I know that the situation is still worse in the Congo but I am with hope.
Please, can you also investigate about the collateral damage that the joint military operation FARDC and RPA is conducting actually on the civilian population? Again, children and women are the ones paying the hard price.
He had come across our Huffington Post blog and really thinks Clinton is listening to the human rights pleas such as this one from Marcel Stoessel of OXFAM.
The UN-backed offensive that was supposed to make life better for the people of eastern Congo is instead becoming a human tragedy.
Secretary Clinton needs to make it very clear that U.S. support for the UN's efforts in Congo is not a blank check and that civilians should be protected.
Human Rights Watch issued an extensive plea today to Clinton. I wonder if she reads this stuff? Here is a good portion of it.
Killings and brutal sexual violence against women, girls and also men have massively increased in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since the start of military operations in January 2009, the Congo Advocacy Coalition, a group of 88 humanitarian and human rights organizations, said today. The coalition urged Hillary Clinton, the United States secretary of state, who arrives in Congo today, to press the Congolese government and United Nations peacekeepers for more effective measures to protect civilians and to pursue justice for serious crimes.
Since the start of military operations in January, more than 600 civilians have been killed and thousands of women and girls raped by armed rebel groups and government forces. According to UN estimates, the violence has forced more than 800,000 people from their homes, including some 56,000 who fled from Uvira territory, South Kivu, in July.
But, HRW has been saying this for years, and things just keep getting worse. Will Clinton really listen now? Since the death of Alison Des Forges in the Continental Airlines crash outside of Buffalo New York, HRW's senior Africa researcher Anneke Van Woudenberg has picked up Des Forges' standard with a vengeance.
So far, these military operations have brought nothing but horrible suffering for the people of eastern Congo. Secretary Clinton should offer high-level US diplomatic engagement to figure out how to address the problem of the FDLR and other armed groups without causing even more harm.
Congolese army soldiers have committed widespread and serious abuses during the military operations, including rape. The majority of sexual violence cases reported in North Kivu since January have been attributed to government soldiers. On July 4, the Congolese government announced a policy of "zero tolerance" for abuses committed by army soldiers and said that commanders who permit their troops to commit such crimes will be held responsible. To date, only a handful of officers have been arrested.
Widespread impunity, the recent integration of 12,000 militia fighters into the army's ranks, and problems with salary payments have all compounded the discipline problems that have plagued the army for many years.
Why hasn't Kabila arrested Bosco Ntaganda, a war criminal wanted by The Hague on extreme human rights violations, murder and rape? Instead, Kabila put Bosco in charge of the troops in eastern Congo! Maybe we should not worry too much about Bosco. My sources tell me he is hanging around the bars in Goma, drinking away his salary in between smuggling operations in Cyanaki and the "back door" of Bunagana.
HRW addresses Bosco obliquely here even though they have openly called for Bosco to be brought to justice in past press comments.
