sunlit_music | Help stop violence in Congo

Hi all,

There is a campaign from Avaaz organisation (an online organisation that focuses on social justice issues) urging European leaders to support the immediate deployment of a European peacekeeping force to war-torn Congo. This is a really important issue, and I recommend taking action (either through donations or posting about this in your blog) -- click the link below to see a direct appeal from Liberata Rumumba, a displaced woman from the Congo and donate. Read the email in italics I've pasted in below which explains more:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/congo_europe_must_act/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK

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This morning we received a video appeal from Liberata Rumumba, a displaced woman in the Eastern Congo. She paints a terrifying picture of violence and pleads with us to help, stating that the only way to stop the bloodshed is by rapidly sending in European troops. Two top experts have concurred with her, warning that Congo looks frighteningly like Rwanda before the 1994 genocide and that only Europe can deploy a strong and neutral force fast enough to halt the terror.(1) But European leaders are wavering as their council meeting approaches - we have just one week to persuade them to act.

We know how to do it -- last week, Avaaz ran a hard-hitting advertisement in The Times of London, pressing UK leaders to support a European force or risk responsibility for genocide -- their Africa minister called us immediately, and their position has shifted -- the UK has moved toward supporting a European force!

Now we need to take this effective campaign Europe-wide -- starting by placing ads in influential newspapers in key deciding countries. The Times ad was paid for by 300 small donations from Avaaz members. If just 3000 of us donate in the next 48 hours we can run ads across Europe before it's too late. Full page ad prices vary across European papers from just 6,000€ ($8,000) in a major Brussels newspaper to 24,000€ ($30,000) in the top Spanish newspaper. Click below to watch Liberata's video appeal and please donate:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/congo_europe_must_act/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK

There are only days left to influence decision makers in Europe. Next week the agenda and positions will be determined for the European Union's Council of Ministers meeting on the 8th and 9th of December. If they fail to act now, the people of the Congo will have to wait months before the EU considers the issue again.

Our ad last week and a campaign by over 135,000 Avaaz members helped shift the British government, but we need another EU state to step up and lead the troop proposal. France will support it, but for historical reasons should not send troops.(2) We are being told that Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain could be the key countries that tip the balance. We will start by placing ads in newspapers in those countries and in the European Voice in Brussels - the most widely read newspaper by European politicians - just as EU Ambassadors decide their positions on this issue.

The United Nations has agreed in principle on more peacekeepers for the Congo, but hasn't yet received any pledges, and Congolese people and experts agree that UN forces have completely failed to protect civilians and need European reinforcement. This week, 44 Congolese organizations signed a letter to European leaders asking them to send a new force. Their letter pleads:

“We have been abandoned. Who will protect us? Who will help us? ... with each day that passes, more and more people die… we, the civilian population, have been held hostage and caught between many lines of fire… save our lives now; otherwise it will be too late”(3)

The horrors of the Congo crisis are a stain on the conscience of the world. But, if we act now, we can help move towards a more just and peaceful world--one where threats to human life anywhere are recognised as threats to us all. Follow the link to watch Liberata's video appeal and donate to help these desperate voices reach Europe's leaders:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/congo_europe_must_act/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK

With hope,

Ricken, Alice, Iain, Pascal, Paul, Graziela, Luis, Paula, Ben, Veronique, Milena -- and the rest of the Avaaz team

PS: For a report on Avaaz's campaigning so far, see:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2

PSS: Here are the sources for this alert:

[1] http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2428031.htm
[2] http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44605
[3] http://www.avaaz.org/blog/en/w/pascal/2008/11/call_for_help_from_congo.php
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