Justice For Congo

JUSTICE FOR CONGO

"A film and campaign against impunity."

For 25 years, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been torn apart by waves of conflict that have been largely ignored by the media and the international community. The number of victims is in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

Despite the presence of 20,000 UN peacekeepers for more than 20 years, the culture of impunity fuels the continuation of massacres to this day and many perpetrators remain in positions of power, undermining any serious initiative for justice and peace. “The Empire of Silence” denounces this violence as well as the impotence of international organizations to stop it, and calls for a firm response from the Congolese authorities and the international community.

With Doctor Mukwege, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, director Thierry Michel continues his advocacy against the impunity that has reigned there for 25 years, with a new film "Empire of Silence" is a continuation of his previous film in the Congo, "The Man Who Mends Women", a film about the work of Dr. Denis Mukwege with rape victims of these endless wars in DRC.

The time has come to ensure that the Congolese people's rights to justice, truth, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition of the atrocities are respected, in order to put an end to one of the darkest and most tragic chapters in Congolese, African and even world history, as it is one of the deadliest conflicts with devastating humanitarian consequences - in terms of refugees/displaced people and raped women - since the Second World War.

Why do this campaign?

An international “Justice for Congo” campaign has been set up to raise awareness and mobilise the widest possible audience and put pressure on those responsible for the organised chaos in the DRC.

The objective is to oblige the Congolese authorities and the international community to implement the recommendations of the Mapping Report of the United Nations, already published 11 years ago, so that an independent and impartial justice system can be put in place to prosecute and judge the most serious crimes committed in the DRC, and so that the Congolese people can finally move forward on the path to lasting peace through justice and the establishment of an accountable rule of law.

One of the tools of this campaign is to screen the film in theatres, and especially in front of major international organisations, such as the Human Rights Council, the United Nations, the American Congress, the European Parliament, and of course in the martyred provinces of Congo, with the support of various personalities including Dr Mukwege.

It concerns all of us! Our computers, tablets and mobile phones, electric cars or bicycles, wind turbines... all these new technologies that are part of our daily lives and related to the progress of our societies are built with conflict minerals extracted in Eastern Congo, and instead of being a source of development for local populations, the exploitation and illegal trade of these strategic mineral resources are closely linked to serious human rights violations and mainly benefit multinationals and a corrupt oligarchy.

Objectives

Like every other group of people, the Congolese have a right to justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition.

We therefore advocate alongside Dr Mukwege for the adoption and implementation of a holistic national strategy for transitional justice in the DRC, including judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, taking into account the international dimension of the conflicts that have ravaged the DRC for a quarter of a century. The Panzi Foundation's Advocacy Note can be found here.

As such, we demand:

Institutional reforms and guarantees that atrocities will not be repeated: as a matter of priority, to enact a process of vetting of the security sector by removing from their positions of power those state agents - especially those in the army, police, intelligence services and judiciary - who have been involved in serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law;

Judicial (prosecutorial) mechanisms: the establishment of an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for the DRC (ICT) or a special hybrid criminal court, as well as specialised mixed chambers within the Congolese judicial system, to provide justice to victims and end impunity for the most serious crimes #JusticeIsNonNegotiable;

Reparation programmes: both judicial and administrative (material or symbolic, individual or collective);

Truth-seeking mechanisms: setting up Truth Commissions – at the level of the Great Lakes region, the DRC and the martyred Provinces – and encouraging unofficial truth-seeking mechanisms, in particular all the initiatives for the preservation of historical memory that emanate from civil society actors (commemorative days and ceremonies for the victims of the massacres, construction of monuments or an online memorial, requests for the exhumation of mass graves, support for the distribution of the film “Empire of Silence” throughout the world, in collaboration with numerous human rights organisations).

An indispensable prerequisite for this transitional justice process is to safeguard the evidence of the most serious crimes. Thus, we urgently call for the deployment of a team of investigators integrated into the UN Joint Human Rights Office, including experts in forensic anthropology, to exhume the numerous mass graves in order to collect and preserve evidence of acts that may constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide perpetrated in the DRC.

In addition, a “WANTED” campaign targeting those most responsible for the Congolese tragedy will be launched and we are continuing our advocacy efforts to ensure that the confidential database listing the alleged perpetrators of the crimes listed in the Mapping Report is disclosed, with a view to reducing their capacity to cause harm and to broadening the EU and US sanctions regime.

What can we do? Everyone can act on their own account and be a catalyst for change:

Call on their politicians, at national and European level, to take concrete action;

Join the "Advocacy for a National Holistic Strategy for Transitional Justice in the DRC" led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Mukwege and many Congolese CSOs active in the fight against impunity;

Join the WANTED campaign;

Share the campaigns on social networks using #justiceforcongo and #JusticeIsNonNegotiable;

Donate to develop the tools of this campaign (translations, additional capsules, etc). To make a donation, click here.

Sign the petition to the French Presidency to break the empire of silence and fight impunity in the DRC with the support of France. This petition can be found here.

Many Congolese civil society organisations have already expressed their support for this strategy.

The French National Assembly has already issued a motion for a resolution on the various recommendations of the Mapping Report.

Through a joint declaration, several associations have come together to call on and mobilise civil society in this struggle.

