Last year in
Washington DC, Sen.
Barack Obama, along
with twelve other US
Senators
(Republicans and
Democrats) initiated
a Bill in US Senate
titled S.2125: The
Democratic Republic
of the Congo Relief,
Security, and
Democracy Promotion
Act of 2006.
While the European
Union, Belgium and
France played a
major role in
securing the
presidency to Joseph
Kabila during the
first Congo’s
elections, the
political process in
the Congo
deteriorated because
shaped by contested
results. Here in US,
in an absence of a
coherent foreign
policy in that
regard, many envoys
in Congo played a
significant role to
design, to carry out
and to deliver the
first democratic
presidential
elections in a 47
years independent
African nation; the
109th Senate bill
was signed into by
President Bush on
December 22nd 2006.
The Bill designed
key roles the Bush
Administration
should play in
ensuring that the
new political
leadership in the
DRC lives by the
observance human
rights and a good
governance. The bulk
of the resolution
was based on the
security of the
people of the DR
Congo, by ending the
violence by all
means and by
promoting the
observance of human
rights, by
subsidizing the US
cooperation, based
on progress in
Democracy and
Governance in DR
Congo.
Last Wednesday Oct.
31st, Senator Barack
Obama, Democratic
Presidential
Candidate went on a
reality check about
the Bush
Administration’s
homework to see
whether it is making
efforts to promote
the observance of
human rights
domestically and
abroad. He wrote an
Op-Ed in Chicago
Defender just few
days after president
Joseph Kabila of the
DR Congo was
received at the
White House. Given
the intensity of
protests that took
place in front of
South façade of the
Oval Office by
Congolese-Americans
and US Residents, it
is surprising to see
that the American
Media did not cover
the event nor
stressed the reasons
it was held for…
Barack Obama is seen
to be the only US
politician (as
matter of fact the
only presidential
candidate) to
mention twice at two
different occasions,
the name “Congo” in
his addresses. He
definitely get the
attention of
US-naturalized
Congolese voters as
they see in him a
candidate who really
show he is concerned
about what the
people of this
country’s are
enduring and how to
fix it.
In the face of what
some might call
frail follow up by
the US government
and the Department
of State officials
on the political
process in the DRC,
many human rights
violations and
adverse security
facts on the ground
(Congo) corroborate
to assertions
Congolese Protesters
voiced up: some
graphic pictures
showing war
atrocities in hands
and chanting slogans
of disapproval to
their president. Are
we talking about a
possible failure by
the US government to
apply the newly
signed S2125 senate
bill? What If the
Administration
argues it has passed
the test…Is it safe
to say that it has
worked hard for the
last 10 months to
secure a peaceful
and democratic
process in the DR
Congo, at this time?
Many
Congolese-Americans
and US residents
would disagree about
it, in deed: They
see in what the
“Republican”
administration does,
the same pattern
left by the Clinton
Administration when
they neglected to
intervene before the
Eastern Region
Crisis took place
and lingered in
their diplomacy when
it extended its
roots to end up in a
series of bloody and
vindictive genocides
in Rwanda (1994) and
later in the DR
Congo (since 1997).
Please read in the
following Op-Ed by
Senator Obama, a
reality check that
applies to both,
issues of violence
against women in the
US and in the
Democratic Republic
of Congo and the
role the
Administration ought
to play.
A Commentary by
Franklin Katunda,
Chief-Editor
© Congoboston.com,
Oct. 2007
Violence Against
Women, at Home and
Abroad, Must End
By U.S. Sen. Barack
Obama
Chicago Defender.
October 31, 2007--
President Bush has
an opportunity to
assert America's
moral leadership in
the aftermath of
Friday's meeting
with President
Joseph Kabila of the
Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC).
President Bush
should seize it by
stepping up efforts
to stop the epidemic
of sexual violence
in the DR Congo - an
epidemic that is
similarly
devastating places
like Darfur, where
rape is the weapon
of choice.
