DRC
Tara Madden reports from Goma - “We work in total insecurity – how can we think of our own well-being?”
Goma
I'm sitting by Lake Kivu in Goma. The water lapping peacefully against the shore is in stark contrast to the horrific stories of sexual violence told by a group of 18 women human rights defenders this morning. They were contributing to a discussion on the risks faced by women human rights defenders in the North Kivu province.
One of the women human rights defenders had accompanied a woman victim of rape from their village in the mountains to the hospital this morning. They had killed her husband. She had been raped by seven men in the field where she grew crops. She was four months pregnant.
The same women human rights defender whose work is to accompany and assist victims of rape said her name is known to those who commit these rapes. But they haven't been able to put her face to the name yet.
“The rural areas are the most dangerous.
DRC - Tara Madden meets women HRDs who have received support from Front Line Defenders' Security Grants Programme
Uvira day 2
Awoke at 4am to the calls for prayer from the nearby mosque - a little early yet for our individual meetings at 9am with women human rights defenders who had received support from Front Line Defenders or who wanted to formally introduce themselves and their work.
One of the organisations had received a grant for medical treatment and temporary relocation of a woman human rights defender from the Pygmie population who had been attacked and raped. The Coordinator of the organisation and the Pygmie woman had travelled a long distance to come meet with us and tell us of her experience. Recovery had been slow but she had started to make bread to sell to her community again.
Bernadette told us how her colleague was improving slowly at a hospital in Burundi. She had been attacked at her home one night, several of her fingers cut off, her arms cut and she was hit repeatedly with a machete to the head. She is only now regaining use of her hands and the ability to do things for herself.
Tara Madden in Uvira - DRC women HRDs describe work on issues ranging from literacy, food security & health to sexual violence
Uvira day 1
Arriving in Uvira, the air and space of the Congolese countryside provided a welcome change to the crowds and traffic jams of Kinshasa. Uvira is a long narrow village situated between the mountainous Haut Plateau and Lake Tanganyika. Banana trees, rocks and houses line the main road. Our progress along the road was slow due to speed ramps, bumps and potholes as well as the road works which have started in advance of election campaigns. Bicycles, motorcycles, jeeps and people share the space amiably.
Gégé Katana, Director of SOFAD - Solidarité des Femmes Activistes pour la Défense des Droits Humains (Solidarity with Women Activists for the Defense of Human Rights), showed me around. Gégé has a Jambo (hello) for everyone . She is well known in the community and is accompanied at all times for security reasons.
Sheets of flipchart paper detailing the objectives and activities of a new campaign on women's participation in elections and positions of decision-making cover the walls of the SOFAD office.
Tara Madden reports from Kinshasa - HRDs speak of threats received, of being detained for questioning, and of members killed
Kinshasa day 2
This afternoon we met with members of Les Amis de Nelson Mandela pour la Défense des Droits Humains – ANMDH (Friends of Nelson Mandela for Human Rights) an organisation which provides assistance to the victims of human rights violations, while documenting and denouncing the violations and also working on human rights education and promotion of democracy.
As we sat in the shade outside the HRDs' office, they spoke of the threats they had been receiving by phone and anonymous letters, of how they had been detained for questioning, and of their members who had been killed due to their work. They also outlined some of the strategies they are implementing in order to minimise the potentially heightened risks during the election period and continue their work.
We've just been with several of the other human rights defenders based in the city.
Tara Madden on mission in DRC reports from Kinshasa
Kinshasa day 1
We've been in and out of taxis all day – manoeuvering ourselves from one end of Kinshasa to the other for meetings with partners of TIC pour tous ( ICT for everyone), an organisation which provides training in basic IT skills and digital security for human rights defenders throughout DRC.
I'm with Gabriel Bombambo, Director of TIC pour tous, who seems to have star status in Kinshasa. We stop to shake hands with people at every corner and after a while I realise who “Prof Gaby” is, as former students and colleagues ( both from when he taught Maths at the University of Kinshasa and from recent IT trainings with human rights defenders ) wave or call out from passing cars or across the street.
The pending elections are evident in the city already. Days before the official campaign kicks off, vendors in the streets are selling lists of the candidates; TV and newspapers are carrying speeches made by current President Kabila along with questioning by journalists and the challenges made by opposition candidates.
Otherwise Kinshasa continues to its own beat. There is always someone singing – as they go about their work or on the TV or radio.
