 "Photo: Erik Reyna/The Daily Texan")
Despite peace treaties ending the Second Congo War in 2003, violence and the recruitment of child soldiers for militant groups persist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said a Congolese human rights activist Monday.
Murhabazi Namegabe, the director of the Volunteer Office in the Service of Children and Health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, addressed UT students on the plight of child soldiers in the country in a lecture organized by The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice Happy Hour Speaker Series.
Although the country signed an agreement at a U.N. convention in 2002 that makes it illegal to recruit child soldiers, militant groups and the army continue capturing children and training them to act as soldiers in the region’s politically charged conflicts, Namegabe said.
“Since 1960, the year of independence, we have had generations that don’t know what human rights are,” he said through comparative literature graduate student Daniel Kahozi Migumbu, who translated Namegabe’s lecture from French to English. “In the context of conflicts, when you are talking about human rights, you are talking about a life-or- death issue.”
Namegabe and the Volunteer and Service Learning Center office are dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of children who have been taken hostage by militant groups and forced to be soldiers, sometimes from ages as young as five. They work to negotiate with warlords and help reunite rescued children with their families.
Namegabe’s work was recognized The Rothko Chapel, a Houston social justice center, with the Oscar Romero Award.
The award is given every other year to a human rights activist in memory of Romero, an assassinated El Salvadorian Archbishop and activist. Human rights groups throughout the world nominated 17 individuals for the award, and a group of experts who reviewed the nominations selected Namegabe.
“We look for somebody who is an unsung hero, who is risking life and limb for human rights causes but hasn’t been recognized or honored,” said Emilee Whithurst, executive director of The Rothko Chapel. “We tried to find someone who is living the Romero legacy.”
Since 2000, more than 40,000 children have been rescued from armed forces in the region. However, despite successes, the crisis persists, and the organization’s work is still necessary to end the recruitment of child soldiers.
“Yesterday, when I was getting the Oscar Romero Award in Houston, I received word that 13 more children were rescued,” Namegabe said.
He encouraged the students at the lecture to alert Congress of their interest in fighting the child soldier crisis and commended the American media for its involvement with the conflict. However, he said there is much more to be done, and the nation cannot fight the crisis on their own.
“I believe that you are going to run this country in the future,” Namegabe said to the attendees. “Maybe you will remember that one day you met someone who told you that there are still 60 million people who live in the Congo in this situation, and you will be willing to help them."
Be the first to comment on this article!