Kinshasa (Fides Service) - "Everyone in Congo condemns cannibalism" says Bishop Melchisedech Sikuli Paluku of Butembo Beni who was among the first to denounce violence and cannibalism against Pigmy people on the part of militant rebels of the Movement for Liberation of Congo MLC led by Jean-Pierre Bemba. "We forcefully reject the crimes committed by these criminals. We are horrified because similar things have never been seen in this country, this was not a case of tribal rituals The worst thing is that these crimes foment racism which paints Africa and Africans as primitive beings. I would like to remind people that it is in the heart of man the evil is born: think of the Holocaust, the Gulags, scientifically planned crimes, the same horror, cowardly actions, only here in Congo the means used were rougher. The United Nations is investigating reports and terrifying testimony. It is affirmed that MLC warriors forced family members to eat their own relatives. A wife said she was made to eat the flesh of her husband. The UN is expected to present a report on these atrocities and we hope that the world will realise what is happening here: every day new crimes are discovered, like the common graves found recently near Mambasa, the city attacked by Bemba's militants."
"Cannibalism is not part of Congo's culture and this must be made clear" Fr Silvio, Xaverian missionary with years of experience in Congo, tells Fides Service. "I have just returned from that area" Fr Silvo says "and everyone I spoke to was horrified by these inhuman acts. It is true some older people remember that there was a tribal custom to eat a piece of the adversary's liver, it was thought to be a way to assume his power. But in the present case we see a desire to destroy the enemy, eliminate him from the face of the earth. In the West we are quick to think of barbarism. I would underline that Congo is living a civil war which has caused at least 2 million deaths; it is in this context where people lose their mind and all sense of ethics that the episode of cannibalism must be seen. I would add that this sort of news should make us reflect on the terrible evil of war which brings man to commit such atrocities".
"Acts of cannibalism committed by some Africans are certainly to be condemned" says Teresa Caffi of the Xaverian Fraternity in Parma who has worked for years with an aid programme for Congo, "but not much is said about Western cannibalism which feeds wars in order to exploit local African riches. From 2001 to today the UN has issued several reports denouncing this situation, with names of companies and individuals that rob Congo of its riches. But those who should intervene, the member countries of the UN Security Council, hesitate to take action on the grounds that they need more information".
And the war continues: Fr Silvio says: "According to recent reports from eyewitnesses, new supplies of arms have just arrived. The interests behind the war are still too strong: we wonder who pays for these weapons?" And Fides Service asks: "who is interested in exasperating people to the point of committing such atrocities, and who is interested in killing the dignity of persons to justify the exclusion and exploitation of entire peoples? If the same attention given to other international matters were given to the roots of Africa's ills would these acts have been committed? LM (Fides Service 30/1/2003)