UK funding violence in DR Congo

British media has once again imposed a news blackout on yet another protest staged by Congolese community in Britain against the Democratic Republic of Congo government and election-related violence occurring in the African nation.

More than one hundred Congolese protesters marched in Whitehall on Thursday, to voice their outrage against the silence of British government and media about Congo "corrupt election" results and mounting humanitarian crises in the country. 

While holding anti-UK government banners, the protesters condemned the coalition government and Prime Minister David Cameron for supporting a "genocidal regime". They also shouted against UK’s state-run TV BBC for turning its back on Congolese just because they are black. 

“Western injustice in Congo must stop”, “Cameron give DR Congo democracy a chance”, “War and murder in DR Congo all for your laptop and iphone,” the banners read. 

Over the past few years, Congo has faced numerous problems such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on for over a decade and left over 5.4 million people dead. 

Political observers also condemn UK’s silence about the crisis in Congo, stressing when it came to Syria, Libya or Egypt, the media was talking about it every day, but has turned a blind eye to the "Congo massacre". 

African critics believe that all killing in Congo will finance Britain and its allies with the minerals, and due to their business in the conflict-hit country they have preferred to keep silence. 

Congo is rich in diamonds, oil and minerals including tin, tantalum, tungsten which are widely used by the UK firms for producing mobile phones and laptops. The brutal way through which these materials are exploited, such as mass rape and the massacre of children, has led them to be dubbed as "blood minerals." 

Last December, hundreds of Congolese protested outside the Congolese Embassy in London in opposition to the re-election of President Joseph Kabila against long-time opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. They also expressed their outrage against the apparent lack of interest from the Western world and media over Congo’s corrupt situation.