Author:Cory Smith
Date: 07/11/2008
Bring peace to Eastern Congo
End violence against women and girls
The most urgent issue facing Eastern Congo is the destabilizing and threatening presence of Rwandan armed groups. They remain more than 14 years after the slaughter of nearly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. These groups, namely the Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), and their many offshoots have been responsible for terrible atrocities in eastern Congo, including widespread and systematic sexual violence.
Enough's latest report, "Past Due: Remove the FDLR from Eastern Congo," recommends dismantling the FDLR from the inside out. Field Researcher Rebecca Feeley and Policy Adviser Colin Thomas-Jensen suggest incentives to prompt defections, severing lines of support, and preparing for possible military action.
Urgent action is needed because women and girls are the primary victims of the marauding sexual predators.
Enough requests that you support resource accountability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Conflict minerals
Act today:Contact your Senators to tell them that you support the “The Conflict Coltan and Cassiterite Act” (S.3058) that requires greater accountability and transparency in U.S. importation of potential conflict minerals from the DRC.
Coltan and cassiterite are minerals commonly used in household electronics such as cell-phones and computers. An overwhelming majority of the world’s coltan and cassiterite is found in the DRC.
Sale of these minerals, however, funds the rapes, killings and other atrocious crimes committed by groups in the DRC. In particular, the FDLR, a primary perpetrator of atrocities and sexual violence against women and girls in the DRC, funds itself largely through extraction of the gold and cassiterite that abounds in regions under its control.
The “Conflict Coltan and Cassiterite Act” calls on the President to provide a list of armed groups committing serious human rights violations in the DRC. The bill prohibits the importation of any product containing coltan or cassiterite from the DRC that would provide financial benefit to any groups on this human rights violation list.
Contact your Senators by calling them (202) 224-3121, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, writing a letter, or sending an email requesting that they support peace in the DRC by voting for the Conflict Coltan and Cassiterite Act.
Condemn sexual violence
The DRC has been the epicenter of the deadliest war since World War II with 5.4 million deaths and counting. Congolese women and girls in particular bear the vicious brunt of this crisis. Sexual violence and rape exist on a scale seen nowhere else in the world. The DRC is one of the worst places in the world to be a woman.
Introduced by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and co-sponsored by Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), H.R. 1227 calls on the U.S. administration and international community to take the following actions to address this issue:
- Calls on the U.S. Secretary of State to appoint a special envoy to the DRC, and urges the U.S. government and broader international community to provide victims of sexual violence with greater assistance for health-care services, psychological and social counseling, and legal advice;
- Calls on the government of DRC to end the widespread sexual violence by holding all armed groups accountable for their actions;
- Calls for full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, that calls for protection of women and girls and the promotion of their rights.
Urge your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. #1227. Call now: (202) 224-3121.
For more information about the situation in the Eastern Congo:
- “Past Due: Remove the FDLR from Eastern Congo”
- “Take Action in Eastern Congo” Web page
- Strategy paper: “Averting the Nightmare Scenario in Eastern Congo”
- Raise Hope for Congo campaign
####
The original article was published here.
