Trudeau to be asked to take stand on violence in Congo

A group of Toronto residents concerned about deteriorating conditions in Congo is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the coming days to do more to stop violence in the central African country.

On Saturday, a meeting was held at the University of Toronto to discuss the situation in Congo. 

Dieudonne Kandolo, a lawyer and former prosecutor in Congo, said the country is a member of la Francophonie, a global group of 80 states from mainly French-speaking nations, and Trudeau made it clear on the weekend at its summit in Antananarivo, Madagascar that he wants to promote the rights of women within the organization.

• Trudeau promotes women's, LGBT rights at la Francophonie summit of French-speaking nations

"We want Canada to be sensitive to this issue," he said. 

Trudeau told la Francophonie that there is no excuse for violence against women and girls, female genital mutilation and lack of safe access to abortion.

Nathalie Kalambay, a Toronto resident of Congolese origin, said it is time for the Canadian government to act. She said the government is turning a blind eye to the violence against women in Congo, which includes rapes, sexual slavery and sexual abuse.

"Nothing has been done," she said. "Nobody is speaking up against it. This needs to stop."

Peter Dawson, a York University professor, said the country is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. 

"It's a disaster," Dawson said. "It's certainly represents a form a genocide. There is an epidemic that can easily be equated with an attempt to eradicate a large group of people and therefore certainly can be titled genocide."

Congolese President Joseph Kabila has announced that elections will be delayed until April 2018. Thousands of protesters accuse him of extending his mandate beyond the constitutional limit. 

Dawson said an estimated six to 12 million people have been killed in Congo in the past 10 years, an estimated 80 per cent of whom are women. He said the country has suffered unrest for about 200 years.

He said the deaths are having a devastating impact on the country, which has an estimated population of more than 81 million. He said the colonialism destroyed its cultures and the problems existing today are the aftereffect of colonialism, not a consequence of tribalism.

"It's a long history, a history that goes back to colonialism, a history that has roots in the invasion of what we refer to as the Congo by European powers, most notably, the Belgians, and in addition to which, also the French, also the English," he said.

"What we are seeing now has its roots in colonialism and its roots have then continued to grow, if I can use a metaphor, into a tree of death," he said.

"It's a crucial issue that needs to be addressed."

The group said the Canadian government could also do a better job of monitoring the activities of Canadian mines on Congolese soil.

Currently, Canada recommends against any travel to Congo due to the country's political instability.