4 Permalink

many people ask, why congo?

here is why… Congo is by far the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Since 1998, 5.4 million people have died there.

The death toll is the equivalent of an Asian Tsunami every 6.5 months. A September 11 every 2.5 days. And nearly half of the deaths in the Congo are of children under the age of five.

The conflict in Congo began with the conclusion of the Rwandan genocide. The Interahamwe (the Hutu militias responsible for the massacre of 1 million in Rwanda in a period of four months) were pushed over the border into the Congo where they set up camp and began terrorizing the Congolese people.

Various militias or government forces were sent in to fight the Interahamwe, then each other. It erupted into what has been termed “Africa’s First World War.” The UN has accused all nations involved of using the war as a cover for looting diamonds, coltan, gold, and other resources from this mineral rich region.

Civilians are left to fend for themselves against brutal attacks, torture, looting, rape and murder, as well as deprivation of the most basic conditions necessary for life. Women in the Congo carry the heaviest of burdens. They have been gang raped. Tortured. Watched their husbands and children murdered in front of them. Forced to flee their homes. Many have watched two, four, even seven children die from preventable illnesses.