DR Congo 50

Colours of the City (a local organisation who promote diversity in Birmingham) have organised an event to mark the 50th Anniversary of Congolese independence.  Called DR Congo 50 – Past, Present, Future, the event will be a free debate on the country, held at The Drum in Aston, on Sat 3rd July, 6pm.  See flyer: [...]

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News from DR Congo

In our monthly meeting this Thursday (11th March), we’re going to be looking at human rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The human rights issues in the DRC are many and varied, so to give you a brief idea, here are some recent news stories from the region. Radio 4′s Today Programme gives [...]

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Solidarity with Justine Bihamba

Last month we Cathryn, Amnesty UK’s country co-ordinator for DR Congo came to talk to us, and highlighted the case of Justine Bihamba.  Justine is a human rights campaigner, who continues to work for change in her country, despite soldiers attacking her family  in an attempt to stop her. Later this month Justine is visting [...]

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Violence against Women in DRC

A recent Guardian opinion piece has highlighted the plight of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rape and female mutilation are used as weapons in the war between government forces and rebel groups.  The article further criticises the UN’s lack of action against, and even complicity in,  such violence – I’ll leave you [...]

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Amnesty Blog Project

There are two items of note from the Amnesty Blog Project, the first I am a little late in posting so apologies. Guantanamo Bay A Judge in Washington has ruled that five Algerian men who have been at the camp for six years are to be released because there is no legal basis for their [...]

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