For two months, filmmaker Louise Leroux followed Quebec police officers deployed by the UN to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in order to train local law enforcement on sexual violence. The documentary Peacekeepers highlights the work of these agents, who work with women ravaged by 30 years of conflict.
In the feature film, a 25-year-old Congolese woman describes having both of her feet cut off by attackers. In front of her, Martine Le Royer, who was then an agent of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM), listens attentively, while murmuring “oh my God”. “We met women who were extremely damaged by life, but who still kept a smile,” says M.me Le Royer, in an interview at Duty.
During her one-year mandate which ended in April 2023, Martine Le Royer says she saw “very difficult” things in this Central African country. The 55-year-old woman had already done an international mission before in a battered territory, when she was deployed in 2002 to East Timor, in South-East Asia.
However, the situation in the DRC is very “complex”, maintains the woman who has retired from the SPVM since last May. The population is caught between armed groups who compete for natural resources, she explains.
In her film, filmmaker Louise Leroux wanted to expose images of Congolese women with torn bodies. She believes that it is difficult to grasp the scale of the horror taking place in this country without having seen it. “Here, women’s bodies are a battlefield and rape is a weapon of mass destruction,” says the director at the very beginning of the documentary.
In interview at Duty,Mme Leroux confides that she has wanted to address this subject for a while, while wondering how to do it. “When I knew that I had fellow Quebecers who took their cliques and their slaps to get involved in this country, I felt that I had the right to go there,” explains the woman who has 25 years of experience.
Alone with her camera, the director joined the peacekeepers to crisscross the east of the DRC, aboard armored vehicles. The one who studied at the NFB, notably with filmmakers Jacques Godbout and Michel Brault, therefore immersed herself in a world that was difficult to access.
Like in his documentary Barracks women (2020), where she followed Montreal firefighters, Louise Leroux was discreet so that the speakers would forget her presence. “The goal was to capture the rawest reality possible. »
Seven days on seven
For Louise Leroux, this foray into the mission of peace officers was so intense that it took her four weeks to get back on her feet when she returned to Quebec. “I was able to really grasp the reality of these police officers and also experience it. Being with them for two months there, I felt their stress, especially when there were bomb threats. »
During their mission, the blue helmets work seven days a week. Every two or three months, however, they leave elsewhere to rest for about three weeks, before returning to their post.
During her mandate, Martine Le Royer, among other things, made a necessary stay in Canada, in the summer of 2022. Shortly before, violent demonstrations had broken out in Goma, in the east of the country. People then rebelled against the UN mission in the DRC. “I was scared,” she remembers. There are four UN members who died during these riots. There were also many civilians who were injured and killed. »
Back in Africa after his rest in Canada, Mme Le Royer clung to her work in Bunia, a town in the northeast of the DRC. She was responsible for opening an office there specializing in gender-based sexual violence.
“I had police officers who were super motivated and who wanted to understand and learn how to properly support victims,” emphasizes Martine Le Royer. This is part of what allowed her to “survive this difficult mission,” she adds.
Hopes and worries
Despite everything, Mme Le Royer remains hopeful for the future of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Changes will, however, have to come from the authorities, she emphasizes. “But it really won’t be easy,” she adds in the same breath.
Especially since after 25 years of presence in the DRC, the UN has begun a gradual withdrawal of its troops, at the request of the Congolese government.
Recently, the east of the country has also experienced an escalation of violence. ” I’m worried. I am still in touch with people who have become my friends, Congolese who give me news every week. I’m worried,” she repeats.