An outstanding resource to teach kids about defenders of human rights.
Curriculum shines light on defenders of human rights | Speak Truth to Power.
Human Rights Watch has called on the UN to send more troops to the Northern DR Congo due to the grave dangers to the civilian population caused by the activities in that area of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
They have also released a 67 page report: The Christmas Massacres: LRA attacks on Civilians in Northern Congo.
More information is available at their website.
Here are some recent links pertaining to issues in the DRC from Human Rights Watch
The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a continuing and very serious cause for concern. There has been a temporary lull in violence in the North Kivu region. But reports from the ground that Rwanda’s armed forces have crossed the border raise critical civilian protection concerns. All sides to the conflict, including the CNDP rebels and the Congolese armed forces, have committed serious violations of the laws of war. Meanwhile, the disturbing killings recently carried out by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Orientale province highlight again the inadequacy of international, local and regional efforts to protect civilians.
The African Union can press for international security assistance to DRC to be adequately financed, manned, and focused on civilian protection. Human Rights Watch was one of a number of organizations that called for the time-limited deployment of a European force late last year to bolster the UN’s efforts in North Kivu. Regrettably, these calls were ignored, and civilians in the region remain extremely vulnerable. We also see real difficulties in securing the additional UN peacekeepers that the UN Security Council approved in December 2008.
Human Rights Watch therefore urges the AU to take the following actions:
Ensure that the governments of Rwanda and DRC-and other regional stakeholders-cease supporting abusive proxy groups in the Kivus. The evidence, from UN and other sources, shows that both have actively been supporting armed groups that attack civilians.
Press for urgent international action to strengthen UN forces in the Kivus region and urge countries with effective military capacity to contribute.
Press for a full and independent investigation into violations of human rights and the laws of war committed in the Kivus in 2008 and ensure that all those responsible are held to account. We note that in late 2008 the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation into atrocities committed in the Kivus. It has already issued an arrest warrant for a senior member of the CNDP, Bosco Ntaganda. The AU should demand his handover to the ICC.
Press for LRA leaders subject to ICC arrest warrants, and who surrender or are captured, to be handed over for trial.It is also urgent that the AU help draw international attention to the complexities of the DRC’s problems, and counter the flawed notion that the situation in eastern DRC can be solved merely by eliminating the ethnic Hutu FDLR militia. The region’s problems go much further and wider than one armed group, and include economic dynamics such as illicit resource extraction. The fighting in eastern Congo has been a continuing tragedy of civilian deaths, rapes and the use of child soldiers. © Copyright 2008, Human Rights Watch
DR Congo: Protect Children From Rape and Recruitment
Security Council Should Act to End Abuses Against Children in Eastern Congo Read more…
Human Rights Watch has an article: DRC: ICC’s First Trial Focuses on Child Soldiers.
This is very significant as per this quote from the article.
“This first ICC trial makes it clear that the use of children in armed combat is a war crime that can and will be prosecuted at the international level,” said Param-Preet Singh, counsel in Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program. “Lubanga’s UPC also slaughtered thousands, and those responsible should be held accountable for these crimes as well.”
Human Rights Watch has published its 2009 Report. Here are some links to articles of note.
2009 World Report: Obama Should Emphasize Human Rights
(Washington, DC) – The incoming Obama administration will need to put human rights at the heart of foreign, domestic, and security policy if it is to undo the enormous damage of the Bush years, Human Rights Watch said today in issuing its World Report 2009.
Taking Back the Initiative from the Human Rights Spoilers
A government’s respect for human rights must be measured not only by how it treats its own people but also by how it protects rights in its relations with other countries. As we commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the response of governments to the plight of people abroad is often anemic. Indeed, it is a sad fact that when it comes to this international protection of rights, the governments with the clearest vision and strategy are often those that seek to undermine enforcement. The days are past when one would look to Washington, Brussels, or other Western capitals for the initiative in intergovernmental discussions of human rights. Today, those conducting the most energetic diplomacy on human rights are likely to reside in such places as Algiers, Cairo, or Islamabad, with backing from Beijing and Moscow. The problem is that they are pushing in the wrong direction.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Violence, impunity, and horrific human rights abuses continue in the Democratic Republic of Congo, two years after historic elections were expected to bring stability. Early in 2008 a peace agreement brought hope to eastern Congo, but combat between government and rebel forces resumed in August. During the year, hundreds of civilians were killed, thousands of women and girls were raped, and a further 400,000 people fled their homes, pushing the total number of displaced persons in North and South Kivu to over 1.2 million.
