CONGO BECOMES A FAILED STATE, ACT NOW TO HELP CONGOLESE PEOPLE
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a central African country
that was ruled by one of the
world's fiercest dictators, Seseseko Mobutu, for 40 years. In 1997 he
fled the country when
the international community backed an armed group to overthrow him. The
junta leader was assassinated in 2001 and replaced by his
son, who barely knew DRC or its people, but who is still in power
today.
Since his self-appointment, the country has been
crippled with corruption, intimidation, human rights abuses and
lawlessness. In 2007 the
governor of Katanga helped himself to $500,000.00 US from the state's
coffers, yet when people of
Katanga complained, he was given a ministerial post! Women are raped
with impunity, even recently a visiting diplomat (http://afrique.kongotimes.info/rdc/adolphe-lumanu-a-tente-de-violer-sigrid-anna-johnson.html);
the perpetrator in this case has also just this week (20th February)
been rewarded with a ministerial post!
In December 2009, the
interior minister announced a decree that all existing
Congolese passports are now invalid, as of January 2010, and that only
new passports issued from January can be used. No transitional plan or
risk
assessment was in place for such barbaric action. There are no
available passports for Congolese nationals anywhere in the world,
apart from a few 'new issue' passports in France and
through the blackmarket trade carried out by the very same minister who
issued this
decree.
I would like to ask you to sign this petition, in
whichever
country and of whatever nationality you are, to call for intervention once more from the international community in order to rescue DR Congo from falling even deeper into the position of a "Failed State".
Your petition will be sent to representatives of your government to request that pressure is put on the government of DR Congo.
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