The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman. Since 1998 over five million people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of women and children have been raped and murdered. For thirteen years, rape has been used as a weapon of war.

 In 2006 the United States government passed Public law 109-456 which called for the nation to take an active role in the Congo.  Although this law expired January 2012, it was never fully enacted. In Public Law 109-456, Rwanda is explicitly named a responsible party for the instability in the Congo. This law calls for disarming s and demobilizing the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. Additionally the law states, that, “the secretary of state is authorized to withhold assistance made available under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 other than humanitarian, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism assistance, for a foreign country if the Secretary determines that the government of the foreign country is taking actions to destabilize the Democratic Republic of the Congo”. Yet in 2008 alone, as disclosed by an embassy official in Kigali, we gave Rwanda 7 million dollars in military aid.

 This past July, the U. S State Department issued a statement that it would withhold $200,000 in military aid to Rwanda. While we applaud this step, we call on you to do more. Compared to the 7 million dollars given to Rwanda in 2008, this cut is not nearly enough. It should not take seven years for a law to be implemented, when women and children are being raped and killed every day. The innocent people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo don’t have seven years. The M23 rebel group is responsible for the latest violence and they are being supported by the Rwandan government.

We are asking you not only to follow through on the statement you made in July, but also withhold all non-humanitarian aid to Rwanda. Over the last six months at least 400 women have been raped. How many more people need to die before meaningful action is taken?