Crumbs of human rights

Former Amnesty prisoner of conscience Fred Bauma about human rights and democracy Fred Bauma about the human rights situation in the DRC (c) Amnesty International UK I could not have dreamt of anything more exciting than meeting former Amnesty prisoner of conscience Fred Bauma . Together with thousands of activists, I had been campaigning for him and his colleague Yves Makwambala for the past few years. So, I was floating on air when I heard about Fred and Yves’ release on bail in August 2016. I felt extremely honoured to be able to organise an event where Fred could meet the Amnesty UK activists who had been standing in solidarity with him. Struggle for change in the Congo On 11 March, just a few days before the anniversary of his detention in 2015, Amnesty UK hosted a speaker event with Fred Bauma. During the evening, the young Congolese activist talked about his experiences and the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Fred explained ...

Abuses by UN peacekeepers have been committed over the past two decades in various parts of the world. Blue Helmets in Haiti, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Bosnia, Cambodia, East Timor and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), just to mention a few missions, have abused their power  and aggravated the suffering of war-thorn local communities. The embarrassment caused by the misconduct of UN forces in devastated communities around the world has become an increasingly high profile, political problem . Commitments by various high-profile UN officials, including the incumbent and the previous Secretary Generals have been made to uproot the horrific human rights violations and the impunity that surrounds them. More than a decade ago, the previous Secretary General Kofi Annan pledged to eliminate the scourge of sexual abuse from the UN and introduce a “zero tolerance” policy on sexual violence in conflict. As part of the broad package to reform the UN Department of Peacekee...

You can’t entirely be. If you search on the internet, you will probably find that the lithium-ion battery, the thing that powers your laptop, tablet or smartphone and enables you to surf for hours, contains cobalt. If you search a little longer, you’ll learn that 50% of this mineral comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – mined in the south of the country, often by children and for very little money. Kids work in mines under dangerous conditions Children, as young as seven are involved in this dirty industry. According to a UNICEF report from 2014, approximately 40,000 boys and girls work in the mines across the southern part of the DRC, many of them involved in cobalt mining. The majority of the kids work above ground, collecting minerals from the mountains of tailings (or residue) outside both active and inactive industrial mines. They can also work in lakes and streams close to the mines, washing and sorting the stones. Some boys go underground, digging deep to a...

Fred and Yves are like you and me: activists, committed to bring about change and advocate for rights for all. A year ago, they attended a conference in the capital of their home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The event’s aim was to launch a platform called "Filimbi" that works towards encouraging young Congolese people to peacefully and responsibly exercise their civic rights. Following a press conference, they took part in a workshop where pro-democracy activists from several African countries gathered to exchange experiences on the theme "Youth and Citizenship". But in the middle of the event Congolese security forces raided the building and arrested 27 participants. This all happened in spite of the meeting’s previous authorisation by the relevant state actors.  Although most of the detained activists have been released a week after their arrest, Fred Bauma and Yves Makwambala are still in prison after a year. The young ...