CONGO: AIDS organisations call for compensation

On 10 September 2008, following the abusive and discriminatory remarks given by the morgue director in Pointe-Noire in Congo towards those living with HIV, people living with the virus and associations fighting against AIDS met with the town’s mayor to criticise the public abuse to which they were subjected.

Indeed, on 3 September the morgue director and town councillor publicly insulted people living with HIV/AIDS who were going to Adolphe Cissé hospital to support friends who were in a more critical state of illness as well as PLWHA had come for the food distribution programme. It would seem that the reason behind this is that a taxi had parked badly and held up traffic for a few minutes and thus prevented him from passing. The despicable abuse is said to have been hurled towards those living with HIV, even going so far as calling them the living dead who would become ice cubes in the morgue in the near future.

It is in this way that, in the spirit of the recommendations made in the workshop in Brazzaville on the rights of those living with HIV the previous May, in order to defend the rights of PLWHA who have been abused, associations fighting against AIDS and PLWHA are taking action to demand that justice be made.

In this way, a delegation of nearly eighteen people led by organisation leaders explained the facts to the mayor and presented their grievances to advocate for the fight against the discrimination and stigmatisation of people living with HIV.

Equally, they requested the support of the municipality so as to sensitise the authorities and organisations on the rights of those living with HIV.

The associations thank the mayor for having welcomed them and hope that a special meeting of the city council will be summoned so as to resolve this problem.

This action of defending the rights of those living with HIV is to once again encourage and underline the necessity of voting to protect of HIV sufferers and of reinforcing the actions of civil society as had been requested at the regional workshop on the rights of HIV sufferers in West and Central Africa organised by the organisation Réseau Sida Afrique.

Sylvie Niombo

Translated from French by Emma Nobes