People of goodwill throughout the world should support the Congolese people to demand that President Kabila ceases attacks against the people and respects the Congolese constitution. The world has watched the Kabila regime jail innocent youth, drive others into exile, violently repress dissent and undertake a military build up to go to war against the unarmed population as he clings to power.

On Lumumba Day, January 17, 2016, the statue of Patrice Lumumba in Kinshasa was guarded by Congolese security forces blocking anyone who wanted to pay respects to Congo's independence hero. Non-violent youth activists live in constant fear of being jailed or worse as their country slips ever deeper into Orwellian terror.

Joseph Kabila is doing everything to remain in power in DR Congo. He knows that he cannot hold on to power solely by force, hence he is in a mad pursuit to establish any form of legitimacy to justify holding on to the presidency. His options are increasingly limited and in the end, his schemes are likely to fail.

The much-hyped defeat of the M23 rebels in eastern Congo means little, unless firm action is taken to deter Rwanda and Uganda, both US allies, from destabilizing of the country.

The Obama administration is concerned with the prevention of mass atrocities mainly when it is in alignment with US interests. However, in the case of the deadliest conflict in the world where US allies are the aggressors, R2P is rarely if ever mentioned or invoked

America’s allies, Rwanda and Uganda, are involved in training, arming and offering operational support to rebels who have killed millions of people in eastern Congo. Yet, tellingly, Obama refrained from openly criticising them

The reasons behind the war crimes suspect’s voluntary surrender to international justice remain unknown. But Ntaganda was not acting alone in destabilising eastern DR Congo. He is a creature of Rwanda, like many other warlords

The US insists on greater attention and response to the crisis in the DRC. However, it appears that the Obama administration continues to operate on the notion that ‘quiet diplomacy’ is the best way forward when it comes to holding its allies Rwanda and Uganda accountable for their role in destabilizing the country

With the perpetrators of a war that has killed an estimated six million people in the Congo still roaming free, justice needs to be delivered to create the conditions for peace and reconciliation.

Activist Kambale Musavuli has a new year message for Congolese youth.

The past and present exploitation of the Congo’s people and valuable natural resources is a reflection of the profit-driven destruction of the fictional planet of Pandora, screened in the recent film ‘Avatar’, writes Kambale Musavuli. Musavuli calls for a greater awareness of the on-going and far-reaching devastation endured by this war-torn ‘storehouse of strategic and precious minerals’, which tragically mirrors the ruthless pillage of Pandora.

As global awareness grows around conflict in Congo, a myriad of Western-based prescriptions are being proffered, Kambale Musavuli writes in this week’s Pambuzuka News, including the ‘conflict minerals’ approach. But this approach, devoid of social, political, economic and historical context, argues Musavuli, will simply perpetuate the root causes of the region’s challenges rather than resolve them.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/403/DRC_crisis_l.jpgFollowing the at the end of October, Kambale Musavuli discusses the importance of raising awareness around the crisis in the DR Congo. As a Congolese granted asylum in the USA in 1998, Musavuli urges the global community, and African-Americans in particular, to revitalise international attention on the Congo as a means of shedding light on the ongoing conflict and harnessing the potential for strong advocacy relationships.