Vigil for 10 Million Congolese killed for minerals
Belgian Embassy, London. Wed 17 Jan 2018
Protesters hold posters opposite the Belgian Embassy and expalin why
they protest
Belgium was the harshest of the colonising powers, with King Leopold
ordering the death of 10 million Africans
Ten million have also died this century as fighting continues while
mining companies take vital mineral from the
country, including Coltan. Every mobile phone, laptop and other smart
devices need the minerals from the Congo
and Western policies continue to murder Africans to obtain them cheaply.
Patrice Lumumba, the first elected President of the Congo was killed
only a few months after independence
along with his colleagues Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo. The order
to 'eliminate' him was given to the
CIA by US President Eisenhower, and the made several unsuccesful plots.
In the end it was Belgian and Katangan officers who shot the three
men on January 17th 1961, dismembering their
bodies and then dissolving the parts in an acid bath provided by the
CIA. 'Genocide is the real price of I-phones'
You can just see the protesters reflected in the shining brass embassy
nameplate
Although there were only a small group present opposite the embassy,
the protest was being live-streamed to
thousands in the Congo and Congolese around the world - as well as
to the few who walked past - and a few stopped to listen
The protest paused while the speaker changed batteries and I took
advantage of this to photograph some of the other posters.
Apple - and other hi-tech companies rely on Congo's minerals for their
wealth - and Western governments and some
companies keep the kind of violence that killed Lumumba, Okito and
Mpolo going to retain cheap access to the essential minerals.
Africa is the richest continent in terms of mineral wealth, but continues
to be looted. COngo is the poorest country in the world.
and others profit from its wealth, while many Congolese are killed
or starve or die through lack of medical facilities.
The speech continues
a building worker - one of many in the area - walks by
At the end of the event the group posed for one of them to take pictures
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