| Genocide Awareness Campaign: Democratic Republic of Congo |
 Jeneration, in association with Aegis Students,
will be raising awareness on Facebook about a different genocide each
day from Monday 21st – Friday 25th February, giving suggestions of
specific action points.
EDUCATE – learn more about the issues surrounding genocide Today's focus is on The Democratic Republic of Congo.
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO The Democratic Republic of Congo, a country nearly ten times the size of the UK in central Africa, was the site of the deadliest conflict since the end of the Second World War; some 5.4 million people are estimated to have died during the Second Congo War between 1998 and 2003 and in its aftermath; even after the official end of hostilities, violence has continued to plague the region, and as recently as 2009, over a thousand people were killed in sporadic outbreaks of violence across the country. The instability caused by this conflict has allowed other violent groups to take advantage of the chaos to further their own aims, notably that of the Lord’s Resistance Army, or as it is more commonly known, the LRA. The LRA are a rebel movement led by Joseph Kony who have fought in Uganda for over 20 years, and have been guilty of carrying out widespread atrocities, particularly including the use of child soldiers and sexual violence; the LRA have the dubious distinction of being the most prolific user of child soldiers in the world. At one stage in Uganda, so great was the threat of abduction of children, that children would ‘commute’ into government guarded safe zones. This was profiled in the documentary Invisible Children. The LRA began moving into the DRC in 2005, relying on the instability in the country to allow them to establish a presence there. For the crimes committed in their insurgency against the Ugandan authorities, in 2005 the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against the leadership of the LRA on various counts, including war crimes, sexual slavery and forced enlistment of child soldiers. None of those mentioned in the warrants have yet been arrested, and while some of those named have subsequently died, for example Vincent Otti, the deputy commander of the LRA, no leaders have yet been brought to justice for their role in these crimes against humanity. Indeed, the LRA continues to commit war crimes in the DRC, with the massacre of civilians commonplace, as well as the continued kidnap of children as child soldiers and sex slaves. The situation involving the LRA in the DRC is not generally recognised as being genocide. However, much of the activity of the LRA in the DRC has been enabled by the instability between ethnic groups in the Congo which triggered outbreaks of violence. By being aware of how these inter-ethnic tensions can have such far ranging effects, one is in a much stronger position in understanding the value of prevention. As such, you can do one of several things to help counter future outbreaks of this violence as well as having an impact now: ACTION POINTS
PARTICIPATE Find out more about the Jeneration and Aegis Trust Genocide Awareness Campaign. |
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