"TO TAKE ACTION, JOIN THE CAMPAIGN #JUSTICEFORCONGO"

objectives

Campaign / advocacy

The Congolese

We are preparing a tour, potentially with a mobile cinema, in all of the stricken provinces where the film was shot but also in the capital Kinshasa. For this, we need local partners and NGOs to organize screenings and debates in the field.

Democratic Republic of Congo To be determined

Institutions and politicians

Switzerland - Human Rights Council

We are considering a screening at the United Nations Human Rights Council in the presence of Dr. Mukwege and Thierry Michel who already took action during the broadcast of "The Man Who Mends Women" before this council in 2016. They were already calling for the disclosure of the alleged perpetrators cited by the Mapping Report.

In Geneva To be determined

European Parliament and Council of Europe

We are considering screenings before members of the European Parliament in Brussels and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. We have already organized this kind of screening at the European Parliament with the film "The Man Who Mends Women" and the impact was such that the European Union financed the translation of the film into all the languages of its territory. Beyond the political involvement that we expect from European representatives, this kind of intervention would be beneficial for the circulation of the film and the propagation of its message.

In Brussels and Strasbourg (Belgium and France) To be determined

The United Nations and the US Congress

"The Man Who Mends Women" has also been shown at the US Congress in Washington and at the United Nations. We want to do the same with "Empire of Silence". In New York, one of our partners, the Adenauer Foundation, has already committed to help organize such an event. We are looking for American partners to finance this American campaign.

In Washington and New York (USA) To be determined

The International Criminal Court

At the seat of the International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague is one of the key locations for our outreach campaign. We are looking for partners to engage this high symbol towards justice.

In The Hague (Netherlands) To be determined

The international public

France and Belgium

In June 2021, private screenings brought together leading figures, NGOs... On the occasion, the City of Paris, where Dr. Mukwege is an honorary citizen, was able to organize an exceptional evening around the film in order to join the awareness campaign. Discussions are underway with various partners who are highly interested in the film. In France and Belgium, a distribution of the film in cinemas is also planned for 2022. We are obviously planning debates with the public during the premieres in the major cities of both countries. In addition to TV5, which will cover the French-speaking world for the TV broadcast, RTBF and VRT are partners of the film and will broadcast the film after the cinema release.

In Japan

Our Japanese distributor is already interested in broadcasting the film on the Japanese peninsula.

In the USA

Following our actions with Congress, we hope for an American release after the European release.

Internet

A big awareness campaign is planned on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We have already started to collect and edit video clips to alert the public on the major issues we defend. We are also planning websites in French and English to promote the film but particularly to spread the "Justice for Congo" campaign.

Synospsis
of the film

For twenty-five years, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been ravaged by a war largely ignored by the media and the international community. The victims run into the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. The perpetrators of these crimes are countless: rebel movements, but also armies, those of the Congo and neighboring countries...

Trailer
of the film

Find out now the first footage of the film.

Watch

To take action,
join the campaign

Take part in the campaign! Join us and share content on social networks. Check out articles or the latest news about the film.

Speech of Denis Mukwege

Nobel Peace Prize 2018

Oslo, 10 December 2018.

On the tragic night of October 6, 1996, rebels attacked our hospital in Lemera, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). More than thirty people were killed. Patients shot in their beds at close range. Staff unable to flee, killed in cold blood. I could not imagine that this was only the beginning. The human toll of this perverse and organized chaos was hundreds of thousands of women raped, more than 4 million internally displaced persons and the loss of 6 million lives. Imagine, the equivalent of the entire population of Denmark decimated. UN peacekeepers and experts have not been spared. Many died during the course of carrying out their mandate. The United Nations Mission in the DRC remains present to this day to ensure that the situation does not degenerate any further.

My name is Denis Mukwege. I am from a country which is one of the richest in the world. Yet my fellow countrymen and women are among the poorest in the world. The disturbing reality is that the abundance of our natural resources - gold, coltan, cobalt and other strategic minerals - is fueling the war which is the source of extreme violence and despicable poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As I speak, a report is gathering dust in a desk drawer in New York. It is a result of a professional and rigorous investigation into war crimes and human rights violations in Congo. This investigation explicitly names victims, places, and dates but leaves out the perpetrators.

This Mapping Report, prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, describes no less than 617 war crimes and crimes against humanity and possibly even crimes of genocide. What is it going to take for the world to take this into account? There is no lasting peace without justice, yet justice is not negotiable.

How does this concern us all?

"We all like nice cars, jewelry and gadgets. I myself have a smartphone. These things contain minerals that are found in our country, often extracted in inhumane conditions by young children, victims of intimidation and sexual violence. As you drive your electric car, use your smartphone or admire your jewelry, think for a moment about the human cost of making these objects. As consumers, the least we can do is to insist that these products are made with respect for human dignity.

To turn a blind eye to this tragedy is to be complicit. It is not only the perpetrators who are responsible for their crimes, but also those who choose to look the other way. My country is being systematically plundered with the complicity of people who claim to be our leaders. Plundered for their power. Plundered for their wealth and glory.

Plundered at the expense of millions of innocent men, women and children abandoned in extreme misery while the profits from our minerals end up in the opaque accounts of an oligarchy based on oppression."

Justice
for Congo