Coverage of the war in Iraq has obscured other armed conflicts in different parts of the world, especially the bitter fratricidal wars in Africa. Western media generally ignore these conflicts, despite the gravity of the situation that calls for a more decisive international humaitarian response.

This issue focusses on the war in the Dem. Rep of the Congo (DRC) which has been undergoing a 4-yrar war that has claimed millions of lives. Back in 1998 Madalaine Albright, then U.S. Secretary of State, called the Congolese conflict "the first African world war". Since borders were drawn ignoring ethnic makeup, the war has involved neighboring nations. Rwanda and Burundi support diferent rebel factions, while Uganda and Angola support the Government, but with linkages to the Sudan and Sierra Leone. The internal situation in these countries has an effect on the whole Great Lakes region (see the bulletin AFRICA 1, June 2001; Herald of Peace 49). The country gives the impression of having become a no man’s land where anachy reigns and where foreigners come and go taking what they please.

But there are finally some hopeful glimmers of peace. On 17 December in Pretoria an agreement was signed on a provisional government of national unity as a transition to national elections in 2 years. President Joseph Kabila will continue to govern during this period along with 4 vice-presidents from the major factions and the political opposition. A National Control Committee will be appointed to prepare institutions for the transition, including a Constitution for the period and participative structures.

The process is advancing alowly and was ratiufied on 1 April. But on 3 April in Ituri in the eastern part of the country a thousand people were massacred. Uganda went back into the area under the pretext of security. Thanks to U.N. pressure Uganda agreed to leave the territory but this leaves the way open for revenge and other atrocities. Rwanda, which withdrew its troops last October, threatens to go back in under the pretext that the militias responsible for the 1994 genocide are hidden in Congolese forests. These bloody events has jarred national and internation public opinion and has brought new pressure to advance the accords. Some 5,500 U.N. observers have been present for the last 3 months. This creates greater security in the country with the improvement of health conditions, as well as the possibility for investigating what actually happened. But the nature of the U.N. mandate is not sufficient to protect the civilian population. On 31 May, the Security Council renewed the mandate for another 3 months with new provisions that offer effective security for the region and specifies that on 30 June, Congolese Independence Day, the new Government of National Unity will begin functioning. The presence of multi-national troops is needed for pacification but it is clear that the way to peace lies in political and diplomatic channels. Thus the international community takes on great importance. There is a growing call for peace in which Church organizations are involved.

The Mortality Study

English: http://www.theirc.org/mortality
Italiano: CHIAMA AFRICA Newsletter del 24 aprile 2003
http://www.chiamafrica.it/http://www.chiamafrica.it/

Congo Attualità, in a guide for prayer vigils on the DRC, furnishes a chronology of the dates of the major massacres between 1998 and today.

Veglia di Preghiera

Italiano: 14,010 byts (cronología: 1643 byts)

On 3 April a thousand people were killed in inter-ethnic massacres in Ituri in the northeast DRC, the U.N. Mission for the Congo reported. The killings "lasted 3 hours from 5 to 8 in the morning". The victims were members of the Hema community attacked by representatives of the Lendu tribe in cooperation with various Ugandan operatives.

(AFP - Kigali, 6 April. Spanish, 1883 bytes)

This is a summary of events reported in the bolletins of "Congo Attualitá". If it is somehat lengthy blame it on the complexity and general igornace of the problems and on the Italian language of the original.

National Control Committee.- Between 14 April and 10 May 4 meetings were held with the p[articipation of rebel leaders.

Participation of the DRC/Goma in Kinshasa.- The arrival of this important rebel group on 27 April to participate in the work of the National Control Committee was seen by many observers as an encouraging sign.

Decree of Amnesty.- On 5 April President Joseph Kabila issued this decree related to "acts of war, political infractions and inccorect opinions" committed from 2 August 1998 to 4 April 2003. This amnesty, however, excludes "war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity".

Dissolution of the Court of Military Order.- This terrible Court has been universally condemned since it does not respect the basic norms of law and because of its arbitrary death sentences.

Communique of the International Committee for Accompanying the Transition (CIAT).- This committee held its tenth meeting of 5 June. It recommends that the National Control Committee to meet permanently until its agenda is completed. It should draw up a more rigorous timetable. It made other recommendations in the military, social and public areas, as well as for organizing the reunified State.

Work of military experts.- On 11 June, in the group of military experts, the delegation of the FAC withdrew its objections to forming the official army, which is seen as the beginning of the response to the CIAT proposal for the integral and united participation of the leaders of each armed unit.

