MuseumDESCRIPTION:
Rebecca Feeley, a field researcher for the ENOUGH Project discusses the current situation in Congo, particularly the massive problem of gender based violence.
TRANSCRIPT:
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: This is Bridget Conley-Zilkic. With me today is Rebecca Feeley who is based in Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she is a field researcher with the Enough Project. We’re speaking with her today from Goma. Rebecca, welcome to the show.
REBECCA FEELEY: Thank you.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: We wanted to speak with you today on the occurrences, what some have called the epidemic, of gender based violence in Congo. But I think we’ll start by asking you to give us an update on recent developments in the region. Rebecca, Can you tell us about recent efforts to quell the violence, recent peace efforts in Eastern Congo?
REBECCA FEELEY: As most of us have heard, there was on January 23 an acte d’engagement signed here in Goma after two and a half weeks of negotiations and discussions with all the armed groups here in eastern Congo along with a very strong presence of the international community. That includes the US, EU, the AU -- African Union -- as well as the UN really working to broker -- it is important to recognize that it is really a ceasefire agreement. I think a lot of people have labeled, largely in the media, this as a peace agreement. It needs to be recognized that this is largely a ceasefire agreement. And this is important because --
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: A ceasefire between which parties?
REBECCA FEELEY: It is a ceasefire mainly – the thing that everyone watched at the conference, what everyone was concerned about is Nkunda and his CNDP. How they were going to be brought into the peace process. They are seen as the major inhibitor to the peace process now in Congo. So they were very much an important part of this acte d’engagement, this ceasefire agreement. And then there were other groups, several different Mai-Mai groups, CNDP and a lot of international actors as well signed this agreement.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: Was Congolese civil society also represented at the conference?
REBECCA FEELEY: They were well represented at the conference. They made several different, and very interesting and poignant recommendations to the Congolese government specifically as well, which is in the paper that Enough is coming out [with], about ending sexual violence in eastern Congo. There was a presence of women’s NGOs in North and South Kivu that worked along with Human Rights Watch to put together a list of recommendations to the Congolese government. There was a period in the beginning of the conference, there were certain days when civil society could make their declarations, which included different ethnic groups, community engagement groups, women’s organizations, those concerned with displaced people- so civil society did have a good voice at the conference.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: Go ahead and tell us a little bit more about what the ceasefire agreement will mean for the future of Congo.
REBECCA FEELEY: Well right now it is at a very critical stage. And we have the opportunity that has been created by the ceasefire .There has been a lot of skepticism, perhaps not a lot, but there is skepticism, about how much can the ceasefire can really accomplish? This has been going on for you know a minimum of 15 years, these talks and negotiations, and nothing really changes for those on the ground. It is really essentially for the international community right now to know that this is a ceasefire agreement. It provides the conditions for peace, but it is not a peace agreement. Moving forward we really have to keep the momentum of the ceasefire and make sure that all parties that have signed this acte d’engagement keep those commitments. And this means our full attention going forward in these next couple months, because it is going to be really critical. The acte d’engagement in a way is riding on the Rwandan foreign armed groups that still reside in the Congo, the FDLR, but there needs to be some solution to the FDLR problem in Congo. A lot of groups that signed this ceasefire agreement did so because they thought that there would be a solution to the FDLR problem or that the government would actively look for a solution. It is very critical that the international community keep pushing for this to happen and not to essentially let the ball drop.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: So let’s return then to gender based violence. Can you tell us a little bit about what is happening? Who is perpetrating the violence?
REBECCA FEELEY: Well it is being committed by all sides. And in any conflict it is about exerting control and showing force. When it comes to sexual violence there is a state of impunity here in Congo that is allowing all groups to feel that they can get away with it. It’s used as a weapon of war. We are not talking in this case about date rape or rape within marriage, or an abuse of women’s rights or behavior here. We are talking solely about rape as a weapon of war. It’s used to brutally intimidate and destroy as well as humiliate communities and so often it’s housed by the Congolese women. It’s showing them -- therefore destroying the fabric of these communities. And it’s easier for these groups to exert control during fighting and this war that is going on here.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: When you say all sides, can you help us better understand? Is it the Congolese army, Nkunda’s forces, other forces, Mai Mai, militias? Who are the range of people or forces committing this kind of violence and socially destructive rape?
