The Devastating Crisis in Eastern Congo
by Representative Christopher H. SmithPosted on 2013-01-02
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SMITH
of new jersey
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, last month the Subcommittee on
Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights held a hearing which examined
U.S. policy regarding the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC). This conflict was exacerbated by Rwanda's interventions in
neighboring eastern Congo, as documented by the release of three United
Nations reports last year. These reports confirmed Rwanda's support of
militia who have ravaged and continue to plague this region. The State
Department was unavailable to testify at our September 19th hearing on
this issue, and the subcommittee promised at that time to follow-up
when State was available to testify.
In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, successive U.S.
administrations have turned a blind eye to reports of Rwandan
plundering of resources from the DRC and support for rebels who have
devastated eastern Congo and its people. It seems that guilt over the
Clinton Administration's failure responding effectively to the genocide
in Rwanda has led subsequent U.S. administrations to be reluctant to
criticize the Government of Rwanda.
With these UN reports on that government's behavior in the DRC, we
must overcome our regret over what happened 18 years ago. As an NGO
letter to President Obama points out, the United States is now out of
step with our European allies, who have cut aid to Rwanda because of
their interference in the DRC, as recommended by the UN Group of
Experts in their recent reports. The Group of Experts also recommends
imposing sanctions on responsible Rwandan officials, such as Defense
Minister General James Kabarebe.
Additionally, the Government of the DRC has failed to ensure that its
military adequately provides security for its citizens. In fact, the
National Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) also is
alleged to be a perpetrator of human rights violations in the East.
Security sector reform is critical in the DRC, and the United Nations
Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (MONUSCO) has not been able to completely train military
containing elements that too often terrorize their own people instead
of protecting them.
At this point, it is vital to understand what the administration
intends to do about the UN reports on Rwanda's violation of the arms
embargo on non-state groups in eastern DRC and how this impacts U.S.
relations with Rwanda. Furthermore, we must know how the administration
intends to deal with the DRC government in light of its deficiencies in
security sector reform. The hearing also took a comprehensive look at
who is responsible for the insecurity in eastern Congo beyond the two
government and the militias.
Most attention is being paid to the M23 rebel movement in eastern
Congo, and justifiably so in light of their recent seizure of territory
and overall destructive impact on the people of eastern Congo. However,
there are reportedly as many as two dozen armed groups terrorizing
Congolese in this region. According to a November 2012 report from
Oxfam, Commodities of War, nine of these militias are believed to be
most prominent. They range from those with a focus on Rwanda or Uganda,
those that were formed in response to the flight of perpetrators of the
1994 genocide in Rwanda to the DRC or those singularly focused on the
DRC itself. Whatever the reason for their founding, these militias have
terrorized the people of eastern Congo and the DRC as a whole. We must
identify their support base and end the flow of arms and other aid that
enables their ongoing reign of terror.
According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), insecurity in eastern Congo has displaced approximately
2.4 million people nationwide, especially in the East. Despite
longstanding conflict in eastern Congo, OCHA estimates that the
majority of displaced persons typically returns to their areas of
origin within six to 18 months of their initial displacement and
require minimal return assistance. While that may be true, it does not
account for the kind of life Congolese will have once they can return
to their homes.
Women continue to be targeted for abuse in DRC. A study that recently
appeared in the American Journal of Public Health in May 2011 concluded
that an average of 48 women and girls are raped every hour in this
country. So, as with our February 2nd and September 19th hearings on
the DRC this year, more than 100 females in DRC were raped before our
hearing last month ended. Their rejection by their families and
communities casts a cloud over future efforts to recreate communities
destroyed by militias in the DRC. This is an issue that must be
addressed by Congolese themselves--sooner rather than later.
Since our hearing in September, M23 made significant gains in
territorial control, occupying Goma for 10 days while moving southward,
potentially toward the South Kivu town of Bukavu. However,
international pressure played a major role in the group ending its
advance southward and withdrawing from Goma town by early December. DRC
President Joseph Kabila's government and the M23 rebels reportedly have
agreed to peace talks in Kampala sponsored by the Government of Uganda.
There have been peace talks and peace accords in the DRC before, and
they didn't hold. Will this effort achieve lasting peace?
The DRC is home to abundant mineral wealth, including 70 percent of
the world's coltan (used to make vital components of cell phones and
other electronic equipment), 30 percent of the world's diamond reserves
and vast deposits of cobalt, copper and bauxite. Unfortunately, these
natural resources have attracted international looters and fuelled
civil war. Now oil has been discovered in eastern DRC. Can a way be
found to prevent the DRC's blessings from being turned into curses?
The tragic genocide in Rwanda in 1994 has had lasting repercussions
in the DRC, but since the 1880s, resentment over the perceived influx
of people considered foreigners in eastern DRC has contributed to
conflict in this region, including two regional wars. Various leaders
in the region have used this antipathy for political purposes, pitting
their supporters against their perceived opponents. Can the inter-
ethnic problems in the DRC and its neighbors be finally resolved so
that a lasting peace among all the people in the DRC can be achieved?
Our witnesses last month were well-positioned to address questions
regarding a path toward sustainable peace in the DRC and the obstacles
that lie in that path. It is time now to find a way to bring to an end
the suffering of the people of the DRC.
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