Judicial power.- On 3 June Presiedent Joseph Kabila appointed the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General of the Republic.

The U.N. delegation.- Some 5,500 U.N. observers have been present for 3 months. This has led to greater security in the country but the nature of their mandate is not sufficient for protecting the civilian population. The mandate ended on 30 May, which led the Security Council to renew the mission for another 3 months with 15,000 soldiers, half of them French, changing their mandate so that they can guarantee security in Bunia. It specified that on 30 June, Congolese Independence Day, the government of national unity will begin functioning.

5. The Situation in the Eastern Sector. The same bulletin presents recent events in the eastern part of the country:

Since 1999 this region has seen 50,000 deaths and thousands of people displaced. U.N. observers say that there have been 14,600 displaced in rfecent months. At the beginning of May, thousands of people, most of Hemas, fled to Uganda, saying they feared violence from the Lendus and the Ngitis. Under international pressure, Uganda was forced to withdraw 4,000 troops from Ituri. The day after the withdrawl, 7 May, in Bunia, the Lendu militia (the ethnic majority), representatives from the FRPI (Patrotic Resistance Front in Ituri), led by the Uganda sympathizer Mathieu Ngudjolo, engaged in heavy combat, with dozens killed, against the Hema militias of the Congolese Patriotic Union (UPC), led by Rwandan sympathizer Thomas Lubanga. This dispute is really over territory rich in gold, diamonds and, potentially, oil. On 12 May the UPC recaptured the territory; but looting did not stop under the impotent gaze of U.N. observers. Calm returned to the city despite the tension.

On 31 May, in Tchomia, Lendu militias attacked the Hema. A Ugandan report claims 253 Hema were killed, among them 57 children. It is said this occurred to demand the Prsident Kabila grant them access to the oil deposits of Heritage Oil. On 7 June a Lendu faction attacked Bunia, which was controlled by the Hema of the UPC in order to regain control before the arrival of the multi-national force. It talks about 40 deaths.

Local sources report infiltration by Rwandan soldiers, dressed as civilians but armed, in the area of Butembo. On 14 April military units from Eritrea and Somalia met in Kigali to support the Rwandan project in the DRC. The President of the Rcd/Ml, Nyamwisi condemned the armed in Beni-Luberoby the coalition Rcd-Rwanda coalition. Combat has grown since early June. Soldiers of the Rcd-Goma have begun advancing north again.

On 8 May the Church in Bukavu denounced the fighting on 7 April between the Rcd/Goma and the Mudundu 40 militia that caused 11 deaths. On 6 May DRC troops killed 20 civilians in the region. On 26 May 3 women were killed after having been raped.

There have been sewrious encounters between the Mayi-Mayi and the troops of the Rcd-Goma. On 30 April this group declared it wanted to "cleanse" the mountains of the "interhamwe" (Rwandan militias). The Mayi-Mayi, Congolese nationalists, inflicted many casuaties. In reaction, on 3 May, the troops of the Rdc-Goma, supported by Ugandan and Rwandan troops, even attacked the city, causing many of the Mayi-Mayi to flee to the mountains.

E-mail : muungano@libero.it

The news agency MISNA, basing itself mainly on testimony from missionaries, offers daily news dspatches. It has put together the notes for the second half of June.

17/6/2003 AZARIAS RUBERWA, NUEVO PRESIDENTE DE LA RCD-GOMA

17/6/2003 BUNIA: LA UNIÓN PATRIÓTICA CONGOLESE (UPC) CREA UNA "POLICÍA MILITAR"

19/6/2003 14:03 RCD-GOMA ANNUNCIA PRESA DI LUBERO

19/6/2003 0:11 NORD KIVU: RCD-GOMA DICHIARA CESSATE IL FUOCO

19/6/2003 15:40 RCD-GOMA ANNOUNCES CONQUEST OF LUBERO

21/6/2003 16:20 BUNIA: 72 ORE PER DISARMARE LA CITTÀ

21/6/2003 BUNIA: OPERATORE UMANITARIO, "TUTTI SOSTENGONO DI GESTIRE L'AUTORITÀ"

21/6/2003 11:34 BENI: LIBERATI 'CASCHI BLU' RAPITI

21/6/2003 1:50 NORD KIVU: MONSIGNOR SIKULI, "MIGLIAIA IN FUGA DAI COMBATTIMENTI"