REBECCA FEELEY: Well as I said and I think you commented as well, it is CDNP, it is importantly the Congolese army, it is the Rwandan –essentially they’re the remnants of the genocidaires, the ex-Rwandan army (before the Rwandan genocide), the interahamwe, the Mai Mai, new groups, relatively new on the scene, Perico. They’re all committing rape and crimes of sexual violence. There are statistics floating around, none of them have really been confirmed that I know of because the percentages of sexual violence committed by “X” group. So it’s really hard to know exactly who is doing it. We know that it is a severe problem and it’s being committed on all sides.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: How does one in a complex conflict situation like Congo, particularly in the East where as you’ve noted there are still armed forces actively engaging in violence, how does one peel away this one area, which is so extremely violent, of gender based violence, of rape, and try to improve that?
REBECCA FEELEY: My first reaction to that would be that it is important almost not to peel it away from this. That it needs to be part of a larger comprehensive strategy for peace in the region, for peace in eastern Congo specifically. There is a tendency to try to deal with the most urgent issues – you know anything from child soldiers, to, of course, crimes of sexual violence -- look for Band-Aids, to mitigate instantly the effects it is having on people. I recognize that it is important to immediately reduce and mitigate women’s exposure to sexual violence here in eastern Congo. We also need to be looking at the very same time on ways to keep the ceasefire intact and ways to quickly move forward so that we’re creating an atmosphere, the conditions, for the Congolese to work on their own peace and ending the cycle of impunity. I think if you wanted to peel away and really focus immediately, but also long-term, that would be looking at the culture of impunity here. There is a very weak state, very weak justice system. This is something that needs immediate attention, but also needs a long term attention and a stable, firm engagement for the peace process as well as ending sexual violence.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: And can you tell us what some of the Congolese women’s groups or women’s advocates are doing for themselves? How are they focusing on this problem?
REBECCA FEELEY: Well it certainly isn’t easy. I’ve had a lot of contact with some hospitals in the region, one particularly here in Goma called the HEAL Africa Hospital that is doing a lot with women’s issues and very much outreaching in places where not a lot of other NGOs are going. Not just HEAL Africa hospital, there are a lot of other NGOs, local NGOs and women’s groups are starting to pay more attention to psycho-social support for victims as well as education programs, raising awareness in communities about their judicial rights. At the judicial level and the community level there are also a lot of training programs taking place. Trainings on the law, human rights, the constitution. The constitution in Congo was recently amended in 2006 and not a lot of people know about these amendments out on the ground. As well as –well I won’t go into that right now -- where they can go if they have been raped and what the process is at clinics. There is a network of counselors being established by different groups in different communities. They’re often chosen by religious leaders or other community leaders. These counselors are chosen and then the counselors then become the link between the community and the clinics. Women are referred to them, and they can refer her to the clinic, and then on to the hospital. There is starting to be an establishment of networks happening on the ground somewhat on rights and education and also on how to get care and treatment.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: How long have you been in Goma?
REBECCA FEELEY: I’ve been in Goma since the beginning of January, but I’ve been in the region- Rwanda and Burundi- for two years.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: What challenges do you personally feel working in such a difficult place on such very difficult issues?
REBECCA FEELEY: Actually my greatest challenge here it is to not get too frustrated, I guess that would be the simplest answer. I was out at displaced person’s camp this morning and the children there are really craving attention and they’re so lovely and so happy. And I think that anyone doing this work it is hard to comprehend how people in such difficult situations still manage to keep trying. I don’t know if I would have given up already. It is really amazing to me and it hurts me in some sense to see people struggling so much. That is probably the hardest thing, to see especially children in such difficult situations.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me today and we will look forward to your report coming out soon on gender based violence in eastern Congo with the Enough project.
NARRATOR: You have been listening to Voices on Genocide Prevention, from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. To learn more about preventing genocide, join us online at www.ushmm.org/conscience. There you’ll also find the Voices on Genocide Prevention weblog.
