Dublin Demonstration Highlights Human Rights Abuse and Failed Politics in DR Congo

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Saturday July 01, 2006 15:39

by John Lannon

johnlannon at eircom dot net

June 30th should have marked the end of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s transition government, and seen the start of a hopeful, democratic future. But instead it is a country where millions of people are still suffering at the hands of corrupt leadership and interference by foreign governments. Hundreds of Congolese and Irish people took to the streets of Dublin yesterday to highlight this, and to draw attention to the appalling human rights abuses in the country.

Congolese women highlight ongoing violence against women in DRC

Close to 400 Congolese and Irish people took part in a demonstration that began at the top of O’Connell St. at 12.30pm, and proceeded to the Dáil. There, a memorandum, signed by representatives of Congolese groups in Ireland, was delivered to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern. The march then proceeded to the EU Office in Molesworth St., where the memorandum was also handed in to the Acting Head, Ms. Susan Sheil.

The demonstration was a colourful, vocal, and passionate plea to Irish and EU leaders to take measures to end the suffering in the DRC. The march, which was peaceful and orderly, was organised jointly by a wide range of Congolese groups in Ireland, including the UDPS, PALU, APARECO, People’s Eye and other political parties. It was supported by a long list of associations, non-governmental organisations, and ethnic groups, including Congo Lisanga, AGKA, BDD and Katanga, as well as the Congolese churches in Ireland.

Over four million people have died as a result of a civil war that began in the DR Congo in 1998. But despite the fact that the war is officially over, the tragedy of the Congo, which is seen by many as a crime against humanity on a par with the Holocaust of the Jewish people, is still ongoing.

The international community is currently engaged in a process intended to lead to the election of the DRC’s first democratic government. However, according to the organisers of yesterday’s demonstration, this process is flawed. Its transparency is questionable, they say, it is not inclusive of all parties, and it seems to be motivated more by a re-colonisation of Africa from its heart, the Congo, than a real desire to bring stability and independence to the region.
Those taking part in the demonstration emphasised that the Congolese people want elections. They want to vote for leaders who will bring peace, democracy, and respect for the rule of law, and for politicians that can lead this rich country on its way to development and prosperity. The current election process, which is supported by the Irish and other European governments, is not going to achieve this, according to the Congolese community in Ireland.
Since 1998, the DR Congo has had over 4 million deaths as a result of what the International Rescue Committee called “the deadliest war in the world since World War II”. Today the war is officially ended, but the country is still very unstable and the people live with the scars of war. Homes and hospitals have been destroyed, there have been mass killings, children are without families, and there is widespread sickness. People have to contend with lack of clean water, food, shelter, basic medical supplies and services. There are ongoing gross human rights violations in the country, as well as intimidation, rape and torture.

The demonstrators at Friday’s event in Dublin called on the Irish government to stop supporting an election process that was imposing an unsatisfactory political solution on the DRC. They called on Irish political leaders to engage in efforts to facilitate a dialogue among all the Congolese political class instead, and to ensure full inclusiveness in any process undertaken to bring stability to the country.

Ireland’s long-lasting relationship with the Congo was highlighted in a speech made outside the Dáil by one of the demonstration’s organisers. Pastor Remba, who spoke on behalf of all the Congolese churches in Ireland, recalled that in the 1960’s Irish soldiers died for peace in the Congo. This was also highlighted in the memorandum presented to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, which called on the Irish government to honour these past efforts by presenting an open and clear position in relation to the Congo. It called on the Irish to withdraw their support for the current transition leadership structures there, and to concentrate on helping through serious NGO’s operating in the country. “The money given [to the Congolese government] to help the population is always misused by the predators in power” according to the memorandum.

The memorandum also demanded the trial of those responsible for the suffering in the Congo, regardless of their high position in governments and/or other organisations in the Central Africa region. “The perpetrators and executants of the Congo massacres are all well known, easy to locate and to bring in front of an international jurisdiction” it said. “Only the trial of those criminals can help the international community to regain some credit in the Congo”.

The Congolese groups in Ireland also expressed their regret that Ireland has sent its soldiers as part of the current EU mission to protect observers in the “dangerous and unfair election process”. They also asked the Irish Government and fellow EU members to withdraw their 2000 soldiers “sent to protect the regime in place, against the will of the Congolese citizens”. The UN forces of MONUC should also be withdrawn they said. “There are mercenaries from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Eritrea and other parts of the world still colonising the Congo, and the UN have failed in their mission to pacify the country and should leave.”

Demonstrators call for an end to human rights abuses in DRC