21/6/2003 16:20 BUNIA: 72 ORE PER DISARMARE LA CITTÀ

21/6/2003 1:50 NORD KIVU: MONSIGNOR SIKULI, "MIGLIAIA IN FUGA DAI COMBATTIMENTI"

23/6/2003 1:15 VISITA COMANDANTE MISSIONE ONU A BUNIA

24/6/2003 11:05 BUNIA: UPC SI RITIRA, MA COL BOTTINO

25/6/2003 0:42 PREVISTO A FINE ESTATE RIENTRO GRUPPO PROFUGHI DA REPUBBLICA CENTRAFRICANA

26/6/2003 20:06 PROLUNGATO MANDATO DELLA MONUC

www.misna.org

7. DRC-UGANDA: Ituri braces for Ugandan pullout

Without exception, the humanitarian organisations in Ituri District say security remains their uttermost concern in continuing their relief work in this part of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The killing on 3 April of Hema in Drodro town and 14 surrounding villages in Ituri underscored this concern and the continued danger to people of the district. These concerns remain as the date for the start of the Ugandan troop pullout nears. Uganda's presence in Ituri has drawn considerable criticism. Some of that criticism has been directed at its alleged past role in playing off the Hema and Lendu communities in Ituri against each other, thus spreading instability to justify its presence in the mineral-rich district. Some Ugandan military officers who have served in Ituri have also been blamed for exploiting the natural resources of the district. The result has been international pressure for the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) to begin leaving the DRC, a departure now set for 24 April. Yet observers of the political scene in Ituri worry that if a Ugandan pullout leaves a security vacuum a disaster could follow swiftly. "If there is the slightest security vacuum, there'll be genocide here," one analyst in Bunia told IRIN.
Need for international force.- Another analyst told IRIN it was dangerous to ask UPDF to leave Ituri beginning 24 April without providing an alternate security formula for the district. "Peace needs to be created with a military presence," the analyst told IRIN. The analyst, who has a military background, told IRIN that to provide security, Ituri would need at least three mobile infantry brigades and one airmobile battalion for quick reaction. "If no force replaces the UPDF with a peace enforcement mandate, there'll be no peace," the analyst said.
Uganda's entry into Ituri.- Uganda has denied its presence in Ituri is for material gain. Kayihura told IRIN there were several issues related Uganda's presence in Ituri: for example the need to secure the IPC process, which was concluded on 13 April; the need to eliminate the presence of the Ugandan dissident group, the People's Redemption Army (PRA) in Kwandruma, about 80 km northeast of Bunia; the need to halt the shelling of Uganda from Ituri; and the need to stop armed cattle rustlers from crossing from Ituri into Uganda.
Disposition of the Congolese UPC.- Kayihura said the remaining UPC elements and the PRA were allies. He said they were concentrated and were reorganising around Drodro, Largo, and Mblukwa. Some of Lubanga's remnant 'army" and those of the PRA, he said, were moving towards Lake Albert along a north-south line running from Largo to Kasenyi, a lakeside town southeast of Bunia. Ugandan troops have now confined them along the lakeshore between Lidyo and Kwandruma, Kayihura said.
Lendu, Hema rivalry.- A security vacuum, analysts said, would probably lead to the resurgence of the worst forms of Lendu-Hema rivalry. The underlying and complex web of ethnic rivalries in Ituri that date back centuries appears to be at the core of Ituri's current problems. The sharpest differences have been between the two leading communities, the Lendu and the Hema. In Djugu territory, in the centre of Ituri District, the Lendu (a Sudanic ethnic group) are pitted against the northern Hema, also know as the Gerere, who are a pastoral people. In the southern Ituri area of Gety, the southern Hema are pitted up against the Ngiti, also a Sudanic group. The north and south Hema are allied against the Lendu and Ngiti who, although ethnically the same, speak different languages. Age-old land feuds between Lendu and Hema grew in intensity with the breakdown of government control in Ituri and with the power play of foreign and local political heavyweights.

BUNIA, 17 April (IRIN) "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
http://www.irinnews.org

7b. Fighting in Congo Forces Thousands to Flee
Bishop Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku, of the Butembo-Beni Diocese has raised the alarm about a new crisis in Congo as rebel fighting in the North Kivu Province forced thousands of people to flee. He said that the continual advance of the rebel militias of the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) is increasing the flow of fleeing civilians. A truce was announced in North Kivu last Thursday, in the framework of talks under way in Bujumbura, Burundi, among the RCD representatives, those of the Congolese government headed by President Joseph Kabila, and those of the government-allied Congolese Rally for Democracy-ML. The agreement had no effect, the Vatican newspaper reported.

