Manchester / Saturday 8th November 2008

Assemble 11:00am

All Saints
Oxford Road

Manchester M15 6BH

(Manchester University), opposite BBC Manchester


March to:
Peace Gardens (Manchester Town Hall): Final gathering

Organised by: Congolese in Manchester / All welcome


Since the 27th October 2008, tens of Thousands of people have been
forced to flee their homes in Congo and they are now desperately
looking for food, shelter, security and medical care etc. Since
January of this year over 250,000 Congolese have become internally
displaced by the *'War that Never Stopped'.

Laurent Nkunda Batware leader of the rebel faction, which is marching
on Goma, was indicted for war crimes in September 2005 and is under
investigation by the International Criminal Court. He is sympathetic
to Congolese Tutsis and the Tutsi-dominated government of neighbouring
Rwanda.

Both the Congolese Government and rebel forces are equally guilty of
massive human rights abuses in the present conflict.

DR Congos' never ending crisis is because of the illegal exploitation
and exportation of Congo rich resources (coltan, gold, diamond, oil
etc) by international corporations backed by European governments.

Demonstration Supported by: DC-UK, APARECO, Bundu Dia Congo, Congo
Support Project, Green Party, Manchester Committee to Defend Asylum
Seekers, RAPAR. WAST, RESPECT, Manchester Trade Council, NCADC.



Inquiries/further information:

Innocent Empi

075 0743 8424 / 079 6061 7309


*Rwandan Genocide 1994-1995 was the direct cause of:


The First Congo War (November 1996 to May 1997) ended when Zairean
President Mobutu Sésé Seko was overthrown by rebel forces backed by
foreign powers such as Uganda and Rwanda. Rebel leader Laurent-Désiré
Kabila declared himself president and changed the name of the nation
back to Democratic Republic of the Congo. The war set the foundation
for, and was quickly followed by, the Second Congo War, which began on
August 2, 1998.

The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War and the Great
War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (formerly called Zaire), and officially ended in July 2003 when
the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
took power (though hostilities/atrocities have continued to this day
Monday 3rd November 2008 and no sign of peace in the future).

The largest war in modern African history, it directly involved eight
African nations, as well as about 25 armed groups. By 2008 the war and
its aftermath had killed 5.4 million people, mostly from disease and
starvation, making the Second Congo War the deadliest conflict
worldwide since World War II. Millions more were displaced from their
homes or sought asylum in neighboring countries.


Source for this Message:

Congolese in Manchester