|
|
| What the Congolese Minister Mende Should not Forget
|
| Contrary to what many people are led to believe, many of the challenges facing the DRC are resulted in a single root problem - the reluctance of leaders to take responsibility for their actions. This article builds on a previous essay of the author entitled "International NGOs, Do they really Want to Balkanize the Democratic Republic of the Congo? www.mjpcongo.org/April52010.aspx. |
| | The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces another chronic problem often less discussed, but very dangerous. It must be admitted that this problem is in fact based on an unprecedented reluctance of its leaders to take responsibility for their actions. When someone ask them a question about a problem that requires their attention, they quickly come up with list of foreign governments, foreign institutions or foreign armed groups to blame. Without suggesting that this is automatically bad, it is clear that many of the challenges facing the DRC result in a single root problem - the reluctance of leaders to take responsibility for their actions.
First, despite the difficulties of governing a country torn by conflicts for more than a decade, the Congolese government, beginning with its spokesperson, the minister Lambert Mende Omalanga should not forget that the government has the duty and responsibility to control the behavior of its men in uniform. This means that the government must be held responsible for acts of sexual violence and other gross human rights violations committed by members of the Congolese army. There are several reports of the UN and other nonprofit organizations accusing the Congolese army (FARDC) to have committed serious human rights violations which amount to war crimes, but the government has not yet taken steps to investigate and hold accountable the soldiers responsible for these atrocities.
Secondly, minister Mende should not forget that the slow reform in the national army remains the major source of giving good and legitimate reasons for international agents to remain in the Congo to try to help people. If the army was reformed and disciplined, there will not be multiple sub-armed groups perpetuating terror in the poor population. There would be no displaced or refugees in their own country in need of assistance from these foreigners as there is no government social programs to help the survivors of these conflicts. The reform of the army and security agencies is really capital given the situation in Congo. A reform that reinstates the discipline of soldiers, bring an end to the multiple hijackings of military pay (negative force that destroys the morale of brave soldiers and discourages them during wars) and a reform which seriously punishes the criminal and looters in the army. .
Third, despite the presence of a power arising from the polls, minister Mende should not forget that the lives of Congolese people have not changed. Not to mention the problems created by an unemployment rate estimated at almost 90%, the uncertainty is known to be an alarming concern of every day to any Congolese of any province. Life is lost every minute, the militias continue trainning and impunity is a coin in circulation more than the Congolese franc. What is true is that the government is legitimate and legally legitimable to deploy all its energy to seize the resources at its disposal and develop all possible relationships with any other country in this world to protect the Congolese people . The ultimate role of government is to protect its people and property. The Truth in Congo remains stubborn and is it is known that Minister Mende, did not deny this during his responses to international NGOs. Today, the attack of Mbandaka, on Easter Day, Sunday, April 4, 2010, is not a surprise, but a revelation of the vulnerability of how the Congolese people are facing multiple armed groups outside government control. http://www.digitalcongo.net/article/66039 In addition, minister Mende should not forget that the statistics are worthless or do not provide any justification to anyone who has lost a family member or community member. Whether the number of victims is less than initially thought, it is imperative to recall that the Congolese State has the duty and obligation to protect all life regardless of ethnic group, gender, religion or even province. What is truly deplorable is that the answers that come from members Congolese government continue to demonstrate that they are willing to defend themselves and trivialize the charges as they mourn the huge loss of human lives. All life is sacred and must be honored by all, including the government of Congo. Was it not equally important for the Minister Mende to address the reports the United Nations expert that reported the following incidents: 3106 registered sexual abuse cases in the period between January and July 2009 in North Kivu , most of which were caused by the FARDC, in October 2009 in one district of the Territory of Dungu 116 rapes committed by the FARDC. According to these experts of the United Nations, "the military justice system has jurisdiction over the Congo the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, but it is weak and not resistant against the executive interference with military or political decision makers. " http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/201003160248.html In a surprising and completely unexpected way, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Lessa Luzolo Bambi joins his colleague stating that the report by Human Rights Watch reporting a massacre of 300 civilians in Upper Uele, Orientale Province, in December 2009, by the Army of the Lord's Resistance of Uganda is not serious and yet he recognizes that twenty people lost their lives. http://www.africanews.com/site/DR_Congo_refutes_report_of_massacre/list_messages/31030 Will the Minister of Justice tell the public how many Congolese people who will need to be killed in order to be viewed seriously by the government? Assuming that the figure of 20 is correct. Are the lives of 20 people with no value for their murder to be announced to the public and those actions to denounced by the Minister of Justice? Is it still relevant that the DRC government gives light to the following questions: 1) Who are these victims of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Congo reported by Human Rights Watch and other sources, three months after the massacre.
2) What happened to the Congolese army and why it was not able to protect the population.
3) Did the Congolese government conduct its own inquiry into the massacres allegedly committed by the rebel LRA in December and what were the findings? Who was in charge of that investigation?
4) What does the Congolese government know about the survivors reported by Human Rights Watch.
5) What are the corrective measures the Congolese government has taken to prevent future incidents.
6) According to various reports, the presence of LRA rebels in the districts of Upper and Lower Uele remains a factor that inhibits people to return to their villages. What is the Congolese government doing to help these displaced populations in this part of the Oriental Province.
An indifference to death, is an outright complicity that encourages criminals to continue to perpetrate these vile acts.
Nevertherless, it was encouraging to learn through Minister Mende that "Zero Tolerance" program is the government policy to eradicate impunity. If this is true, then "Congratulations" to the government finally accepting the long time appeal of those who have been requiring to adopt a program to punish criminals and establish the rule of law. Given the importance of such a program, it would be good for the Congolese government to make available to public the periodic reports of this program. Democracy which Congo is embarked on requires that information on programs and policies of government to not be a private matter only to members of the government but rather a public display for everyone who seeks it. How to find information about the implementation of Tolerance Zero in the South and North Kivu, Orientale Province or Equateur, where the symptoms continue to deprive Congolese citizens of their most inalienable rights. To borrow the words of the Swedish Minister for European Affairs "The Congolese authorities have a responsibility to ensure that the policy of zero tolerance is not just words, but be translated into reality" http://www.digitalcongo. net/article/63302 The same advice was offered to the Congolese government by Esteban Sacco, director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in these terms: "The solution is justice, justice andjustice "Also" There must be a system to bring to justice the perpetrators of rape. " http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/201003160248.html In summary, what is sad is that despite five decades of data clearly showing that the policy of blaming did not help solve the problems in Congo, Congolese politicians still take pleasure to use it in to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. It is clear that the Congo's problems can not be resolved using the blame game. the DRC would not be in the mess in which it is today if this policy was favorable. Minister Mende should not forget that any treatment of this blame syndrome is one of the achievable goals that must be taken seriously by the Congolese ruling class because it will solve other problems.
|
Makuba T. SEKOMBO is the Director of Community Affairs of the Mobilization for Justice and Peace in the Congo (MJPC), a nonprofit organization that works to defend and promote justice and peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. |
|
| |
| | |
| |
|