News About Congo

Humanitarian Aid Worker Killed in Congo

You know that wild, wild east Congo is a deadly place for Congolese women and girls.  But it can be a deadly place for humanitarian aid workers, too.

Humanitarian Relief - Change.org: Aid Workers Killed in Congo, Afghanistan.

The aid agency Caritas has just announced that one of their staff was killed in Congo last week. According to Caritas:

"Ricky Agusa Sukaka, 27, was shot dead in Musezero, North Kivu, on the way home from work on the afternoon of 15 July. When his colleagues found him, his pockets had been emptied and his Secours Catholique-Caritas France t-shirt removed.

Villagers reported seeing Mr Sukaka, who was a Congolese national, stopped by two men wearing Congolese army uniforms before he was killed."

The situation in eastern Congo - and particularly in North Kivu - is not-good, to say the least. According to a recent Oxfam survey, 80% of respondents reported that security was worse now than a year ago.

Aid workers are not immune - for the number and location of attacks against aid workers from January through the end of May, see here. That said, Mr. Sukaka is the first aid worker killed in the DRC this year.

Congo army 'to act over rapes'

I hope the Congolese Army is serious about stopping the rapes!

BBC NEWS | Africa | DR Congo army 'to act over rapes'.

The Congolese military has promised to punish any soldiers found guilty of rights abuses, after activists claimed troops were carrying out mass rape. Military spokesman Colonel Leon Richard Kasonga said commanders must ensure the safety of civilians.

Last week US-based group Human Rights Watch said the army was responsible for most of the rapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo's war-torn east.

Fireworks spread terror in war weary town

Fireworks are not a universal sign of celebration.

Last year, I was in Kananga (DR Congo) for Congo's Independence Day.  That evening, I was a little shocked to hear explosions.  Finally, I saw them.  What a relief! 

Then I could not believe the government would sponsor a fireworks show.  Also, it occurred late in the evening (10pm) when most Congolese were asleep.

Fireworks spread terror in war weary town | Oddly Enough | Reuters.

GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - Independence day fireworks sent terrified Congolese sprinting for cover on Tuesday in fear that war had broken out again in their eastern city.

Officials had organized the display in Goma to highlight efforts to end more than a decade of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and to show a sign of normal life returning to the region, where a peace deal took hold in January.

But residents feared it was a raging gun battle.

"I hit the ground not knowing what was going on," said 23-year-old student Aminata Kavugho.

Around 5.4 million people have died as a result of Congo's 1998-2003 war and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, making it the world's deadliest conflict since World War II.