In recent years,
tens of thousands of
women and girls have
been raped,
tortured, and
assaulted in the DR
Congo by disgruntled
soldiers and bands
of marauders. One
expert says this is
so common in some
places that it is
"almost normal."
The decision to stop
the violence rests
with the Congolese,
but the United
States has a number
of options - many of
which were included
in legislation I
helped pass last
year and addressed
in a letter I sent
to Secretary of
State Condoleezza
Rice earlier this
month. These options
range from making
U.S. support
contingent on
Congolese efforts to
stop the violence
and care for the
victims to building
a coalition of donor
nations to pressure
the DRC into action.
President Bush
should make it clear
that no diplomatic
option is off the
table.
But asserting
America's moral
leadership abroad
requires more than
strong, principled
diplomacy. It
requires setting a
better example by
stopping the
violence that's
committed against
women here at home.
One in four women
suffers from
domestic violence in
her lifetime. In
2005, over 175,000
women reported being
victims of rape or
sexual assault.
These statistics are
numbing; they are
also heartbreaking.
And yet, they only
dimly reflect the
full scale of the
problem. Too often,
women fear their
stories of abuse
will not be believed
or blame themselves,
and as a result,
they don't come
forward. But while a
crime can go
unreported, its
consequences cannot
be undone.
Abuse scars not only
the victim but her
loved ones, sending
currents of violence
that ripple across
our society. Right
now, a woman who's
fled an abuser is
living on the
streets, wondering
how long it will be
before she has to
turn to crime or
prostitution to feed
herself. Down the
street, a child has
shut the door and
buried his head
under the pillow so
he doesn't have to
hear his mother's
cries, and there's a
good chance he will
grow up to be an
abuser just like his
father.
Government has a
critical role to
play in stopping
this cycle of
violence. Over the
course of more than
a decade in elective
office, I have
fought to assist the
victims of sexual
assault. And this is
a commitment I will
carry with me to the
White House. As
President, I will
pass my plan to
provide millions of
dollars to
strengthen programs
aimed at preventing
domestic violence
and caring for those
affected by it. I
will also expand
government efforts
to offer domestic
violence counseling
in urban areas. And
I will ensure that
we fully fund the
Violence Against
Women Act, an
important piece of
legislation that I
commend my colleague
Senator Joe Biden
for drafting.
We also need to
ensure job security
for victims of
sexual assault, up
to half of whom
report losing their
jobs as a result of
being attacked. In
Illinois, I led the
fight to ensure that
victims could seek
shelter or treatment
without losing their
jobs, passing one of
the strongest job
protection laws in
the nation. As
President, I will
make this a federal
law. And I will
expand the Family
and Medical Leave
Act to give
additional job
security to victims
who need to take
time off.
Finally, combating
this problem demands
a sustained
high-level
commitment. That is
why, as President, I
will appoint a
special advisor who
will report to me
regularly on issues
related to violence
against women. This
advisor will ensure
that our agenda is
coordinated across
federal agencies,
and fully
implemented.
But government
cannot stop a
husband from
striking his wife,
or a woman from
being assaulted on a
deserted street.
Ultimately, this
problem has to be
addressed by
neighbors who are
willing to report
suspected crimes and
by families who are
willing to help
loved ones come out
of the darkness of
isolation and into
the light of
justice. And we can
all do our part by
discussing this
issue in public
until we break down
the stigma that
still stops so many
women from coming
forward and bring
about a change in
the misogynistic
attitudes that
foster this
violence.
Let's stop treating
this as just a
woman's issue.
Whether it's
hundreds of
thousands of women
being brutalized in
the United States
and around the
world, or just a
single friend whose
boyfriend took
advantage of her one
night - when a woman
is attacked on
account of her
gender, it is a
human rights issue.
And so long as it
continues, the
conscience of our
nation cannot rest.
(End)
…. /…
An Op-Ed by Senator
Barack Obama (Ill,
D) in Chicago
Defender.
Paid For by Obama
For America, 2007
To learn more about
the S2125 Senate
Bill, please click
the following link:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2125