Father Justin Nkunzi, Director of the Justice and Peace Commission for Bukavu, had a letter published on Saturday in the UK newspaper The Guardian, responding to Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Congo. (Read it here.)
Nkunzi acknowledges that humanitarian aid (like donations to the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu and Women for Women International) is still desperately needed, but that the real solution to the crisis in the Congo is the total demilitarization of armed militias roaming the country. Nkunzi says, “‘…the reality is that the use of rape as a weapon of war will continue as long as well-armed militias remain active, often competing with each other for access to valuable mines, enabling them to continue their illegal activities of personal enrichment and sexual brutality with impunity.’”
This is obviously true–in the article below by Eve Ensler, Dr. Mukwege tells stories about women returning to the Panzi Hospital after their first treatment as a result of second attacks. No matter how successful we are in caring for women and children in the Congo through donations and support, we will always be fighting a losing battle as long as armed militias are allowed to continue their raping and killing without punishment.
Part of the Secretary of State’s visit to the Congo included a conversation with the Congolese President, Joseph Kabila, where she told him that such militias should not be allowed to continue their abuses without repercussions. You can learn more about her visit in another Guardian article, “Hillary Clinton demands arrests over Congo sexual violence.” The article says that “Clinton has been urged by human rights groups to press the government to arrest and prosecute offenders.”
This problem–the problem of disarming those errant militias and punishing sexual offenders, thereby hopefully greatly reducing or removing the constant threat of heinous sexual violence towards women and children–seems so much more difficult for people like you and me to attack. It’s easy to donate money, even if you don’t have that much. I certainly don’t, which is why I’m holding fundraisers like my virtual bakesale and online auction. You can find ways to earn money to donate get people concerned and interested in the problem. But demilitarizing militias and changing the way that a government rules its people is not something I have much influence on.
But someone else does–the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Whether or not the Congolese government eventually changes its policies, Hillary Clinton has infinitely more influence and power to affect this kind of change than you or I do–but the good part is, her power comes from us (or should, in a democracy)! As the Guardian’s article said, “Clinton has been urged by human rights groups to press the government…” And she has recently been doing just that! This gives me hope that she is listening to our concerns. I think the best thing we can do for this problem is to keep it fresh in her mind–keep reminding her that she needs to continue encouraging the Congolese government to care about its people, and to change its policies so that the rapes and abuse will end.
Writing letters often seems to be a thing of the past, but is often an incredibly useful tool when letting the government know how we want to be governed, or how we want an issue like the crisis in the Congo to be handled. Write Secretary Clinton at the State Department:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
And urge her to continue the work she’s already started in the Congo. For a transcript of the Roundtable With NGOs and Activists on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Issues which took place in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, visit the U.S. Department of State’s website and read it.
