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Action urged to end Congo violence
22.11.08
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Dozens of members of the Congolese community in Britain marched on Downing Street calling for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "act boldly and act decisively" to protect people at risk from escalating violence in the country.
Around 100 people gathered in London dressed in black to symbolise mourning for the 5.4 million people estimated to have died as a result of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998.
The protestors, who met on social networking site Facebook, were led by an 11-year-old Congolese girl - born in the UK - carrying a wreath of funeral flowers.
They marched from Marylebone to the Rwandan embassy where they laid the wreath before continuing on to present a petition.
The protest was organised by student group Save The Congo. Chairman Vava Tampa said: "The petition calls upon the prime minister to take certain steps in order to restore peace, security, justice and human dignity in Congo."
The petition, which was signed by more than 3,000 people, calls for "Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his government not to turn a blind eye to the ongoing military escalation in eastern Congo, mass displacement, humanitarian crisis, famine and the use of gang rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and young girls because of their ethnicity, political allegiance or simply to gain control of rich mining areas."
Mr Tampa added: "We cannot wait for another month or two months until the UN deploys the 3,000 peacekeeping force which they approved yesterday.
"The Prime Minister needs to take serious actions. He needs to act now, act boldly and act decisively.
"We need to start naming and shaming those responsible."
He added: "The UN and Congolese forces are unable to protect civilians so if the Prime Minister doesn't show leadership on this issue, then the Congo soon will witness the same violence and evil that swamped Rwanda."
