Posted by jamie — 9 June 2010 at 4:29pm
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It's easy to
forget that, even though we moan about discredited political systems and
infringement of civil liberties, in the UK we don't actually have it that bad. It's rare
that anyone in the UK
would feel in danger for speaking out against the government but of course
that's not the case in other parts of the world. A shocking reminder of this
came with the news last week that a prominent human rights activist was
murdered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Floribert
Chebeya Bahizire was the executive director of La
Voix des Sans Voix (Voice of the Voiceless), an organisation he
set up in 1983 to expose human rights abuses and injustice in the DRC. But last
Wednesday in Kinshasa
he was found dead in his car, and his driver is still missing. According to the
news wires, there'll be an investigation into Bahizire's death but there are
questions over how revealing it will be. So much so that an open letter has
been sent to the president Joseph Kabila from over 50 human rights groups,
advocating an open, impartial inquiry.
Of
course, Greenpeace has a team in Kinshasa and
the challenges of campaigning there are markedly different than from a
comfortable office in London.
Intimidation and murder against those working to improve the lives of those who
are disenfranchised and disregarded is unacceptable wherever it happens, and
with the 50th anniversary of independence for the DRC approaching at
the end of the month, Bahizire's murder will cast a long shadow over the
celebrations.
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has, at long last, completed a review of the logging industry. Although there are some positive results, at the same time it has allowed an expansion of the industry to more than twice the recommended size.
Back in October last year, the government announced the results of a three-year review of logging contracts that had been issued. Logging companies which had contracts cancelled were then allowed to appeal against the decisions and this week's announcement is the final result of that process.
Posted by jossc — 24 November 2008 at 4:28pm
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Arctic Sunrise arriving at the DRC port of Matadi
Today we're celebrating the opening of a new Greenpeace office in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hurrah! We marked the occasion by inviting Congolese officials aboard the Arctic Sunrise, which is currently docked in Matadi, the country's principal port for timber exports.
This is a crucial time for the Congo rainforest, the world's second largest, as the DRC's government is the final stages of reviewing over 150 land titles, which cover millions of hectares of forest. While a number of titles were recently rejected by the government, the current 'appeals process' could see many of them returned to their former owners, the logging companies. The logging industry is using the present economic downturn to pressurise the govrnment to allow them to keep hold of (and exploit) what effectively amounts to millions of hectares of forest, and carry on business as usual.
Posted by bex — 14 November 2008 at 6:28pm
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"While the environmental threats facing Africans
are urgent and critical, Africa is in a position to leapfrog dirty
development and become a leader in helping to avert catastrophic
climate change and protect the natural environment. We are here to help
make that happen."
Amadou Kanoute, Executive Director of Greenpeace Africa.
Greenpeace Africa is here! Marking a whole new era for Greenpeace, we opened our first African office yesterday, in Johannesburg. In the coming weeks, we'll be opening two more - one in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the other in Senegal.