| La
paix négociée de manière crédible est plus féconde
qu'une guerre menée dans une barbarie sans bornes |
THE
BANALISATION OF CRIME IN EASTERN CONGO : A new Pole Institute report
Pole Institute is
today publishing its third report specifically concerned with the problem
of remembering and dealing with the past in the DR Congo in a context
of continuing conflict. The first, titled « The duty to remember,
a collective responsibility for the future»1, was published in 2004
and dealt with the Gatumba massacre; the second, « The challenge
of memory in North Kivu», in 2008.
The guiding thread of this work is that recognising and naming those who
have died is a duty for us all, especially when the victims were killed
in circumstances which should not have existed. But while the first two
reports contained reflections and testimonies, this third report takes
a new approach.
We have, in this report, drawn together an investigation into crime in
Eastern Congo and its banalisation. In the war context prevailing in Eastern
DRC, many people fall victim to everyday violence, killed by bullets coming
from « men in uniform, not otherwise identified» , as the
official phrase goes. Their deaths tend to be neglected in comparison
with those of direct victims of war and of exactions perpetrated by armed
groups who seem to be competing for atrocities against the
civilian population.
Our reserarch consisted in collecting the names of victims, establishing
the circumstances of their death and giving their families the opportunity
to testify about their lives and about their helplessness faced with an
incompetent judiciary and a government and police who are either powerless,
unmoved or complicit.
On 21 January 2009, Pole Institute organised a one-day conference in Goma
to share and discuss the research results. The testimonies of relatives
and friends of victims, one more moving than the other, constituted the
highlight of this day which closed with an appeal to a collective effort
in order to put an end to the spiral of violence and impunity. This appeal
and the list of participants are reproduced at the end of the report.
This work is neither an indictment nor a memorial. It is not an indictment
because we are not pointing the finger at anybody, even though it is clear
who is responsible for the banalisation of life and death in Eastern Congo.
It is not a memorial because we are not content with listing the victims
as if in a graveyard. It is an appeal to humanity and dignity for the
benefit of the survivors. In a state which finds it difficult to assume
its responsibilities, they are asking themselves: « How long will
we suffer while those who are supposed to protect do not lift a finger?
»
Onesphore Sematumba
Goma, May 2009
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