Free French and Moland!

Today it’s a year and a half since Joshua was captured dramatically in Congo, and where he suffered torture and abuse the following days. A report he wrote about human rights violations the first months he was imprisoned were sent to the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. We haven’t heard anything from them.

When the two Norwegians were captured, abused, tormented, endured trials that were undignified farces in a country who wants to be a part of the world community, experienced one human rights violation after another, no Norwegian politicians spoke up on their behalf. Several people I know tried to get politicians involved, but for no use.

Now, this fall when it was mentioned that the two could be transferred to Norway to serve here, several politicians were suddenly very eager in the media with their views that the two Norwegian citizens had to be punished when they arrive in Norway. First of all they have no mandate to make statements regarding specific cases. Second of all one has to wonder why now all of a sudden it’s so important to speak about this case. Another matter has to be that they must certainly be some of the few people who haven’t followed the case in the media, and haven’t seen at least some of the injustice that has happened over the last year and a half. Even though the media has made a lot of mistakes and errors, I think it’s been very clear how for instance the trials worked and how the prison conditions are. Knut Moland has written something about this on one of his latest blogs.

It wasn’t very smart of the boys to go in to Congo. But we’ve all done things that aren’t so smart in our lives, and without having to go to prison for it, get numerous death sentences (they were also convicted of espionage in the last trial) and suffer a lot to different human rights violations and injustice.

Maybe it is an idea for our politicians to familiarize themselves in the case. The verdicts are on our website. Some of the human rights violations Joshua experienced can be found here, and other interesting thing under the headlines The Case and Articles.

Norway and Norwegian politicians are very engaged when it comes to human rights violations regarding non-Norwegian citizens in other countries. But what about two Norwegian citizens in Congo? Don’t they deserve to be included in this Norwegian interest and the work for human rights?  

On this sad day a stanza from a poem of Arnulf Øverland can be on its place:

“You Shall not accept so earnestly well, the injustice that doesn't happen yourself ".

Kari Hilde French, November 8^th 2010