Category Archives: Noteworthy

Where is the world?

“They are killing our mammas. Now they are killing our children. What have we done to deserve this? Where is the world?” –Pastor in Bukavu source: The Guardian, 12.6.2010

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Shooting to kill

“As I understand it, they do not wound, they kill, that’s why we don’t received many injured people.” –Mattia Novella, MSF field coordinator, on LRA attacks in remote eastern Congo source: the Guardian, 2 May 2010

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Extortion racket

“We are their meat, their animals. We have nothing to say.” –miner from Shabunda, subjected to extortion at FDLR roadblocks during his 340-km trek from Shabunda to Bukavu on foot, Bukavu, 28 July 2008. source: Global Witness Media Library, Briefing … Continue reading

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MONUC officer’s cell phone idea: better late than never

There may be reason to hope that women in DRC who are vulnerable to sexual violence attacks can receive the help that they need, if MONUC officer Stephen Tremblay, a Canadian who has ascended to the force’s high ranks, can … Continue reading

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Congolese groups call for abusive Congo army commander to be removed

From: Human Rights Watch, 1 March 2010 FARDC (Congolese army) colonel Innocent Zimurinda, a senior army officer based in North Kivu, was named responsible by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions for the massacre of Rwandan Hutu refugees in … Continue reading

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2009 Human Rights Report in DRC released by the US Department of State

On 11 March, the US Department of State released its 2009 Human Rights Report on the DRC, as part of its country reports on Human Rights practices. The report summarizes evidence collected by various organizations to show that mass rape … Continue reading

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Justice, justice, justice

“The solution is justice, justice, justice,” said Esteban Sacco, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs (OCHA) in North Kivu. “There has to be a system that brings to justice those who commit the crime of … Continue reading

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Peace and rape

“There is a correlation between peace and rape,” Bora Kawende, acting head of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) office in North Kivu, recently told IRIN. “During war, soldiers here commit collective, massive rape.” source: IRIN Africa, 12 March 2010

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Rape with Extreme Violence: the new pathology in South Kivu

Dr. Mukwege, founder and director of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu, was invited to write a commentary for PLoS Medicine about the deliberate and mutilating assaults on women and girls in eastern DRC. The article was published online … Continue reading

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South Kivu women’s media association (AFEM)

I just found out about AFEM, a non-profit organization of women journalists from South Kivu  created in 2003 “to promote women’s rights and development through media”. Their activities to date include: reporting on sexual violence in Walungu, Kabere and Uvira … Continue reading

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