Last September Congolese authorities told the Norwegian delegation who went to Kinshasa that the condition to get the Norwegians transferred to the capital and further negotiations was that Tjostolv and Joshua made a private arrangement with the widow. This was done and the last documents were delivered the Justice Department on December 10th 2010. There has been plenty of time to move the two to the capital and continue the negotiations to transfer them to Norway.
The reason they haven’t been transferred yet is apparently, according the information the Foreign Ministry has gotten, not be lack of money to pay for the boys’ and the guards tickets. There has been some confusion whether the Justice Minister would go to Kisangani with the transfer order or not. We’ve gotten some mixed signals about this. We’ve also heard that the Justice Minister has said that he and he alone decides where prisoners are imprisoned. Several requests from the Foreign Ministry/the embassy have not been responded, and promises made over several months have not been a reality. As far as I know Norway has nothing in writing from Congo. There is also a problem that the Central Government doesn’t have a lot of power in the provinces and it can easily become a power struggle.
It seems like the Foreign Ministry is working hard with the case at the moment.
There is nothing else to say than that Foreign Minister Støre and Norway have been made a fool of by Congolese authorities. At the same time Norway keep giving Congo more and more aid and have deleted their dept to Norway.
Sunday there was an attempted attack made against President Kabila in Kinshasa. It was very amateurish and the President wasn’t even at his palace. Six people were killed, and it shows that a stabile political situation easily can turn into chaos. The situation in Congo is generally labile and unpredictable. Joshua told me that the situation in the prison easily can get out of control and be dangerous for them. We can never be at ease that it will be somewhat quiet.
I have a few times contacted the Foreign Ministry with questions if they’ve tried every channel they have at their disposal in the Congo-case. The answer has been that they’ve used every relevant channel. That makes me wonder and I’ve come to a few conclusions:
a. Either Foreign Minister Støre, who has an international work background and who you’d think have some connections haven’t used all his relevant connections and followed up on these.
b. Or Støre and Norway has very little influence and power in international contexts and have very few relevant connections at their disposal. And those connections can’t be very influential or eager in this case.
Another aspect that I’ve wondered about is that those who have knowledge about Congo in the Foreign Department didn’t understand that this case needed to be at a much higher level at once and the need for strong political force from the beginning. I was at a couple of meetings in the Foreign Ministry in 2009 and I asked if they couldn’t ask Belgium for help. Even if Congo hasn’t been a Belgian colonial for 50 years, Belgium still has significant influence in the country. When Josh and Tjostolv were imprisoned in the small military prison in the beginning there was a Belgian in their cell. The Belgian Foreign Ministry/embassy got him out fast. I understood it as much that the Foreign Ministry sticks to a more ethical diplomatic line than the Belgians. So that was a channel they didn’t want to use. But, as I’ve pointed out to the Foreign Ministry it’s not more ethical to let two Norwegian citizens go through all they’ve been through, especially in 2009, with endless human rights violations, serious disease that nearly got fatale, court farces and all kinds of crap. And Congo isn’t exactly a country where ethic is highest on the scale of values and where “ethical diplomacy” is just laughed at.
My opinion is that with the exception of a few people in the Foreign Ministry/embassy who really do what they can for the two Norwegians, there hasn’t been a lot of interest at the top of the pyramid for the situation of the two Norwegian citizens. I have no doubt that a lot more could’ve been achieved if they really tried especially in the beginning.
In a country like Congo one has to use instruments one wouldn’t use in other countries.
Josh tells me that he and Tjostolv are now among the veterans in the prison. That means that they have some privileges like they (if they pay some money) don’t have to be locked in at 16.00 in the afternoons like before. Most of the other prisoners are locked in at that time. That means that there are a lot more space outside in the yard and they work out between 16.30 and 17.30 every day without all the shouting etc. After that they take a shower (behind a curtain. The shower consists of pouring water over them). This shower and some kind of a toilet next to it is for the privileged. Unfortunately they sometimes find out that someone has used the “shower” as a toilet as well.
Joshua has his clinic open every day. The conditions shift all the time. For instance, we had to smuggle in what he needed to the clinic. Now, the Congolese we pay can shop what’s needed and take it into the prison without problems. It’s cheaper when it’s done like this, rather than purchase what’s needed in Norway and smuggle it in to the prison. Both of them have done a lot to strengthen the general hygiene in the prison. They are both very good at keeping up the routines and the self discipline and do what they can to stay as healthy as possible.
So THANK YOU to all of you who have contributed to the “Inmate to Inmate” account. You have helped saving the lives of a lot, and help many who would struggle with their health and deceases. THANK YOU as well to all of you who have given and still give to Josh and Tjostolv’s support accounts. Without you we could never handle the huge financial burden we’ve had these 20 months. One of the reasons it’s so expensive is that they have to have “white” food otherwise they get sick.
Kari Hilde French, March 3rd 2011
