On Monday, 8th December, Crisis Action staged together with Avaaz members a symbolic protest outside the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels demanding an immediate deployment of an EU peacekeeping force to protect the population of Congo.

*AS EU FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET ON CONGO,
NEW OPINION POLLS CALL FOR ACTION *

Majorities in Sweden, Spain, Germany
Support Sending Peacekeepers to Congo
As Part of A European Contingent

European Foreign Ministers thus far refusing to commit troops,
but set to discuss Congo again today

In new YouGov/Avaaz public opinion polls in Sweden, Spain and Germany, when asked "To what extent would you support or oppose [Swedish/German/Spanish] troops being part of a European peacekeeping contingent in Congo?", clear majorities of those with an opinion said they would support deploying their own country's troops to Congo.

In Spain, 57% of those with an opinion supported deploying Spanish troops to Congo as part of a European contingent, and only 18% were opposed. In Sweden, 51% of those with an opinion supported deploying Swedish troops, and only 25% were opposed; in Germany, 50% of those with an opinion supported deploying German troops to Congo, and only 33% were opposed.

(More poll results linked from this blog soon - for now, follow the link below to read full press release)

Read more "POLLS: European Majorities Support Sending Peacekeepers to Congo" »

Thanks for everything you do! The Avaaz community has responded extraordinarily to refugee Liberata Rumumba's video appeal from eastern Congo, with over 150,000 Euros donated so far to our campaign for European peacekeepers to protect the civilians of Congo, by almost 6000 people.

This has enabled Avaaz to run ads all this week in Brussels and the key European states which could send peacekeepers - Sweden, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands - ads you can see by scrolling down the Congo entries on this blog or clicking the links above. We've followed up the ads with direct conversations with senior officials and politicians in every country.

Meanwhile, crucially, we've been able to commission polls in these countries and in Germany, supposedly one of the principal opponents of an EU deployment to Congo. Those poll results are coming in now and they're very exciting. We'll release them to the media and here tomorrow, before European foreign ministers meet.

Last week UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon spoke on the phone to Belgian foreign minister Karel de Gucht, asking for a European bridging force. But things were looking bleak when, after speaking with European counterparts, de Gucht told the media other states were refusing to commit troops. Late last week, EU High Representative Javier Solana was dismissing the idea, and our information was that the proposal was collapsing.

But late last week our ads ran, and last Friday, Ban Ki-Moon took things up a notch and wrote formally to Solana and Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, asking them to help organise a European force for Congo. The Belgians have decided to make one more push at the foreign ministers' meeting tomorrow.

We're helping to organise a symbolic protest outside this meeting in Brussels, and sending briefings, poll results and ads to government contacts - doing everything we can to get the message through. We'll keep you posted...

The ad below ran in the European Voice, the main EU newspaper in Brussels, on 4 December:

These ads ran on 5 December 2008 in De Morgen and La Libre Belgique in Belgium:

The ad below ran, full-page black and white, in the swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheters (4 December, 2008). Click here to download a high resolution pdf

The ad below ran, full-page black and white, in the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad (3 December, 2008). Click here to download a high resolution pdf

This morning we received a video appeal from Liberata Rumumba, a displaced woman in the Eastern Congo. She paints a terrifying picture of violence and pleads with us to help, stating that the only way to stop the bloodshed is by rapidly sending in European troops. Two top experts have concurred with her, warning that Congo looks frighteningly like Rwanda before the 1994 genocide and that only Europe can deploy a strong and neutral force fast enough to halt the terror. But European leaders are wavering as their council meeting approaches - we have just one week to persuade them to act.

We know how to do it -- last week, Avaaz ran a hard-hitting advertisement in The Times of London, pressing UK leaders to support a European force or risk responsibility for genocide -- their Africa minister called us immediately, and their position has shifted -- the UK has moved toward supporting a European force!

Now we need to take this effective ad campaign Europe-wide -- placing ads in influential newspapers in key deciding countries. The Times ad was paid for by 300 small donations from Avaaz members. If just 3000 of us donate in the next 48 hours we can run ads across Europe before it's too late. Full page ad prices vary across European papers from just 6,000€ ($8,000) in a major Brussels newspaper to 24,000€ ($30,000) in the top Spanish newspaper. Click below to watch Liberata's video appeal and please donate:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/congo_europe_must_act/

There are only days left to influence decision makers in Europe. Next week the agenda and positions will be determined for the European Union's Council of Ministers meeting on the 8th and 9th of December. If they fail to act now, the people of the Congo will have to wait months before the EU considers the issue again.

Our ad last week and a campaign by over 135,000 Avaaz members helped shift the British government, but we need another EU state to step up and lead the troop proposal. France will support it, but for historical reasons should not send troops. We are being told that Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain could be the key countries that tip the balance. We will start by placing ads in newspapers in those countries and in the European Voice in Brussels - the most widely read newspaper by European politicians - just as EU Ambassadors decide their positions on this issue.

