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The 29th World Congress of Public Services International (PSI), meeting in Durban, South Africa, on 27-30 November 2012, adopted the following emergency resolution:
For almost six months now, the Congolese people and the whole world have looked on powerless at the resumption of flagrant violations of human rights perpetrated by neighbouring countries disguised in the form of an internal rebellion.
NOTING THAT the rebellion is an expression of the secret ambitions of these countries to control the wealth of provinces that have been invaded or are being invaded and to continue with their daylight robbery in full view of the entire national and international community,
CONSIDERING THAT those who are backing this rebellion are using the legitimate wish to share power of a sector of the population to interfere in the country and destabilise it in order to satisfy their secret ambitions,
NOTING THAT this situation makes the life of the country’s workers worse, contributes to a deterioration of their living and working conditions and opens the way to further human rights violations, especially the kind of violations perpetrated against women in time of war,
EMPHASISING THAT disputes within the same population can be resolved through dialogue and that the government has already made a genuine offer to negotiate,
CONSIDERING THAT the failure to observe the agreements already signed between the rebels and the government have increased the resentment felt by the rebels,
URGES the Congolese government to do everything possible to resume the dialogue with the rebels and all political leaders as well civil society in order to avoid the country falling into chaos,
LAUNCHES AN URGENT APPEAL to all the rebels to accept dialogue without which they cannot succeed in achieving their legitimate aims because, even if they win the war, they will be forced to negotiate with the defeated party in order to legitimise a new government;
As a human rights defender, the PSI:
RECOMMENDS all its affiliates to strengthen their solidarity with the union SOLSICO and its members in North Kivu in order to help them endure their living conditions until the problem is completely resolved,
REQUESTS the United Nations to ask the countries implicated in this attack to abandon their despicable ambitions with regards to the Congolese people or risk finding their way blocked by affiliated workers in their own countries,
RECOMMENDS all affiliates and public sector unions in the Congo to mobilise to prevent this war.
See all Congress resolutions including the Program of Action and the Constitution.