The Government should use its influence as a major donor of development aid to persuade Uganda to withdraw its troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the director of GOAL, Mr John O'Shea, has said.
He told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday that, because of a "diamond-grabbing war", the DRC had been ravaged by conflict for the past 18 months.
"Millions are in desperate need - due entirely to the greed of six neighbouring African nations," he said.
Three million people had perished in the conflict. "A comprehensive and damning United Nations report recently released has confirmed that the reason the six nations are involved in the Congo is to plunder the region of gold, diamonds and other valuable minerals."
He said it was of little comfort to the Congolese people that the "main protagonists" had withdrawn their forces from the battlefront. "None of these nations however has called their army home, and none has ceased to rape and pillage the land."
He continued: "As a major donor to Uganda we are in an ideal position to use our clout and influence to force Uganda to show respect for their fellow human beings and withdraw from the Congo."
Ireland should also use its influence as a member of the UN Security Council: "We must start using our voice at the Security Council."
Mr O'Shea's views were challenged by Fine Gael TD Mrs Nora Owen, who said she had been in Uganda recently where she met government and international agency officials and raised the issues in the UN report.
She said there was no attempt by the Ugandan government to "whitewash" what the report revealed. Uganda had subsequently set up an investigation.
Mrs Owen said she had come back with a distinct impression of "a very firm effort" by the Ugandan authorities to root out corruption.
The committee chairman, Mr Des O'Malley said while Mr O'Shea was particularly critical of Uganda, out of all the African countries it had made perhaps the best effort to cope with the AIDS pandemic.