"The RDC’s sufferings are linked to its natural resources. The violence in Bunia, in Ituri and the encounters north of Kivu are part of a single war being fought for control of the substrata of the country. Oil now is always added to the minerals" These are the words of Melchisedec Sikuli, Bishop of Beni-Butempo, the major diocese in Kivu North. A few kilometers from Bunia, where violent conflict occurred in recent weeks, an oil deposits of millions of barrels was discovered under the waters of Lake Albert. The Heritage Oil corporation is an aggressive oil consortium headquartered in Canada that in recent years began prospecting in Lake Albert. The oil consortium at the end of the 1990’s acquired territory in Uganda of more than a million acres where the Turaco I well began their work of exploration. Now the consortium has signed an agreement to acquire 7 million acres of land (an area the size of Belgium) that covers the territory of Ituri and Kivu North, an area of violent combat, where the presence of the Kinshasa government is practically nill. It is controlled by armed groups linked to Uganda. There are links between Heritage Oil and the Ugandan government; but links to mercenaries can also be discerned. These modern Soldiers of Fortune, grouped into organizations–Private Military Companies- such as Executives Outcomes and Sandlines International, are not romantic adventurers but businessmen caoable of creating vast financial holdings in corporations registered in the Bahamas where they cannot be easily investigated. One of the most important of the financial barons is Anthony Buckingham, director and founder of Heritage Oil Corp, and linked to groups for the exploitation of diamonds in Sierra Leone and Angola, On 15 May President Kabila said "it is impossible to explore theIturi deposit until the country is reunified".

Massimo Zaurrini- MISNA 19/6/2003

9. Uganda's Forgotten War
The Comboni Father Tarcizio Pazzagia, 69, of the Kitgum parish in the Archdiocese of Gulu, described one of the most difficult moments in the civil war that has hit hard in the Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts of the Acholi ethnic group. He told Misna missionary agency: "Every day, I repeat, every single day, there are rebel ambushes against the poor people…The last ambush," he said, "was conducted yesterday afternoon in Lanyatido, a location of the Pader district, 5 kilometers south of the Catholic mission of Pajule. A pickup truck was intercepted by the rebels of the LRA. The driver miraculously managed to escape, though some of the passengers suffered gunshot wounds." The LRA is the Lord's Resistance Army. "Ours is a forgotten war, a war that is not unfolding under the limelight of the international press and in which the highest price is being paid by women, elderly and children," he added. The LRA has abducted numerous minors and turned them into child-soldiers. "Only the religious leaders -- Catholic, Protestant and Muslim -- are acting decisively in favor of peace," he added. "I am ever more convinced that the prayer of intercession is the only weapon we have, along with evangelical solidarity, to give back hope to our people. Pray for us!"

10. International Community Called on for Help against the Atrocities of the LRA
Fr. Giulio Albanese, director of the missionary agency MISNA, staying at this time in the Catholic mission in Kitgum, condemned the deplorable conditions the civilians live in due to the violence of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) that has recently focussed on Catholic churches and missions. In less than a week the LRA has attacked 4 missions in the north of the country: Omiya-Anyma, Opit, Madi Opei and Alito. Out of a population of 281,000 people, 250,000 are homeless. The 17-year conflict has seen at least 20,000 civilian deaths and. Many children have been kidnapped and made slaves or soldiers in the ranks of the guerillas.

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).- Led by Joseph Kony, the "olum" ("grass" in the Achoili language spoken by these guerillas) of the LRA have been dighting since 1989 against today’s president --Yoweri Museveni--, who came to power in 1986 through a military junta largely made up of Acholi officials. He tried to create a State based on supposed "biblical" concepts. He is a "crazy visionary" whose " ‘credo’ is syncretistic, where there is a little bit of everything: elements of Christianity, Islam and animism". Between Sudan and Uganda, the men of the LRA number 5,000, although some sources say there are half that number.

