What: Briefing on the UN Mapping Exercise Report and its Implications for US Policy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region

Speakers:

• Brian Endless, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation
• Bahati Jacques, Africa Faith and Justice Network
• Nita Evele, Congo Global Action Coalition
• Nii Akuetteh, Africa Policy Analyst
• Emira Woods, Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute of Policy Studies

Date: 2 – 4 P.M. Wednesday

Time: March 2, 2011

Where: Room 2226 Rayburn House Office Building, 45 Independence Ave SW Washington, DC 20515

RSVP: events@friendsofthecongo.org or 202-584-6512

For more information, please visit: www.friendsofthecongo.org or www.afjn.org

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) released the official “Report of the Mapping Exercise” in October 2010. The report documents “the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between March 1993 and June 2003″. Over 200 Congolese organizations have appealed to the international community to support and address the report.

Human Rights Watch executive director, Kenneth Roth says: “If followed by strong regional and international action, this report could make a major contribution to ending the impunity that lies behind the cycle of atrocities in the Great Lakes region of Africa.”

Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs said: “The United States is firmly committed to helping the DRC and other nations in the region take positive steps to end the corrosive cycle of violence and impunity.”

The United States has a key role to play in making sure that justice is delivered to the people of Central Africa. US tax dollars fund US allies, Rwanda and Uganda who are deeply implicated in mass atrocities, crimes against humanity, war crimes and possibly genocide in the Congo.

The American taxpayers should be assured that their tax dollars are not supporting mass atrocities in Africa and perpetuating a war, which has killed an estimated 6 million people, making it the deadliest conflict since World War II. The Congressional briefing can serve as a first step in delivering justice to the people in the heart of Africa.

Who: African Great Lakes Advocacy Coalition (Africa Faith and Justice Network, Friends of the Congo, Foreign Policy in Focus, African Great Lakes Action Network, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, Foundation for Freedom and Democracy in Rwanda, Congo Global Action Coalition, International Humanitarian Law Institute of St. Paul, Mobilization for Peace and Justice in Congo).

Please encourage your Congressional representatives and their staff to attend. Click here to find your representative’s contact.

Join the global call for justice for the Congo