I thank you, Chairman, and the distinguished Members of Parliament for your attention regarding the condition of human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is an honour to be here.
The Congolese Irish Partnership is an organisation charged with assisting Congolese people and providing information on the Democratic Republic of Congo. We congratulate the Irish Government on its effort in prioritising the situation in the country during the Irish Presidency. The Congolese Irish Partnership acknowledges that under the Irish Government's guidance, the European Union has continued its constructive and active engagement in support of the peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Following the capture of Bukavu on 2 June 2004 by ex-RDC rebels, the European Union, via the Irish Presidency, issued a declaration on 4 June to firmly condemn all foreign interference in the country.
The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo which began in August 1998 is estimated to have cost more than 3.5 million lives, making it the most devastating conflict in the terms of civilian death since the Second World War. Human rights organisations have documented grave abuses carried out by all the parties during the war. Unarmed civilians have been massacred and forcibly abducted; arbitrary arrest and torture has been widespread; combatants have subjected thousands of women and girls to rape. The human and economic costs of the war have been immense. According to the World Bank, physical damage is extensive, institutions are in shambles and the economy has collapsed.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has received nothing like the attention focused on Iraq, even though more than 3.5 million have died as a result of war and mass rape and human rights abuses are depressingly regular events. The recent upsurge in the conflict threatens to further increase the carnage. More than 3.4 million are internally displaced, living in extreme poverty, while 37% of Congo's 55 million people have no access to any kind of health care. Most health districts are in a state of complete abandonment. A total of 16 million, or 33% of the population, suffer from serious malnutrition. The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the poorest countries and the social indicators are among the worst in Africa. The war has left the country in a state of economic collapse.
Despite the peace agreement signed in Sun City, South Africa, which has led to the formation of the transition government, elements of the state continue to abuse the rights of the Congolese people. Every day, week and month we receive many reports and complaints from people who have been threatened, arrested, abducted and detained by the police, by the military, by men in uniform and by men in a position of power. For what reason, we in the Congolese Irish Partnership ask ourselves?
The concept of human rights is widely accepted around the world. The Government is the main body vested with responsibility to provide for basic needs of its citizens. The state could not claim the sovereignty it does without taking into account the basic needs of its citizens. All governments worldwide have a noble mission, which consists of protecting and implementing positive rights in the state. Examples of such rights provision are education and health care.
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights, adopted in 1948, has outlined a path for all governments in this world to respect the treatment of their citizens. The UN General Assembly declared the right to protection of life, liberty and security of the person and guaranteed to all people freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, association, religious belief and movement. In contrast, the assembly prohibits slavery, arbitrary arrest, and imprisonment without fair trial. It also claimed that economic, social and cultural rights must be protected.
Nowadays, the notion of universal human rights is flawed for the simple reason that states are not making an effort to promote the rights of their citizens or to respect the rights of others. People have become victims and hostages because of the selfish politics of those in power. We have understood that the state is the predominant provider of services and plays a major role in these services. Hospitals and schools are important for the fulfilment of the rights to education and health issues. Under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations stresses everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family. This statement will include the right to food, housing, clothing and medical care. This right is sometimes not fulfilled and respected in many parts of the world, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The basic right, that is, the right to life, freedom of expression, education, and health care, cannot be sold or neglected. It contains the sign and measure of our being. In this light, human rights are universally inalienable and cannot be denied. This is the reason non-governmental organisations on human rights exist and focus on issues related to the promotion and the respect of human rights. If we wish to see those human rights organisations accomplishing their missions, we should ensure they have persons who are able freely and peacefully to fulfil their mission.
Unfortunately, this is not the case in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Those who hold power and the security forces can do what they want with impunity because of their position in society. It has been reported that since the war broke out in Congo in 1998, civilians, human activists, politicians and journalists have been targeted, arrested, harassed, condemned because of their opinion and killed by those who hold power. Conflict and grave human rights abuses have continued in the eastern part of the country. Abuses have included mass unlawful killings of civilians, rape and the extensive use of child soldiers. Torture, arbitrary arrest, illegal detentions, massacres and executions have spiralled throughout.
Massacres of civilians continue to take place. Most of the several thousand massacred are women and children, attacked with machetes and small arms, in places including Nizi in July 2003, Tchoma in May 2003, Fataki in July and early August 2003, Katshele in October 2003, Ituri in July 2003 and Mambassa in late 2002.
