Saturday marked Human Rights Day around the world, and here in Washington, DC two separate groups whose native homelands have been suffering from human rights abuses for several years brought attention to their plights with separate rallies in front of The White House.
Concerned Eritreans and Eritrean-American youth gathered in LaFayette Park across from The White House to remember their country's victims of human trafficking, those who find themselves in the refugee camps of Sudan and Ethiopia, prisons in Egypt and Libya and those who continue to be victimized by arbitrary detention, intimidation and violations of their human rights in Eritrea.
Several hundred members of the Congolese community rallied in spirited fashion to call for the Obama administration to pressure President Kabila to step down in wake of accusations of a fraudulent reelection last week. It is believed that ballot boxes were stuffed with votes for Kabila before voters hit the polls. It is also believe that several million people have been killed or injured over many years as many Congolese have fought to bring democracy to the Congo.
