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A bi-weekly audio series and podcast service, hosted by Committee on Conscience Project Director Bridget Conley-Zilkic, that brings you the voices of human rights defenders, experts, advocates, and government officials. Vital voices addressing one of humanity's most vital issues. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not necessarily represent those of the Museum.
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10/16/08
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Interview:
The Museum’s Michael Graham tells us about a Congolese school he visited in June that was right on the front lines between rebel and government forces, protected by a few peacekeepers. With new rounds of fighting beginning in August, these civilians, and hundreds of thousands of others are at risk today.
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12/07/06
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Joseph Kabila was inaugurated Wednesday as the Democratic Republic of Congo's first elected president in over 40 years. He promised to promote "the trilogy of good governance, democracy and respect for human rights." The losing candidate in the presidential run-off, Jean-Pierre Bemba, did not attend the ceremony. Bemba has said he will accept the election results and serve as leader of the opposition. Meanwhile, despite the hopeful signs in the capital, Kinshasa (which is in the far west of the country), violence in the east drove 12,000 people to cross the border into neighboring Uganda. Kabila's strongest electoral support was in the east, where the population hopes he can establish security and stability for an area where millions have perished in the past 8 years.
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12/04/06
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 A few weeks ago, I suggested that Congolese citizens and internationals were "waiting to breathe" as they watched to see whether the presidential run-off, won by President Joseph Kabila (pictured), would result in fresh violence. Seasoned BBC correspondent Mark Doyle is reporting that "for now, the [UN and European Union] peacekeepers, and most ordinary Congolese, are breathing a huge sigh of relief." Money quote: "It would be a miracle," I reported several times for the BBC on visits to DR Congo during the first and second rounds of voting, "if these polls are pulled off successfully". Well, that miracle appears to have taken place. Though losing candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba believes that Kabila's victory was not totally on the up and up, he has accepted the result and pledged to lead the opposition, presumably within the constitutional framework.
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11/15/06
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 While Lubango is chilling in the Hague, things are tense back in DR Congo, where President Joseph Kabila appears to have won the runoff election. Supporters of his opponent, Jean-Pierre Bemba, are claiming fraud. International observers have said the election was largely free and fair. There was fighting on Saturday between forces loyal to the two candidates. The capital Kinshasa is apparently quiet now as the UN force in Congo (MONUC) and a supplement of European Union troops have deployed on the streets. Ambassador William Swing, the American who is the Special Representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is sounding a hopeful note:The big hope is that people want the elections, they want peace, they want to get on with their lives in circumstances that promise a better future. . . . The vast majority of people are tired of war, tired of violence, they want peace and they are not easily going to be involved in acts that will disrupt order. . . . I honestly believe that after these elections, one can truly say that this country is another country. The unfortunate fact is that a small minority willing to use violence can thwart the will of a vast majority who want peace. But maybe . . .
(Photo of Kabila supporters © Tiggy Ridley/IRIN)
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