Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. The biggest problem in discussing a major issue such as this one is that people despair about it. The point was made that we had a situation where there was political agreement or that peace had broken out but we know from other areas throughout the world that peace is a process and is not something that happens overnight. That reinforces the view that it must be supported and worked upon. The last time I spoke to the witnesses many positive things were happening in the country. The takeover lately by the M23 rebel group is a major negative but positive things were happening within the country. Large areas of the country had some stability but it has moved on from that.

This issue must come down to the UN. There is a huge UN force in the country but its mandate does not cover this issue. I asked about the rapes on the previous occasion. Rape was taking place approximately 20 km from the UN force but the victims must go through the police first and the police have to ask them questions. By the time they get to the UN force, even if they go in, the awful atrocities have already happened in that area. I agree we must change the mandate but the worst thing that can happen is that we despair. Many positive things can be done.

In terms of all the players, the Chinese and the Americans are in the country. All the imperialists are there and they all have their fingers in different pies. They are all looking after their own resources in regard to this and the only stake we appear to have is that we want to help the people and ensure they are not exploited. That is the positive role we can play. There must be a role we can play whether it is in Europe, the UN or wherever but the mandate must change. We have seen the atrocities that happened in other regions in the past but I cannot get my head around the numbers involved here, namely, 5.4 million killed, 2.2 million displaced and the number of rapes. The numbers are too great. All the different aid organisations are working in that atmosphere and there is a responsibility on all of us not to despair and to realise there are solutions. The racists would say there is a role for the white man to move into the country and sort it out but we know from its history about the role of the white man, including King Leopold and the Belgians, in creating much of this conflict.