11. Lachor Seminarian Eludes Captors in Northern Uganda
The news was reported to MISNA agency by Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu.
The 14-year-old boy managed to escape yesterday, eluding the surveillance of his captors and hiding in the bush, where he was found by Kampala government troops patrolling the zone for rebels. The seminarian has been held since last night at the military command of Gulu for questioning. "I hope to meet with him in the afternoon, but we are still very concerned about the others," the archbishop said. The most probable hypothesis is that the youths, all between the ages of 12 and 18, were divided into small groups and forced to enroll in the rebel lines. "The desperation of their families is immense; they fear they will never see their children again," Archbishop Odama explained. Though no bodies have been found, there is also growing concern over a report on the assassination of three of the seminarians who could not keep up with the rest, as reported by three others of the group, who managed to escape on Friday.
KAMPALA, 20 mayo 2003

According to the denunciation officially expressed on Monday by the "Peace Initiative of Religious Leaders in the Acholi Region", the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) continue to provide arms and munitions to the Lord’ Resistance Army (LRA) of Joseph Kony. In the past the army in Khartoum transferred war materiel to the rebel movement, recalls the missionary agency Misna. A careful investigation leads to the conclusion that since last October the SAF has resumed cooperating with the rebels transferring arms, munitions, camouflage gear and even foodstuffs from a kind of base called "Wat Odwogo" ("friendship has returned") near Nisitu, located south of the Sudanese city of Juba. The war materiel is transferred to other secret arsenals in Sudan and Uganda, and has caused deaths among the civilian population of Acholi in an endless series of ambushes, attacks against refugee camps and, most recently, against Catholic missions".

As with the DRC, we reproduce the headlines of the news agency MISNA for the second half of June:

17/6/2003 ANAKA: RIBELLI LRA ATTACCANO MISSIONE

18/6/2003 MINACCE DI KONY AI RELIGIOSI: EDITORIALE DEL 'MONITOR'

19/6/2003 ALTRI ORFANI SFUGGONO ALLO LRA CHE MINACCIA DI TORNARE

18/6/2003 SOROTI: DEAD AND WOUNDED IN AN ULTERIOR AMBUSH

21/6/2003 DISTRETTI ACHOLI: SERVE L'AIUTO DELLA COMUNITÀ INTERNAZIONALE

23/6/2003 GULU: RIBELLI ATTACCANO MENTRE LEADER RELIGIOSI CONDIVIDONO UNA NOTTE DA SOLLATI

23/6/2003 3:39 LEADER RELIGIOSI DORMONO ALL’APERTO CON I GIOVANI SFOLLATI DI GULU

24/6/2003 21:04 SOROTI: IL DOLORE DEL VESCOVO PER SOFFERENZA DEI CIVILI DOPO UCCISIONI, RAPIMENTI E SACCHEGGI

24/6/2003 18:19 RIBELLI SEMPRE PIÙ A SUD: 200 PERSONE SEQUESTRATE, SOPRATTUTTO GIOVANI STUDENTESSE

25/6/2003 3:36 RIBELLI DI KONY AVANZANO PER IL CINICO SILENZIO DEGLI ONESTI

26/6/2003 18:02 KONY TORNA A CASA, MENTRE SI INTENSIFICANO LE OPERAZIONI DEI RIBELLI IN TERRITORIO LANGO

www.misna.org

24/6/2003 16:49
Copyright © MISNA
Via Levico 14
00198 Rome
misna@misna.org

On 17 April it adopted a resolution without a vote on the DRC, the day on which the special reporter on human rights in the Congo, Julia Motoc, presented her report (which could be examined).

It published its report "Our Brothers are Killing Us" on 28 April, urging the international community to take initiatives to end human rights ciolations in the DRC. It states that foreign troops stir up inter-ethnic conflicts and increase massacres like the one in Ituri.

Amara Essy, provisional president of the African Union has stated his concern over the violence in Bunia.

The World Bank and the IMF decided to wait for the implementation of the Institutions of Transition and the new government’s acceptance of the program that is underway. It placed the DRC on the list of most indebted nations (HIPC) so that 80% of its debt can be cancelled .

E-mail : muungano@libero.it

15. Academic Community Calls for an End to the Ears in Africa
The 18^th academic seminar of the School of Economics and Development of the Catholic University of Kinshasa took place in the Congolese capital from 7 to 10 May. The encounter issued a request that Africa cease to be a proving grounds for new armies on the part of foreign powers that finance various African guerillas. It asks the U.N. to organize, under its protection, a conference of the countries in the Great Lakes region, an area beset for years by war involving the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. It lastly urges that those responsible for looting and illegal exploitation of the Congo’s riches do not go unpunished.

