DRC: Michaëlle Jean Arrives in Congo as Speculation Swirls Over Canada's Role

Date: 
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Source: 
The Globe and Mail
Countries: 
Africa
Americas
Central Africa
Congo (Kinshasa)
Congo (Kinshasa)
North America
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
Human Rights
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean arrived in Congo under heavy security Sunday amid indications Canada could take a leading role in the world's deadliest conflict since the Second World War.

Soldiers with assault rifles guarded a multitude of checkpoints for kilometres around the airport, in a country where armed rebels launched a deadly attack to temporarily overtake another airport just days ago.

More than 5 million people have been killed in a complex web of conflicts — commonly called Africa's World War — involving armies from several neighbouring countries, brutal militias, and the profits of the country's rich mining resources.

Officials say a decision is expected “within weeks” about whether Canada will take command of a UN peacekeeping force, and send more troops than its 12 soldiers currently there.

Fighters are mutilating women in vast swaths of a country frequently called the world's rape capital.

Rebels traffic minerals exported for use in cellphones around the world, which is prompting an international movement to create a labelling system for these resources as with so-called blood diamonds.

And the national government is making a painful transition to democracy in a country that has known only kleptocracy and brutality. Congo is struggling to prosecute rapists, treat civilians, and provide the infrastructure that would help secure the country and tap the resources in its soil.

One senior Canadian here insists the country is far better than it was a few years ago, and says Canada can help speed up that progress.

But Lt.-Col. Robert Cormier says there's no question about the challenges - which are different from the ones in Afghanistan, the current battle zone Canadians are most familiar with.

“Afghanistan is more dangerous (to soldiers) because of the Taliban's way of doing things,” Cormier said, referring to bombs targeting foreigners.

“But this is probably more complex.”

Cormier, who acts as a liaison between the UN and the Congolese army, said the mission is complicated by the country's enormous size, its central location in an unstable region, and its lack of roads, power, and infrastructure.

The Canadians here are working mainly on logistics and helping the Congolese military set up a legal system to prosecute human-rights offences.

Ottawa is now talking to the UN about the possibility of leading the 20,000-soldier mission, and providing a few dozen troops to support a new mission commander amid rampant speculation it could be Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie.

Any additional presence of combat troops is unlikely while Canada remains engaged in Afghanistan.

Cormier is unequivocal when asked whether more Canadians here might make a difference: “Yes,” he said.

“Canadians are well-trained, and Canadians deliver. When there's something to be done, they get it done. There aren't a lot of Canadians in the headquarters right now. But when they need something done, they turn to the Canadians.”

He dismissed suggestions Canadians would be unwelcome here, as white foreigners. With its many French-speakers and its absence of colonial baggage in Africa, unlike France and Belgium, he said Canadians get greeted warmly here.

Just as he makes the point a local walks up to him, motions to the Maple Leaf on his uniform, and gives him a high five as he says, “Canadien.”

The Governor General's arrival Sunday also had its warm moments, despite the tense security

A group of dancers waited under heavy rain to perform for Jean's delegation outside the airport. Curious onlookers lined the road for kilometres and waved as she passed. The crowds included little boys offering military salutes and half-naked toddlers. People crowded onto the balconies of buildings to wave from above.

“I can already feel the heat,” Jean told the country's prime minister after she stepped out from her plane, into the searing sun.

“Not just from the weather, but from the welcome.”

The Governor General will meet with peacekeepers and the country's leadership.

But the main focus of her trip will be violence against women.

She plans to discuss the country's rape epidemic in a speech to parliamentarians, and meet with abused women.

After a red-carpet greeting at the airport, she headed straight to a meeting with the UN special adviser on sexual violence.

Congo is the second stop on Jean's four-country African tour.

She arrived from Senegal, which is far more stable and prosperous.

While that West African coastal country struggles with endemic corruption and rights abuses, its president says things could be worse.

President Abdoulaye Wade noted that his country's per-capita income places Senegal two times higher than the internationally recognized poverty line. However, more than half the country's residents live below that $2-a-day level while a select few scoot around the capital in luxury vehicles.

“Senegal is not paradise. But it's also not hell,” Wade said as he bid Jean farewell at the airport.

“Perhaps I should say it's purgatory. But it's a first-class purgatory.”