FOREVER GENOCIDE? CONGOLESE NOT ‘HUMANISED!’

There is a double standard and hypocrisy in how atrocities are portrayed and addressed, depending on the victims. The Holocaust is universally condemned, and rightly so. We hear mantras like “Never again.” But then there’s the ongoing gen*cidal violence and human-rights abuses in DR Congo. Why aren’t these given urgent attention and condemnation?

Activist Chakabars says it’s as if the suffering of the Congolese people hasn’t been adequately humanised.

He says we need to reach a “tipping point.” The diaspora communities have a role and responsibility to help publicise the issue and push for change, rather than being “tacitly complicit” through not just inaction but through ownership of devices like mobiles and tablets that depend on child exploitation in DRC. (He’s not saying give up the tech, but rather: pay fairly and insist the minerals are morally sourced.)

Economic exploitation of Congo’s minerals continues to fuel conflict and harm local communities. Alternative economic models to capitalism are desperately needed to create an environment in which minerals can still be accessed but in a way that develops rather than destroys the country.

Listen to what he says...