Thursday, January 24, 2008

Kivu Agreements: real peace for Congo?

Since the end of the African World War Rwandan rebels and “mai mai” groups continued fighting against Congolese army. This conflict has caused thousands of deaths and more than one million of displaced people. The Rwandan armed group of Nkunda is responsible of crimes against humanity during this period in Congolese territory including recruiting of child soldiers.

After two weeks of discussions the Congolese government and the Kivu rebels signed a peace agreement yesterday putting an end to more than 5 years of a war which has been ignored by European Media.

Thanks to this agreement rebels will stop fighting, Rwandan soldiers of Mr. Nkunda will go back to Rwanda , and Congolese Government will help the demobilisation of soldiers… The UN Mission to Congo will deploy soldiers in this area to observe and control this peace process.

What does Nkunda get in exchange of ordering his men to deliver Kalashnikovs? Amnesty. He will not be prosecuted for his terrible crimes. Thanks to that fighting will get to an end in North and South Kivu but it cannot be reconciliation without punishment of crimes against humanity. What will the victims and families of victims get? How will they build up peace knowing that Nkunda and their men are free and have not paid for their acts?


As I was in Colombia lawyers, scholars and politicians were very aware of the importance of knowing the truth about violations of human rights and punishing them not just because of a moral or legal constraint but also because without justice there cannot be stable and long-lasting peace.

I do not know if this was the only possible solution. Maybe it is a provisory one. But the lesson given to the world, that crimes against humanity can be unpunished, is not very constructive. I hope these Kivu agreements will the beginning and not the end of the Peace AND Justice building process in Eastern Congo .
 

Posted by Alfons at 10:28:42 | Permanent Link | Comments (2) |

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Marie-Theres Fögen (1946-2008)


Die Rechtshistorikerin und Romanistin Marie Theres Fögen ist gestorben.

Hier ist ein kurzer Nachruf von Michael Stolleis.
 

Posted by Alfons at 15:40:51 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Après moi le déluge

If you go to a Theatre in an special bad mood or under special bad weather conditions as it was the case last week end, or in special circumstances you will be probably be impressed.

On friday I went to see the theatre play "Après moi le déluge", written by Lluïsa Cunillé and directed by Carlota Subirós. I was impressed but not because of the circumstances described above. Or not only at least.

The two players were just fabulous. But the story was really genial. There is a hotel room in Kinshasa after the war and two Europeans, a cynical businessman and a female interpreter living in a golden cage, a Hotel, and ignoring almost everything about Africa . They   represent two different possible attitudes of westerners towards this forgotten continent: the superficiality of the blond woman (inspired in Karen Blixen maybe?) which just looks for the sun and for a comfortable life, and the cruel inhuman wish of getting rich at all prices with the natural resources of the continent regardless of the social and human consequences of his acts.


However, at the end Africa revenges. The old African man wins thanks to his wisdom and his patience. The businessman stays alone, without any help or company. The African spriirts will go with him until his death. The woman will continue taking sunbaths at grand Hotel or Hotel Memling. The only existence which is not senseless is the one of the old African father who lost his child 16 years ago but who manages to make his spirit present in his life and now, in the bad conscience of the Europeans.


"Après moi le déluge", that is what we Europeans think while approaching Africa. What we get is what the businessman in this theater play gets: a great deep solitude!

Posted by Alfons at 11:01:53 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Welcome to Africa. Just help yourself

When Chadian authorities arrested the members of a french NGO trying to bring chadian children to Europe without any respect to national and international laws, Manel Fontdevila, one of the greatest Spanish cartoonists, published a very intelligent cartoon. You could see a plane flying to Africa and could read!" Welcome to Africa . Just help yourself".

This funny humourist showed actually the real undermining reason in many of african problems. We need the rich natural sources of Africa to maintain our economical growth. And  we still think we have the right to use them. How many lifes were lost during the I African World War in the nineties? Millions. But the exports of diamonds, gold and the precious coltan from Congo never stopped. How could it happen?? Companies continued buying minerals and financing by that the Lords of War.

This neo-colonialist mentality showed up in the media once again during the Chad-France crisis. In this case there was not a problem caused by diamond or coltan trade but by children’s'... trade.

Many journalists, writers or citizens supported the members of L'Arche de Zoé just because they were taking poor children to a better life in Europe . We want children and we just take them from Africa because there they will be happier (richer) in our European cities than in the miserable Africa . This is more important than international law or the human right, also African human right, to have a family.

Yesterday the trial against Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, started in The Hague . He is accused of crimes against humanity during Sierra Leone . International Justice, ad hoc in this case, will at least punish one of the greatest responsible for crimes against humanity in Africa . Unfortunately no Diamond seller or diamond distributor will be judged.
This is Africa: just help yourself
Posted by Alfons at 12:19:54 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday, January 03, 2008

La violencia continúa en Kenia

"El País" publica hoy un artículo de una compañera de misión y amiga, Silvia de Félix, que se encuentra en Nakuru viviendo desde la primera línea la terrible situación de Kenya. 

Posted by Alfons at 09:18:48 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |