Kinshasa (Fides Service) - Some eight thousand Mai Mai warriors, accused of cannibalism have been disarmed by the government authorities in Katanga province in southern Congo. Four factions of the main Mai-Mai groups led by a man called Makabe, agreed to disarm. Each Mai-Mai group comprises about 2,000 men operating in the areas of Kabongo and Bunda about 400 km north west of the provincial capital Lubumbashi.
The Mai Mai tribal warriors support the government of Democratic Congo in the civil war that broke out in 1998 and has killed more than 2 million. Involved in the war there are a number of different Congolese factions as well as troops from neighbouring countries, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi which support anti-government rebels and Angola and Zimbabwe which support the army. All the militia groups have been accused of committing acts of cannibalism. A few weeks ago (30 January 2003) Fides Service reported that rebels led by Jean-Pierre Bemba had been accused of cannibalism in the area of Butembo Beni. The paradox is that that cruelty which seemed a thing of the past such as cannibalism continues to exist along side economic interests linked with modern industry, such as that of cell telephones, which need coltan indispensable for these sophisticated apparatus. The so-called civilised world, main beneficiary of Congo's riches, cannot turn a blind eye to the tragedy of this country too rich in resources and too big to be left in peace. Responsibilities must be shouldered, as the Catholic Bishops of Democratic Congo have said in a statement already given by Fides Service see www.fides.org . Those responsible are certainly the men who committed the crimes, but are there not other indirect responsibilities? Who finds it convenient for Africa to stay like this? Lastly, is there all that difference between African cannibalism and Stalin's gulags or the Nazi's concentration camps? LM (Fides Service 20/2/2003 EM lines 23 Words: 328)