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�.

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.

AFJN is co-hosting a Congressional Briefing to shed light on the UN Mapping Exercise Report which documents atrocities in Democratic Republic of Congo.

This event is free and open to the public.

What: Briefing on… the UN Mapping Exercise Report and its Implications for US Policy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region
Who: African Great Lakes Advocacy Coalition, composed of the following organisations:

– 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.

Speakers:

– Brian Endless, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation
– Jacques Bahati, Africa Faith and Justice Network
– Nita Evele, Congo Global Action Coalition
– Professor Nii Akuetteh, Founder, The Democracy & Conflict Research Institute, DCRI; and Founding Executive Director of OSIWA
– Emira Woods, Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute of Policy Studies

When: Wednesday, March 2, 2011; 2 P.M. � 4 P.M.

Where:

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

Briefing is March 2, but beginning today, PLEASE URGE THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM YOUR CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT TO ATTEND: Congressional Briefing to Address Justice and Stability in the Congo and Great Lakes Region of Africa.

[AFJN]