Italiano

An appeal made by the priests of Rosolini (SR) to the Italian Government

Luca's light, our light.

We are aware of the darkness because there is also light and, certainly, that of Luca Attanasio, the Italian ambassador in the Democratic Republic of Congo who was killed together with the police officer Vittorio Iacovacci and the driver Mustapha Milambo, it was a light that was sober but full of life.

The testimonies heard in recent days in the media and those we have received from some communities in North Kivu, with whom we have maintained friendly relations for many years, are in agreement: everyone has experienced his constant commitment and caring for the Italians present in Congo and, above all, the attention, cultivated together with his wife, towards the weaker sections of the population, especially children.

For decades, there has been deep darkness in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Darkness has fallen over democracy, over rights, over the primary right to life, over essential rights such as health, food and education.

But above all, darkness has fallen over peace. 

The simple peace, which allows us to live on the little that we have, which brings dozens of smiling, shouting children together at the first rainfall.

Then there is the darkness of lies, especially in the West, where the conflicts are passed off as ethnic and tribal clashes, and are fuelled by ravenous neighbouring states, by unscrupulous multinationals, by governments that are open to all kinds of corruption; all interested only in robbing the enormous riches that this territory offers: gold, diamonds, coltan, zinc, uranium, silver, oil and much more.

But the consequences that are not shown or that, often, we do not want to see, are the river of blood that flows over these territories and the inexplicable suffering endured by the Congolese; a sort of side effect that is unanimously accepted, even by the UN, by European institutions and by international cooperation.

It is the darkness of indifference.

Today, Luca's flame has been extinguished, swept away by the same violence that we obstinately refuse to see, but the light has remained and, indeed, has become stronger.

We must all keep that light burning, or rather, we are that light, united by the determination and the will to show what the darkness covers, without filters or pretence.

In memory of Luca Attanasio and the millions of Congolese killed, we strongly request that the veils of hypocrisy and feigned compassion that hide the increasingly intolerable scandal of a population overwhelmed by violence and abuse be torn away.

We therefore make this appeal, first and foremost, to the Italian government, but also to the European institutions and the UN, in order:

• to take note of the failure of the United Nations peacekeeping mission and to act to change the rules of engagement, so as to make it a real peacekeeping force, capable of ensuring protection for the population and creating real stabilisation in the areas of greatest conflict, such as the Kivu region;
• to take decisive action to condemn and severely penalise the constant and targeted aggression by neighbouring states, eager to get their hands on so much wealth, especially Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, which, with strong international connivance, destabilise border areas, cause hundreds of thousands of people to flee and appropriate land and precious minerals;
• for the European Parliament to accept the motion for a resolution to take up the UN Mapping Report, more than ten years after its publication, so that its recommendations can be implemented and an International Criminal Court can be set up to enable the Congolese people to see the truth and justice restored regarding the many crimes that have bloodied their land;
• to ensure compliance with the law passed by the EU, which obliges companies to declare the origin of minerals that can fuel conflict and instability;
• to condemn and strongly and unhesitatingly oppose all forms of violence against women, in the knowledge that they are the main victims of territories in the hands of hundreds of gangs and mercenary groups, and that without them, family balances break down and communities disintegrate.

Supported and encouraged by our communities, we ask religious and political institutions, trade unions, movements, associations, parties and all the citizens of Europe and, indeed, of the entire world, to sign this appeal, so that the light may shine once again on the women, men and children of the Democratic Republic of Congo.