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The Congo Memory Institute (CMI) seeks to create an open archive
of written and oral memories of atrocities committed in the
Congo region before, during and after European colonization,
provide forums for people to record and share their memories
with others, with a special focus on those living in the Congo,
and to nurture a shared dialogue for local, state and foreign
actors to build a collective memory from which to redress past
wrongs by reforming institutions and cultures of oppression.
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CMI’s archives will provide a rich source
from which others can draw from to address the current problems
facing the region. Before a new political culture and relations
with foreign...
Click here to read more
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A reoccurring pattern throughout Congolese history has been
an unwillingness or inability by successor governments to
address the past.
Every attempt by the sovereign power to record abuses
has failed or been subverted:
- 1897 – King Leopold II created a ‘Commission for the
Protection of the Natives’ to inform the Governor-General
about alleged violations: it reported nothing;
- 1904/5 – King Leopold II set up a Commission that
confirmed accusations contained in Roger Casement’s report,
but nothing was done to remedy the situation for victims;
- 1908 – The Kingdom of Belgium inherited a scarred
colony, yet made no serious efforts to establish a credible
account of King Leopold’s reign;
- 1960 – In the rush for independence, the new Lumumba
government did little to document and learn from the past by
acknowledging abuses, establishing individual
responsibility, reforming abusive systems and institutions,
or initiating programs to commemorate the oppressed;
- 1991 – The National Sovereign Conference sought to
review Congolese history, but no findings were ever
publicised;
- 2002 – The power-sharing deal included a truth and
reconciliation commission created as one of the institutions
to support democratic change. It never completed its work.
Click here to read more
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CMI issues a position on the UN Security Council
Resolution 2348: a paradigm shift for civilian
protection in the DRC and a turning point for the future
of MONUSCO |
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| Archives of the former National Parks of Belgian
Congo: The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
(RBINS) and the Royal Museum of Central Africa opens up
its archives pertaining to the the management of the
national parks of Congo. In order to repatriate the
materials related to several scientific missions that
were organized between 1925 and 1960 by the Institute of
the National Parks of Belgian Congo, a digitization of
these collections started in 2003 and will be
transferred to the Congolese Institute for Nature
Conservation (ICCN). Collections digitized so far are
accessible on the following website:
http://www.apncb.be |
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| How Belgian Colonization is presented in the school
curriculum of Young Belgians:
http://www.cliohres.net/books/6/Vanthemsche.pdf |
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New revelations in the murder of Independence leader
Patrice Lumumba: British Consul in Kinshasa between 1959
to 1961admits that MI6 organized the elimination.
Read:
Telegraph.co.uk article or
Guardian.co.uk article |
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| Congo Memory Institute welcomes the appointment of
Mary Robinson as UN Special Envoy in the Great Lakes
Region. Download Press Release |
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| Finding a Lasting Solution to Instability in The
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Johnnie Carson,
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs,
Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, February 11,
2013:
http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/rm/2013/204511.htm |
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CMI founder and director, Olivier Kambala cogitates
prospect of reconciliation in the DRC and tables on the
need for a civic pact and pledge to stop abuses against
civilian populations and to reform abusive institutions,
including the security sector: Is reconciliation in the
DRC a mirage
http://reconciliationbarometer.org/newsletter/volume-ten-2012/democratic-republic-of-congo-is-reconciliation-a-mirage/ |
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Rainforest riches a curse for civilians in northeast
DRC and the following link to the story:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97314/Rainforest-riches-a-curse-for-civilians-in-northeast-DRC |
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| CMI first report: “50 years of United Nations
Peacekeeping Assistance in the DRC”.
Download the report |
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After a field trip in the eastern DRC, Adam
Hochschild - CMI Trustee – releases an article in The
Atlantic, titled “the Trial of Thomas Lubanga”. Adam’s
opinion on one of the ongoing trial at the International
Criminal Court epitomizes the challenges related to
coming to term with mass atrocities in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Click here to read more:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/hochschild-war |
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E. Efinda has published
in 2009 a book titled /« Grands Lacs : sur les routes
malgré nous/ », in which she depicts her recollection of
ordeal her families went through after the attacks in
the Eastern DRC in 1996.
Although a personal/individual memory, her book is
actually the first book attempting to establish
collective memories of events which occured in 1996.
She gives an exclusive interview to Congo Memory
Institute.
Available in French only. |
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| Olivier Kambala writes:
"Lifting a
nation from its heart of darkness" |
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CMI Trustee, Adam Hochschild, releases an article in
the New York Review of Books titled "Rape of the Congo".
Click here to read more |
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Yale University - Genocide Studies Program:
http://www.cis.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/
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