May 13-20, a consultation of the Pax Christi movement in the Great Lakes region of Africa took place in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. In response to escalating violence in the great Lakes region, participants addressed a letter on May 15 to Mr. Koffi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations. The letter to Kofi Annan is available here(click on underlined) in English and in French or from the International Secretariat (Ref.AF.10.FE.03). On 23 May 2003, Pax Christi Germany (Solidarity with Central Africa) issued a press release (in German) on the escalation of violence in the DRCongo. The text is available here or from the International Secretariat. (Ref.AF.12.G.03).

Archbishop Condemns Ethnic Vengeance in DRCongo.- Following the recent accounts of numerous inter-ethnic violence, Archbishop Monsengwo Pasinya of Kisangani severely condemned "the fratricidal actions that are decimating the population." Msgr. Monsengwo, Vice President of Pax Christi International, made a statement at the beginning of the Central Africa Consultation of Pax Christi International in Bukavu, 13 May 2003.

Pax Christi International ~ Newsletter 113 ~ 1 June 2003

1991 byts- Inglés,

On 20 May, Eugenio Melandri, Coordinator of "Chiama l’Africa", sent a letter to Walter Veltroni, mayor of Rome, Italy, calling attention to problems in Africa, especially the war in the Great Lakes region. He expresses concern over the mayor’s acceptance of an invitation by his counterpart, the mayor of Kigali, capital of Rwanda. The acts of genocide are well-known, but the imperial policy has not been exposed that Rwanda today is developing in the entire region, with human rights violations. Even after the signing of the Pretoria accords, the Rwandan army continues to accupy a large part of Kivu, exploiting its riches, especially gold and tantalum. Rwanda, which does not have goldmines in its country, has become the second largest gold exporter in Africa. Some days ago, referring to the massacres in Ituri, the President of the Congolese Bishops’ Conference, Card. Etsou, denounced "the Presdent of Rwanda, Paul Kagame and of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni,for the crucifixion they are forcing on the Congolese people".

Complete text of the letter (4,484 bytes Italian): http://www.cipsi.it/africa/dettagli.asp?ID=487&tipo=1
Signatories: NIGRIZIA, UCSEI and 50 other organizations, especially missionary ones.

Chiama l’Africa

http://www.chiamafrica.it/http://www.chiamafrica.it/

This group aims to increase awareness of the African situation In light of events in recent weeks in the region of Ituri, in the eastern part of the DRC, and knowing how public opinion is being manipulated, WE DENOUNCE THE SILENCE AND MANIPULATION THAT IS GOING ON TODAY AND THAT HIDES THE TRUTH OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS DEADLY WAR. It is really an invasive occupation by Uganda and Rwanda mainly that, with the economic and strategic support of U.S. and European multi-national corporations, uses local rebel groups—presently the Hema and Lendu tribes—to loot the Ituri region. It notes that the DRC has enormous riches: diamonds, gold, hardwoods, cobalt, tantalum and unexplored oil that abets the greed of the powerful to despoil the Congolese people. We hope to expose the real reasons for this war of invasion: "WE SEEK TO DEMAND THAT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ADOPT MEASURES THAT END INDISCRIMATE KILLINGS THAT ARE GOING ON AND WHICH IN TURN HAVE PERPETRATED A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS UNPRECEDENTED IN HUMAN HISTORY."

cte.africanegra.madrid@nodo50.org

Oxfam demonstrated outside the WTO to protest against US cotton dumping in West Africa. The stunt was timed to coincide with the arrival of the President of Burkina Faso to the Trade Negotiating Committee, where he was going to personally present the West African (Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin and Chad) proposal calling for an end to export subsidies for cotton at the Cancun Ministerial Conference. Oxfam drove up through the WTO entrance in a pick-up truck piled with bags of US subsidized cotton. George Bush emerged from the truck and after a brief speech began to dump cotton onto the African Continent (in the form of a large map beneath his feet).

Cotton plays an essential role in the economic development of West and Central African countries, but US subsidies distort global market prices!

Para que sus reivindicaciones tengan más fuerza en el plano internacional, es necesario que les apoyes. Por favor,
<escribe"http://www.intermonoxfam.org/red/0306coto/index1.html?cap=0306coto>escribe al presidente de Estados Unidos, George Bush, y pídele que ponga fin a los injustos subsidios que su país mantiene sobre el algodón. Sólo sumando
esfuerzos, lograremos ser escuchados. Muchas gracias por tu apoyo.