| | | Hundreds of women were raped in their prison cells then burned alive in an escalating war in eastern Congo. Local faith leaders have had enough! They've launched a grassroots call for peace, and and they're asking for our help to get international backing. Sign now and local leaders from Goma will deliver the call for peace directly to top officials in key countries! | | | | | Dear friends, | | Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the last weeks as a vicious rebel militia captured Goma – a city of a million people in eastern Congo.
Militia members allowed a prison break, and escaped inmates raped hundreds of women in their cells then burned the prison down with them still inside.
This may be the most horrific atrocity yet in Congo's brutal conflict – and local faith leaders are risking their lives to speak out against the violence and launch a grassroots call for peace.
But they can't do it alone. They've asked for our help in pressuring key countries like the UK and France in Europe, along with regional players like Kenya and Angola, to back urgent talks. Local leaders from Goma will personally deliver our call to top officials starting this week -- so let's sign now! | | | | | For years, the M23 militia has waged a campaign of murder, rape, kidnapping, and looting. Even before the latest atrocity its soldiers had raped scores of women and girls. In 2022, they massacred 300 innocent villagers.
Experts say M23 is backed by Rwanda as part of a plan to annex parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Rwanda has denied it. But the governments of DRC, France, and the United States, as well as the UN, have publicly called on Rwandan leaders to stop supporting the rebels.
But neither the UN nor most Western governments have done anything more than ask politely.
Now the people of eastern Congo are taking it upon themselves to end the killing. Doing this is beyond dangerous – without international backing the negotiations could fail and the region could be plunged once again into senseless bloodshed.
Join the local leaders' call to governments in Europe and Africa to back their plan, support a ceasefire, and demand immediate access for humanitarian responders. | | | | The Avaaz movement has helped victims of war from Gaza, Ukraine, and Syria, to Myanmar, Sudan, and Yemen. All humans everywhere deserve to live in peace and we will not stop working for the day that they do.
With hope and determination,
Nate, John, Mo, and the rest of the Avaaz team | | | | | | |
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