation of Mobutu.

[canucklivinginUSA]

I didn't bother reading this article. I have watched the News from France News and all I am going to say is F@ck the Congolese. I am tired of looking at Africa and see the constant mess brewing in that continent. They are some bright spot such as Mauritius and Botswana(even with its AIDS problem). They are two of the perfect example on how a government who cares about its people can help the economy grow and better the lives of its inhabitants. All these other countries should look at these two shining examples and try to duplicate it instead of relying on foreign nations. They are like childrens who refuse to grow up and we have enable that dependency to continue. ENOUGH already. Let them grow up and get themselves out of their f'ing mess on their own

[ScooterLiddy]

Ignorance is bliss, eh?

[noneIn2008]

Send troops? I thought our goal was to bring American troops HOME.

[icemilkcoffee]

Stopping arms sales is not enough. Congo is a failed state. Even if you took away their guns- they'll still have machetes , just like in Rwanda. Frankly I don't know what the solution is.

[bluegrasstafarian]

Maybe it shouldn't be an imposed nation state....traditional chiefdom and tribal organization and small bands (in the Ituri Forest) worked for thousands of years.... nation states are by far the most violent political organizations of people, and least democratic.

One day we'll all return to tribes. In a good, pastoral, yeoman, democratic kind of way...not the mad max post-apocalyptic scenario (hopefully..)

[Bruupo]

Um, they worked for thousands of years, right up until colonialism. It's not like the colonial powers were interested exclusively in creating a nation state, they wanted the natural resources, just like they want them now.

As long as the external forces are that powerful, as long as their aims are that profitable, a failed nation state will always devolve to the Mad Max scenario- which is where they are- and why there are where they are- now.

It's a perfectly fine sentiment you express, but you'd have to get rid of all the other nation states first. As it is, they will continue to shove AK's into the region for as long as cell phone batteries and diamonds bleed back out.

[Jane]

Stopping weapons sales seems like a good first step, but how is it to be done? THis is the dark side of the free market (one of the many). It is like destructive drugs--as long as there is a market, there will be someone to supply that market. It might not be you or me, but there are plenty of people who have no conscience at all. What about diamonds? I wouldn't buy any, and there was a movie about the bloody results of the diamond market, but what else do the diamond miners have? It seems like people close to the situation are motivated by greed and inhumanity, while those who would like to change things are too far away to do anything effective. This situation is a horrible conundrum That the local people must take a lead in resolving.

[problemchild]

Yeah, it is a local problem. The same one the native American Indians faced--private property rights versus rights of tribes or nomadic peoples.

But look at this through HufPo on a similar issue.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/lawyer-for-chiquita-in-co_b_141919.html

Possibly our next administration, will continue to support efforts to help business by whatever means are necessary. Not only won't we condem the need to use violence, we're encouraging the need to use violence to support business and development.

I still think DaeWoo Logistics in Madagascar has a great concept going..And Asian countries will be most likely to provide leadership and solutions to the future problems, since they're grappling with these issues still. I'm surprised Ban-Ki-Moon hasn't been able to do more at the UN