Wednesday, May 31, 2006

What's Needed to Prevent
the Deaths of Millions More

In its June 5th issue Time magazine features on its cover the Congo crisis entitled “Congo:The Hidden Toll of the World’s Deadliest War” By Simon Robinson and Vivienne Walt

Time correctly raises the critical issue of "what's needed to prevent the deaths of millions more [Congolese]." However its accounting of the facts are incomplete and it's analysis does not lead us to a comprehensive prescription for preventing more dying and suffering in the Congo.

Time claims, in part, that the world has let “Congo bleed” because of its "maligned reputation and feckless rulers." Aside from the fact that there is absolutely no justification for letting "the Congo bleed" to the tune of 4 million dead since 1998, Time totally misses the central cause for the conflict and unbearable human toll in the Congo. The reason why the Congo bleeds today is the same reason it bled under Belgium’s King Leopold II's genocidal reign of the Congo from 1885 - 1908, when at least 10 million or half of the Congolese population perished in a 23 year span as the King brutally and illegally exploited the resources (at that time rubber and ivory) and labor of the Congo.

The central issue of the Congo has long been its enormous wealth and the nexus that exists among local sycophants seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the people, greedy neighbors with visions of regional grandeur and the veracious appetite by Western governments and corporations to profit from the natural resources of the Congo with no regard for Congolese lives. Until this issue is squarely and honestly addressed the Congo will continue to "bleed."

Johann Hari hit the nail on the head in his article "Congo's Tragedy: the War the World Forgot" published in the May 6 edition of the Independent online." He stated "This war has been dismissed as an internal African implosion. In reality it is a battle for coltan, diamonds, cassiterite and gold, destined for sale in London, New York and Paris. It is a battle for the metals that make our technological society vibrate and ring and bling, and it has already claimed 4 million lives in five years and broken a population the size of Britain's. No this is not only a story about them. This - the tale of a short journey into the long Congolese war we in the West have fostered, fueled and funded - is a story about you."

It is because so many Western interests and enormous profits (Read “Behind the Numbers: Untold Suffering in the Congo” by Keith Harmon Snow and David Barouski Thursday, 30 March 2006:) are at stake in the Congo that the world media have neglected the crisis in the Congo and when attention is focused there, more time than not the central issue is either obfuscated or omitted.

In recounting Congo's woes, Time tells an incomplete story regarding the assassination of Congo's first democratically elected Prime Minister in 1960, Patrice Lumumba. Time states that he was "killed by Belgium- and U.S.-backed opponents." In fact, Lumumba's assassination was orchestrated in Washington, Brussels and New York. Moreover, the main Congolese architect of Lumumba's assassination Joseph Desire Mobutu was on the CIA's payroll a full two years before Lumumba's liquidation. Congressional records from the 1975 & 1976 Church Committee reports indicate U.S. and Belgian complicity in Lumumba's assassination. Also see Congo Cables: The Cold War in Africa--From Eisenhower to Kennedy by Madeleine Kalb. In fact, Belgium apologized in 2002 for its role in Lumumba's assassination. It is amazing that even in light of Belgium's three-year old apology, Time still skirts the issue of the central actors behind Lumumba's assassination. It is the perpetuation of such a-historic accounts that prevent the American public and the international community from fully grasping the nature and scope of the problem in the Congo.

Time cites the return of mining companies to the Congo as a sign of improvement when in fact they have been part and parcel of the problem. A plethora of reports by the United Nations and Human Rights institutions since 2000 has clearly demonstrated the link between the illegal exploitation of the mineral resources of the Congo and the perpetual conflict. The reports document the names of the European, Canadian and American companies, global corporations, non-Congolese individuals, Congolese and neighboring government officials and businessmen who have been involved in the rank exploitation of the Congo. Some of the reports are below:

United Nations: Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Human Rights Watch: The Curse of Gold

Mondial Magazine: "Congo squanders its crown jewels"
by John Vandaele

Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa - The State vs. the People: Governance, Mining and the Transitional Regime in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (January 27, 2006)

DRC Parliamentary Commission: The Lutundula Report named after the leader of the commission Christophe Lutundula

Global Witness (several reports)

More reports and articles documenting the illegal exploitation of the riches of the Congo can be found in the resources section on the Friends of the Congo's website.

Time asks the question, "Can congo be saved?" Of course the answer is a resounding yes but the truth must be told in order to arrive at the correct prescriptions. Time rightly invokes the role of the international community and the good will of the citizens of the world in working with the Congolese to bring about peace and stability. However, the United States and Belgium bear a special responsibility and debt for the role they played in the Assassination of Patrice Lumumba and the installation and support of the brutal dictator Joseph Desire Mobutu for almost four decades while he destroyed the country and pilfered the coffers of the state. Whenever the Congolese rose up to rid themselves of this "feckless ruler," the West ran to his aid. The Congolese were not solely victimized by a brutal dictator but an international bulwark. The 1977 & ‘78 Shaba I & II uprisings are cases in point. The U.S., France and Belgium came to Mobutu's rescue to stave off the attack on his regime. (For more information, see Airpower Research Institute USAF Airlift into the Heart of Darkness, the Congo 1960 - 1978 Implications for Modern Air Mobility Planners)

Time asks, "Is the world willing to see it through?" We must see it through, the deaths of 4 million Congolese is a scar on the consciousness of humanity, especially when the answers exist to resolve the crisis. If we are willing to wear diamonds, gold or silver, have kitchen appliances, own a cell phone, purchase video games for our children, own a stereo system or any other electronic device, surely we should be willing to do whatever we can to make sure a 1,000 people do not die each day in the Congo, especially when our usage of the above mentioned products are tied directly to the rape, death and suffering of the Congolese people.

Many of the answers have been proposed for years. The question is do corporations and governments have the will to implement them. Some of them are as follows:

1. Hold corporations accountable for the illegal exploitation of the natural resources of the Congo. The United Nations, Global Witness, Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa and Human Rights Watch to name a few have identified these corporations but Western governments refuse to implement and enforce the prescriptions offered in these reports.

2. Hold governments such as Rwanda and Uganda accountable and impose the arms and resource embargo on them as the United Nations has called for in its reports. In 2005, the International Court of Justice found Uganda responsible for human rights abuses in the Congo and the pillaging of the Congo's resources. The court deemed it appropriate that the Congo seek up to $10 billion in compensation from Uganda. There is little doubt that the same fate would have befallen Rwanda had the Rwandan government not claim that it was outside of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, hence the court had no legal means to rule on its exploitation and human rights abuses in the Congo.

3. Publish and distribute widely the Lutundula report. A report by a Congolese parliamentary commission that documents the illegal exploitation of the Congo's natural resources.

4. Bring violators of human rights to the International Criminal Court as was done earlier this year with Thomas Lubanga.

5. Support an inclusive and transparent election process in the Congo. It is too late for the elections to be fair because those who have plundered the country have pillaged the state coffers to fund their election campaigns. In addition, the international community should support whatever dialogue is necessary among the Congolese politicians to reduce the prospect of violence during and after the elections.

The above suggestions are not a panacea and are but a sample of the number of prescriptions offered by the Congolese experts and scholars and a number of their international partners.