Svenska FN-observatören Zaida Catalán kidnappad i Kongo (hittad avliden) 2017-03-13

Mr. Kanku, the minister of development until he was fired this month, had close links to the militia fighters in the area
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Ms. Catalán kept 130 files in a folder on her computer under Mr. Kanku’s name. Among them was a recorded phone conversation in which he seems to discuss setting fire to a town in the region, Tshimbulu, with a subordinate. They talk about a successful jailbreak, targeted assassinations of a colonel and other officials, and general mayhem.

“We burnt Tshimbulu,” the subordinate is heard saying.

“It’s good that we burn everything; that is good news,” Mr. Kanku replies.

“The colonel is in his house, and we’re burning down the house so he burns to death,” the subordinate says.

Mr. Kanku asks: “Did you kill the colonel’s bodyguards?”

“Yes, we beat his bodyguards on the head with our batons,” the subordinate responds.

Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium attempted to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion

By the turn of the century, the violence used by Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and a ruthless system of economic exploitation

the interests of the government and of private enterprise became closely linked, and the state helped companies to break strikes and to remove other barriers raised by the indigenous population.[9] The colony was divided into hierarchically organised administrative subdivisions, and run uniformly according to a set "native policy" (politique indigène). This differed from the practice of British and French colonial policy, which generally favoured systems of indirect rule, retaining traditional leaders

By the 1950s the Congo had a wage labour force twice as large as that in any other African colony.[11]

continued involvement of Belgium in Congolese affairs, and the intervention by major parties (mainly the United States and the Soviet Union) during the Cold War led to a five-year-long period of war and political instability, known as the Congo Crisis

Zaida är jurist med en passion för att lära känna världen och bidra till förståelse för olikheter. Idag arbetar hon som Gender Expert för EUPOL COPPS i Palestina, med uppdrag att att öka förståelsen för vikten av jämställdhet i det palestinska rättsväsendet. Zaida har tidigare arbetat för EU i Afghanistan och i Demokratiska republiken Kongo med att utbilda rättsväsendet i genderfrågor, och innan dess inom politiken i Sverige.

https://www.fba-bloggen.se/author/zaida-catalan/