One thing I am pleased about is President-elect Obama’s pleadge to end torture. I hope he takes it a step further and institutes a truth commission and goes after those who made torture a US policy. In my opinion Vice-president Cheney is guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to trial. Of course if he is brought to trial (which I seriously doubt) he will be given access to lawyers, treated humanely, and tried in civil courts, unlike those he ordered abused etc.
Vice-president Cheney has stated that he felt his actions were justified given the circumstances. I reject his argument. There are things that are more important than safety and security.
Here are some articles for reflection.
Rejecting Vice President Cheney’s Talk on Torture
In this case, history will show that the purported “ends” – keeping the country safe – have not only not justified the “means”, but they have been challenged extremely by them. As Matthew Alexander has asserted, at least half of U.S. soldiers who have died “have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse.” The policies that grew out of the initial reaction to September 11 – without careful reflection or reasoned analysis – have made our soldiers much less safe. The rest of us are less safe too, as U.S. detention practices have helped diminish our country’s standing all over the world. There’s also the damage we have done to our own sense of what it means to be American. This is a country of ideas and ideals, and the diminishment of those ideals embodied in the Constitution seriously challenges our collective sense of American identity, and the idea of America around the world.
Oxfam America has a webpage devoted to the crisis and a page to send a message to President Bush and Congress to urge an immediate ceasefire.
Also please read ARE WE NOT HUMAN?
What is the international community waiting for, to see even more dismembered people, and families erased before they act? Time is ticking by and the numbers of dead and injured are increasing… what are they waiting for?
What is happening is against humanity, are we not human
As part of their reflection on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights two short blog posts were published.
Are Human Rights Really Universal?
Human Rights a Christian Conception?
Some good questions to ponder.
Medicins Sans Frontieres has set up a very powerful site on the situation in the DR Congo at present.
Condition Critical This site includes:
and a Photo Timeline
The site combines very powerful images and hard-hitting compelling text. This is a must see for anyone concerned about the situation in the DRC.
This bill was not passed by the last session of Congress and was therefore cancelled. It will need to be reintroduced in this session. We will keep you updated on any news. Please write your Senator and urge them to reintroduce this bill.
An important piece of legislation is currently in the Finance Committee of the US Senate. This legislation has a direct bearing on the current conflict in the DRC. Much of the funding for the rebels, renegade army troops, and militias comes from the illegal mining of Coltan (columbite-tantalite) and Cassiterite (Tin). These ores are widely used in the electronics industry and used in cell-phones, computers etc.
Anyone who cares to see the fighting ended and peace restored to the DR Congo should write there senators and ask for them to co-sign this bill and help to bring it to the floor for a vote.
I imagine there will be strong opposition to this bill from the industries that benefit from using Coltan and Cassiterite.
I have include the full text of the bill as a page on my blog.
For more info on the bill:
Go here to track the bill.
PDF of the bill to download.
Library of Congress THOMAS page on the bill.
From Senator Brownback’s ( the bills sponsor) website,
Friday, May 23, 2008
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Conflict Coltan and Cassiterite Act, legislation which would require certification of minerals imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We are witnessing a grave humanitarian crisis in Congo, and we must act now to put an end to the death and suffering,” said Brownback. “Everyday, Americans use products that have been manufactured using inhumanely mined minerals. The legislation introduced by Senator Durbin and I will bring accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of many electronic devices.”
Every day in Congo, 1,500 people die as a direct or indirect result of the conflict over the mining of minerals like cassiterite and coltan; to date, the conflict has displaced more than 1.3 million Congolese and has resulted in over 5.4 million deaths. Read more…
World Vision Latest News ONE Poverty UNlocked
SocialVibe