GOMA, Congo – US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said yesterday more must be done to protect civilians from violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the army is engaged in a string of conflicts.
Mrs Clinton spoke in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, which aid groups say is the most dangerous place on earth for women and children. She urged President Joseph Kabila to crack down on violence against women.
“We are very concerned about civilian casualties, both deaths and rapes, and other injuries from the military action,” she said.
Mrs Clinton, who made raising awareness of violence against women a priority during her visit, met victims of sexual violence and urged Congo and the United Nations to punish perpetrators.
“The atrocities that so many have suffered distil evil into its most basic form,” she said. “Those who attack civilian populations using systematic rape are guilty of crimes against humanity.”
After meeting Mr Kabila, Mrs Clinton visited Mugunga, a camp for displaced people outside Goma where about 18,000 people have sought refuge.
“I told President Kabila we want to help end the violence so that you can go home,” she told Chantal Mapendo, head of a women’s group in the camp.
Mrs Clinton is on a seven-nation, 11-day trip to Africa. After visiting Goma, she was due to head for Nigeria where the focus will be on fighting corruption, a main theme of her trip.
An apparent translator’s slip left Mrs Clinton fuming after she thought she was being sidelined in favour of her husband.
During the visit, a student attempted to ask about President Obama’s views on a multi-billion-dollar Chinese loan to the central African country. This got changed into a question about former president Bill Clinton’s opinion on the matter. It resulted in a sharp response from a clearly rattled Mrs Clinton.
It is uncertain whether the French-speaking student or the translator was to blame for the confusion.
Either way it led to a clumsy rewording of the original question: “What does Mr Clinton think through the mouth of Mrs Clinton?”
Mrs Clinton glanced at the mediator at the QA session with an apparent look of disbelief before blasting the student. “Wait, you want me to tell you what my husband thinks?” she asked, adding: “My husband is not secretary of state, I am.”
Gesturing toward the questioner, Mrs Clinton said: “If you ask my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channelling my husband.” – (Reuters)