From: "James Ololo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 5:51 AM
Subject: [panafricanistforum] Beaten, stripped and humiliated online - an
African minister's welcome to the UK
· Congolese dignitary 'waited hours in hospital'
· Photographs of stolen clothes posted on internet
Audrey Gillan, Hugh Muir and David Pallister
Friday October 13, 2006
The Guardian
The Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential chief
of staff Leonard She Okitundu blames supporters of the
opposition for attacking him and posting pictures of
his personal effects on the internet. Photograph:
Martin Argles
A senior member of the Congolese cabinet was attacked
in London by a gang who beat him around the head and
body with a baseball bat, stripped him and posted
pictures of his clothes on the internet.
Scotland Yard last night launched an investigation
into the assault on Leonard She Okitundu, the chief of
staff to Joseph Kabila, the president of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, amid questions over why
a foreign dignitary should be so vulnerable. The
politician was left in the A&E of the Middlesex
Central hospital with no trousers, covered in a
blanket. "The police didn't seem to care. No one
helped me and I was naked, that would never happen in
my country," he said.
Article continues
"I wasn't seen by a nurse for two hours and not by a
doctor until 2am. I explained that I was a VIP ... but
no one cared to give me a pair of trousers. The
Foreign Office have done nothing to help me."
Mr Okitundu believes the humiliation was orchestrated
by Mr Kabila's enemies in London. He was due to appear
on the Original Black Entertainment TV channel when he
and two colleagues were assaulted by more than 20 men
outside its studios in Park Royal, north west London.
His clothes were forcibly removed and his briefcase,
containing passport, money and credit cards, as well
as official papers, were stolen. His attackers posted
pictures of Mr Okitundu's monogrammed suit, his Mont
Blanc pen and the business cards of the MPs and
officials that he had met that day, as well as condoms
that were in his pocket. His underpants were captured
on a cameraphone turned inside out.
Mr Okitundu told the Guardian: "I left the Foreign
Office and went to the television station and the
people were waiting for us in the car park. I didn't
even have time to open the door of the car before
people attacked me with baseball bats.
"They pulled me out of the car to beat and kick me.
They took my jacket and my trousers, my shirt and my
pants. Then they dragged me and left me lying naked."
A Foreign Office spokesman said President Kabila was
informed of the incident by British diplomats in DRC.
"We were on the phone very quickly and explained what
happened." He added that the FCO could have arranged
for security to accompany Mr Okitundu's party but were
never asked.
Mr Okitundu went to hospital with the two other
victims, former ambassador Henri Nswana and his
party's UK chairman, Placide Mbatika. He was in London
visiting the all-parliamentary group of the Great
Lakes Region of Africa as well as the Foreign Office.
He had been discussing the recent elections in the DRC
in which President Kabila won 45% and his rival, the
former rebel leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, polled just
20%. The two are due to face each other again in
another presidential election on October 29. Mr
Bemba's supporters accuse Mr Kabila of being a puppet
of the west and other foreign agencies. The majority
of Congolese expatriates in London support Mr Bemba.
Albert Mukendi of the group Congolese Rights said the
attack and humiliation of Mr Okitundu was "a very bad
thing". But he added: "People are not happy about him
being here. Many Congolese here do not like Kabila."
Philippe Mandangi, a London spokesman for the
opposition UDPS party said: "The situation is very
tense here in the UK and people are very angry."
Mr Okitundu said his attackers shouted that he was
working for the Rwandans and that they would kill
anybody who obstructed Mr Bemba. "This is part of
their campaign to sabotage President Kabila's
presidential campaign. To my knowledge, these people
didn't act of their own will. They have been told to
do it."
A spokeswoman for the Central Middlesex Hospital said
Mr Okitundu was "treated appropriately in a consulting
room".
Eric Joyce, chair of the all-parliamentary group, met
Mr Okitundu on Wednesday. He said: "It is shocking. I
presume it was the diaspora who are loyal to Bemba."
Backstory
The Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Belgian
colony ruled and looted for many years by President
Mobutu Sese Seko, is striving to recover from a
devastating five-year civil war which cost an
estimated 3m lives, many from starvation and disease.
The population now stands at 55m. The conflict pitted
government forces, supported by Angola, Namibia and
Zimbabwe, against a multitude of rebel militias backed
by Uganda and Rwanda. Much of it was driven by the
desire to control the country's rich mineral
resources. With the largest UN peacekeeping mission
and widespread violence continuing in the east,
progress has been slow. A peace deal was agreed in
2003 and the country is now in the throes of an
extended election campaign that has been marred by
violence. In the first round of presidential elections
in July the current President Joseph Kabila took
44.81% of votes and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba
20.03%. The run-off second round takes place on
October 29
The DRC gained its independence in 1960. In 1965
Mobuto seized power and renamed it Zaire. He ensured
US backing by allowing the country to host operations
against Soviet-backed Angola. Rwanda invaded in 1997
in pursuit of the Hutu militias who had led the
horrendous massacres against their Tutsi rivals.
Emboldened by the invasion anti-Mobutu rebels marched
on the capital, Kinshasa, and installed President
Laurent Kabila. He was assassinated in 2001 and his
30-year-old son, Africa's youngest head of state.
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