The United Nations has agreed in principle on more peacekeepers for the Congo, but hasn't yet received any pledges, and Congolese people and experts agree that UN forces have completely failed to protect civilians and need European reinforcement. This week, 44 Congolese organizations signed a letter to European leaders asking them to send a new force. Their letter pleads:

"We have been abandoned. Who will protect us? Who will help us? ... with each day that passes, more and more people die... we, the civilian population, have been held hostage and caught between many lines of fire... save our lives now; otherwise it will be too late"

The horrors of the Congo crisis are a stain on the conscience of the world. But, if we act now, we can help move towards a more just and peaceful world--one where threats to human life anywhere are recognised as threats to us all. Follow the link to watch Liberata's video appeal and donate to help these desperate voices reach Europe's leaders:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/congo_europe_must_act/

PS: For a report on Avaaz's campaigning so far, see:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2

Liberata Rumumba is a displaced person from eastern Congo - in the video, she appeals to us to press our leaders to protect her fellow civilians there. You can donate to support our European ad campaign here. This video appeal was recorded by an Avaaz member in eastern Congo.

Goma, November 18, 2008

Dear Excellencies,

As the representatives of Congolese non-governmental organizations in North Kivu, we come before your authority to request an immediate reinforcement of peacekeeping forces for the Democratic Republic of Congo, reinforcements that would be capable of protecting us. This would help to prevent the atrocities that continue to be committed against civilians on an ever greater scale here in North Kivu, on the border of Rwanda and Uganda.

This letter presents a sad, cynical, tragic and very frustrating situation, which reveals the misery in which the population of North Kivu are immersed. We are anxious, afraid and utterly traumatised by the constant insecurity in which we live. We don't know which saint to pray to; we are condemned to death by all this violence and displacement. We have been abandoned. Who will protect us? Who will help us? The United Nations says that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, but our dignity and our rights are violated every day with hardly a cry of protest. Do we not deserve protection? Are we not equal to others?

Read more "Call for Help from Congo" »

The ad below ran, full-page black and white, in today's The Times of London newspaper (17 November, 2008). Click here to download a high resolution pdf

The people of Congo need our help. In recent weeks over 200,000 people have been driven from their homes, and murder and rape are rife. The United Nations peacekeeping mission to Congo has not intervened to protect civilians. As this email is sent, families are running for their lives, stuck between the brutal violence of both the rebels and the Congolese army, without food or shelter - their only refuges are crowded camps which now face epidemics of disease. This is a human tragedy of unimaginable proportions. But European foreign ministers meeting earlier this week said it's too early to act.

Europe can deploy a well-equipped protection force to be on the ground in two weeks - no one else can get such a capable presence in that fast. If Europe sent a neutral force to the region and helped put real pressure on Congo and neighbouring countries with UN and African officials, this humanitarian crisis could be addressed and a lasting peace made possible. This tough crisis will not be solved militarily but civilians desperately need protection now, and proper European engagement could help tackle the root causes.

The lesson of Rwanda was to step in before it's too late -- Europe's politicians seem to have forgotten that. The people of eastern Congo need us now. Send a message to your leader and forward this email to friends and family-- we'll also place our message in newspapers around Europe. The situation is deteriorating by the day. The more messages that the European leaders receive this week, the more they will feel that their citizens and people around the world expect them to respond and protect the Congolese people. Follow this link to send your message now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/european_action_on_congo/

The recent clashes between General Nkunda's militias and the Congolese army are the latest in a place where the population has been attacked and terrorised for years by armed groups. Over five million people have been killed. It's been termed 'Africa's world war', with Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia all getting involved. The fighting is fed by a lethal war economy based on the extraction of minerals such as coltan, cobalt, diamonds and gold, to which we're all connected through the worldwide market.

Allegations abound of Angolan and Zimbabwean troops fighting alongside the Congolese army -- Congolese army soldiers committing atrocities and working with militias including the Rwandan Hutu Forces, some of whose leaders were responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide -- and the Rwandan army supporting General Nkunda to muscle the Congolese government to fulfill its commitment to demobilise these same Hutu militias. So it is no surprise that African-only diplomacy is faltering.

The United Nations mission (MONUC) is in Congo to keep the peace between this web of armed groups, but recently it has made clear statements that it cannot protect civilians. We have heard reliably that MONUC are desperate for a rapid EU bridging force to do what they can't and start restoring international legitimacy, which has been lost through overstretch and perceptions of taking sides -- UN troops have fought alongside the Congolese army and are even accused of sheltering pro-government militias.

To have a credible and effective force the United Nations mission will soon have to be reformed and redeployed. In the longer term, the international community needs to be a strong and honest broker to ensure implementation of peace agreements and confront the underlying issues feeding this war. If Europe sends a short-term, neutral force to the region now to protect civilians, it can start to change the terms of this brutal game -- providing a basis both to defend the defenceless and to apply political leverage to all sides. Click below to send a message asking your own country's leader to support action now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/european_action_on_congo/

We cannot let the best chance to stop the terror in Congo slip by as European leaders turn their backs. Congo needs concerted engagement now. Europe is providing millions in aid to Congo and Rwanda to ensure reconstruction and development, but without a more forceful and permanent push, there will be no peace to keep.

Let's flood European leaders with requests for firm action. Send a message and please send it to your friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/european_action_on_congo/

Sources:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5126970.ece

http://www.monuc.org/news.aspx?newsID=18960

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/10/congo-kiwanja-un-goma-angola-laurent-nkunda-war-crimes-fighting

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/congos-tragedy-the-war-the-world-has-forgotten-14023616.html

http://www.monuc.org/news.aspx?newsID=18996

http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/081107_Mulet.doc.htm