“More than 100 female prisoners were raped and then burned alive during a jailbreak in the Congolese city of Goma, according to the UN.”
That’s from a BBC report a few days ago. This horrific crime happened when hundreds of prisoners broke out of Munzenze prison, following the takeover of Goma, the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), by M23 rebel fighters. Those rebel fighters are being backed by Rwanda which, despite denying involvement in the conflict, is clearly playing a dangerous game.
The BBC report continues: “Between 165 and 167 women were assaulted by male inmates during the jailbreak, an internal UN document seen by the BBC says. The report states that most of the women were killed after the inmates set fire to the prison.”
The unimaginable horror of this war is being fueled by transnational capital. Lives of countless defenceless and innocent civilans are being lost in a battle over incredibly valuable natural resources. Those resources include metals and minerals such as gold, tin and coltan. The last of these, a shortening of “columbite-tantalum”, is a key component of consumer electronics devices, including mobile phones.
According to a UN report from December, about 120 tonnes of coltan was being sent by the M23 to Rwanda every four weeks for export. Rwanda has become one of the leading sources of this valuable mineral, most of which appears to be coming from parts of the DRC under rebel control. Many tonnes of coltan make the journey from the DRC through Rwanda to China where they are processed. The resulting product is mixed with coltan from other sources, making it nearly impossible for countries that are attempting to restrict imports of conflict-free minerals.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), to its credit, issued a call for an immediate end to the hostilities in the DRC. It declared that “the exploitation of the DRC’s vast mineral resources continues to fuel conflict”.
The ITUC has demanded “stricter global supply chain regulations … to prevent multinational corporations from profiting from conflict minerals at the expense of Congolese workers and communities.” It has demnaded the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the DRC. Their statement continues: “The suffering in eastern DRC is intolerable, and the international community cannot stand by as lives are lost, families torn apart, and workers’ rights violated. An immediate end to hostilities is essential. There is no military solution to the conflict.”
Despite the strong statement from the ITUC, there seems to be little interest in the labour movement and the Left in the fighting in the DRC. While tens of thousands of people can be mobilised in the streets of London and other major cities to protest war crimes elsewhere in the world, there are no mass demonstrations in support of the people of the eastern region of the DRC. And this is true in spite of the obvious issue of the role of transnational capital in fueling the conflict.
DR Congo’s Foreign Minister has written to the owners of Arsenal and two other European football clubs asking them to end their sponsorship deals with “Visit Rwanda” — but so far, to no effect. According to the BBC, the deal is worth £10 million a year to Arsenal. Only pressure from the UK — from human rights groups, trade unions and the Labour Party — might be able to convince Arsenal to drop the deal.
But at the moment, there doesn’t seem to be any such pressure and very little public awareness of the issue.
This article appears in this week’s issue of Solidarity.