Dated July 23, 2010 / Made public November 11, 2010
Democratic Republic of Congo
Province Orientale
Ango Territory
Subject: A Cry for Help
To His Excellency, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Kinshasa
To His Excellency, the President of the United States of America
Your Excellency,
We are honored to communicate our cry for help, the subject of this letter, and we bring to your attention the conditions our population is subjected to in Ango territory.
Your Excellency, since March 2009, Ango territory has been attacked by rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), first in Banda, the largest village in the chiefdom of Mopay, on March 15, 2009. After that attack, there have been several attacks in Dikuma, Esse, Botologi, Dungbayi, Dakwa, Zengbe, Loy, Epi, Bayuk, Disolo, Lolo, Banudanga, Bayangala, Bandudi, Digba, Sukadi, Gwane, Makolongbo, Matundi, Nambala, Liassa, Passi, Longondo, Samurungu, Bolopo; the statistics show that each place [was attacked] a minimum of one time and a maximum of seven times.
Your Excellency, it is unacceptable for us to see our young women raped, in the presence of their brothers, and for our women to be killed if they refuse to be raped.
Your Excellency, these rebels force children to kill with clubs. Tell us, if a boy of 12 to 14 years old has already killed more than 50 people, what will be his future and the future of Congo? No, Your Excellency.
This must cease, and it is your obligation to protect us from these criminals. To date, more than six hundred people already have left the bush [in Ango territory, after being abducted by the LRA] with no psychological or socioeconomic assistance for all these afflicted people, some of our compatriots are still detained by the Ugandan LRA rebels, and more than 250 have been killed in our wooded savannahs.
Your Excellency, can we still speak about our flora and fauna? Why even today isn't the station in Digba properly equipped? With only two weapons, the park rangers, that is to say the hunting guards, have used force to defend Digba, for example.
Your Excellency, our territory is completely cut off, with no roads, no banks, no telephones or internet networks, nor a single luxury for us. Who can connect us to the outside world if it's not you, your Excellency? Why can't you install a community radio for us, your Excellency?
Since March 15, 2009 [the date of the first LRA attack in Bas Uele, in Banda town], we have not seen any delegations, not from the Bas Uele district administration, nor from Province Orientale, let alone from the central government! Why this lack of interest in us?
Who will console us for our dead, for our disappeared children, for our abandoned villages and for our abandoned land, and also for the refugees who are in Sudan and the Central African Republic? Your Exellency, what is also serious, is that none of the Zande people live in an area which borders with Uganda, so why are we being killed, raped, pillaged, displaced and forced to flee?
Your Excellency, is this a case of genocide, against the Zande people of the Congo, CAR, and Sudan? The international community should pay close attention to this phenomenon. This is our cry for help to the entire international community. The danger is here, and it should be stopped. If his Excellency, President Obama, can assist us, as he promised on the radio when he said that he wanted to put an end to all the senseless fratricidal wars that ravage the African continent, we would be grateful to him.
MONUSCO should send a team to Sukadi, Ango and Banda to allow the humanitarian agencies to set up there.
Your Excellency, under the five work programs of the republic, nothing is being done in Ango, yet in other more distant parts progress is taking place. We implore you to bring security and stability which we hope can be the basis for all development.
Long live the active forces of Ango
Long live the territory of Ango
Written in Ango, July 23, 2010
Oscar MUZI SASA, President of the displaced persons union in Ango
David BIZAKPA
Victor SILIHE ZAINO
Nathan ANIHIDIE-KUMBOGOLI
Noé TANIWIA-GBIAKOWE
Aaron PANGEYO-MISSO
Pasteur SANANGO-BALANGITI
Lambert DULAKABA CZEAT
YUSUFU, Président of AVSR
KUBAYO-JOHN, Secretary of AVSR
