I am Giovanni Piumatti, a missionary priest fidei donum. I lived 50 years in North Kivu. Currently, I am in Pinerolo; for short periods I return to Butembo, Beni, Kimbulu, Lukanda. And Goma. I continue to maintain contact with the communities, in particular with students and teachers of the University of Butembo (Ucg).
The young Congolese are more than aware of the situation. Thirty years of war, which worsened in 2025. They feel and are powerless. They want to launch an appeal, a cry. They have written the text that I have attached. I’m the bridge, begging you to help those girls and boys and their country.
I am sending this appeal letter to the media and universities. It will be circulated further.
Thank you for your attention, Giovanni Piumatti piumgio@gmail.com
Appeal of the Congolese students to build together peace in the world and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
We, university students from Butembo-Beni, province of North Kivu (eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC), raise a cry of alarm. Aware of the challenges and problems related to peace and security in the world, we express our great fatigue and that of the Congolese people. For too long we have been attacked, massacred, killed, deprived of fundamental freedoms, and stripped of human dignity. We need peace.
We have been at war for more than 30 years. The war broke out before our generation. It has produced misery, millions of internally displaced people, and millions of deaths. The international community has been passive. The conflict threatens the sovereignty of DRC and our right to life. Children, women, and men are exposed to atrocities and all kinds of violence and human rights violations.
In 2025, as you all know, the violence has worsened, accentuated by the war of aggression conducted by Rwanda through the M23/AFC militias who loot, kill, terrorize, organize forced recruitment… Several hundred local and foreign armed groups operate in our territory. Yet we have the right to life, as do all citizens of the world.
There is no need to prove that economic and expansionary reasons are at the root of this tragedy. Material interests make us prey: our mineral resources, necessary for the technological and energy transition, are among the most coveted by the world powers. But to access it, is it necessary to kill us, condemn us to poverty, and destroy our cities, our homes, our environment?
We want our wealth to benefit the daughters and sons of our country. We want the powers to negotiate directly with the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a fair and peaceful partnership, in the interest of all peoples. Our resources must not be taken by illegal exploitation at the cost of our lives. Together we must find a way to share them, respecting all human rights and the principle of State sovereignty.
In any case, peace is the prerequisite of everything, for us and our country. With war, everything is lost. Let us live! Eat, study, work, reflect, produce. Give us peace. We must give priority to dialogue and renegotiation in order to reach it; let us remember the inter-Congolese dialogue of Sun City in 2002 and the Amani Conference of Goma in 2008. We are tired of losing human lives every day, with an unjust war imposed on our country.
We therefore make a pressing and urgent appeal to all actors on the international scene, so that they play their role properly. They must work to ensure that the world regains peace and security, so that all peoples of the world finally have a peaceful life.
We have no arms manufacturing industries, nor nuclear weapons laboratories. Why impose war? We want peace and security, without conditions.
Student Council of the Catholic University of Graben, Butembo-Beni, North Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC)
Contacts: tel. 0024-3992941325; conseil.estudiantin@uceraben.ac.cd
