Keywords

United Nations

1.2

"Even though cruel crimes happen every day, the conscience of the world community remains untouched."

Sylvestre Bisimwa (investigator-in-charge, Bukavu / Berlin) was a lawyer in a mass rape trial committed by the Congolese army in the city of Minova. It is, at present, the only process of this kind. He acts regularly as lawyer for the International Court of Justice in Den Haag.

1.3

"Why is it surprising that state structures are disintegrating when corruption has become a national institution?"

Colette Braeckman (member of the jury, Bukavu / Berlin) is a correspondent for the Belgian newspaper Le Soir in Africa. She is an expert on the Congolese war, its history and the involvement of the European governments. Her books about the Mobutu-Era and the Congolese war are considered as standard works.

4.1

"MONUSCO has betrayed its mandate."

Witness J (witness, Bukavu) survivor of the Mutarule massacre.

4.2

"The government has not tried everything to stop these conflicts."

Christine Kapalata (witness, Bukavu) only 3 days after the massacre in Mutarule, she agreed to make a statement on behalf of the UNO-mission. At that time, she was the Chief of Political Affairs of the MONUSCO office in Bukavu. In this position, she was mediating between political leaders and ethnic communities.

4.4

"Mutarule is not the first case of inability, passivity and powerlessness of the UN mission."

Luc Henkinbrant (witness and expert, Bukavu) was the regional director of the MONUSCO-office in Bukavu until 2011. Currently, he works as a professor at the University of Bukavu, leading different research projects on the lack of law enforcement in this region.

4.5

"The UN is only as strong as its member states allow it to be."

Linda Polman (witness, Berlin) is one of the most dedicated critics of aid agencies and the peacekeeping missions of the UN (MONUSCO). She criticizes the negative impacts of the NGOs superficial help that prevent any political change in these countries.

4.6

"The outdated system of aid organizations leads to dependency and ignores sustainability."

Saran Kaba Jones (member of the jury, Berlin) founder of FACE Africa in 2009, an aid agency, providing several regions in Liberia with drinking water. The Guardian listed her as one of the 25 most successful women in Africa. The World Economic Forum in Davos has chosen her to be the Young Global Leader.

5.2

"The origin of evil is not in the Congolese state, but in the people themselves."

Marcellin Cishambo Ruhoya (witness and expert, Bukavu) was a political advisor to President Joseph Kabila. In 2006 he became governor of the province of South Kivu.

5.4

"The dream of dignity and respect for human rights is omnipresent."

Marc-Antoine Vumilia Muhindo (member of the jury, Berlin) is an author and director living in exile in Sweden. He was a member of the government of Kabila and a notable politician. In 2003 he was arrested, held responsible for the death of Laurent-Désiré Kabila and sentenced to death. A few years later he managed to flee the country.

5.5

"There is no clear differentiation between perpetrators, spectators and those who are indirectly involved."

Harald Welzer (member of the jury, Berlin) is a social psychologist, founder and director of the non-profit organization “Futurzwei”. He is an honorary professor at the University of Flensburg and an author (“Climate Wars").

5.6

"Too difficult, too complex, too complicated - 3 good reasons to turn a blind eye as a consumer."

Jean-Louis Gilissen (chairman of the Tribunal, Bukavu / Berlin) is an international criminal law expert. As a lawyer he took part in a trail against Congolese milita leaders at the International Court of Justice in Den Haag. Furthermore he was involved in the elaboration of an UN-report about Eastern Congo where the situation has been declared as “genocide”.

6.1

"The corporations that dominate this world have no interest in making human rights truly universal."

Jean Ziegler (expert) is a Swiss sociologist and one of the best-known globalization critics worldwide. He is a member of the advisory committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council and is a specialist in the role of the World Bank and the strategies of a consciously used "poverty policy".

6.4

"International companies want a weak government and a powerless local population."

Vénatie Bismiwa Nabitu (member of the jury, Bukavu) is a human rights activist from Bukavu (Province of South Kivu) and one of the most committed critics of the NGOs, the UN and the big multinational corporations in Africa. She specialized in the field of mass rapes as a war strategy and the continued existence of colonial structures in the current Congolese society.

6.6

"The competent authorities have not done anything against the extent of the problems, so they have to be replaced."

Jean-Louis Gilissen (chairman of the Tribunal, Bukavu / Berlin) is an international criminal law expert. As a lawyer he took part in a trail against Congolese milita leaders at the International Court of Justice in Den Haag. Furthermore he was involved in the elaboration of an UN-report about Eastern Congo where the situation has been declared as “genocide”.