Congo: The World Capital of Killing

Forums: Africa, Congo, War, Rape, Genocide
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It’s easy to wonder how world leaders, journalists, religious figures and ordinary citizens looked the other way while six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. And it’s even easier to assume that we’d do better.

But so far the brutal war here in eastern Congo has not only lasted longer than the Holocaust but also appears to have claimed more lives. A peer- reviewed study put the Congo war’s death toll at 5.4 million as of April 2007 and rising at 45,000 a month. That would leave the total today, after a dozen years, at 6.9 million.

What those numbers don’t capture is the way Congo has become the world capital of rape, torture and mutilation, in ways that sear survivors like Jeanne Mukuninwa, a beautiful, cheerful young woman of 19 who somehow musters the courage to giggle. Her parents disappeared in the fighting when she had just turned 14 " perhaps they were massacred, but their bodies never turned up " so she moved in with her uncle.

A few months later, the extremist Hutu militia invaded the home. She remembers that it was the day of her very first menstrual period " the only one she has ever had.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 10 • Views: 8,388 • Replies: 53

@Robert Gentel,

Kristof wrote:

So if we don’t act now, when will we? When the toll reaches 10 million deaths? When Jeanne is kidnapped and raped for a third time?

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We apparently only fight wars of immediate self interest. If the Congo had something by which we could profit, the military would be on the way.

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sad fact, most people don't know (or care)

american idol is on

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I think I have another link or two, but I'm not arguing re portrayals immediately.

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I am in no way stating that we shouldn't do something. But first the United States has got to get out the war they are fighting on two fronts.

On top of that, I would like to see another country step up and take the lead on something. The US wants to be in everyone's business and it irks the hell out of me. We have homeless, jobless, children without homes here, and yet we will offer a helping hand else where before we offer it to those within our own borders. There is something seriously wrong with that.

What is going on in the Congo is a horrendous thing. Though the world sat by and watched millions of Jewish people come to an early demise and did nothing but say "how sad" and only got involved when their own survival was threatened. In this world no one cares about other unless it in some way benefits themselves.

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Congo doesn't have any oil, does it? Diamonds are so passe.

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@Seed,

i don't think the US has to do anything, that's what we have the United Nations for, but they're a cluster **** and the problem might be beyond helping anyway

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@djjd62,

I agree, we have the United Nations. But how many times has the United States done what the UN has asked?

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I do think congo has resources. I can also weep for the people.
Back with a link or two, however weak.

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the exception of south Africa during apartheid proves the rule that almost no one around the world has any interest in what happens in Africa.

Kristof trying to drum up interest....ya, good luck with that.

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Prevalence of Rape in E. Congo Described as Worst in World

Quote:

The prevalence and intensity of sexual violence against women in eastern Congo are "almost unimaginable," the top U.N. humanitarian official said Saturday after visiting the country's most fragile region, where militia groups have preyed on the civilian population for years.

John Holmes, who coordinates U.N. emergency relief operations, said 4,500 cases of sexual violence have been reported in just one eastern province since January, though the actual number is surely much higher. Rape has become "almost a cultural phenomenon," he said.

"Violence and rape at the hands of these armed groups has become all too common," said Holmes, who spent four days in eastern Congo. "The intensity and frequency is worse than anywhere else in the world."

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@ossobuco,

I just finished reading John Le Carre (David Cornwell) - The Mission Song,
Apparently the readers so far didn't like it. eh. I did.

Set in the Congo.

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

Back with a link or two, however weak.

You've said that twice now on this thread, but still no links. You know, the software will store said links when they are posted, so there's really no need to narrate your process here; just post the links when they are ready. We don't need status updates about what you may or may not choose to post. Wink

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@Robert Gentel,

My niece wants to visit her brothers in Liberia, who fought in Sierra Leone. I'm for that, once hell freezes. They are after her minute bank account, which I can understand, but they are mistaken.

Actually, I'm softer than that, but I'd want her to be protected. She's fierce, very fierce, but not maybe not fierce enough.

I am for her going there, just not this young.

So, Liberia is not the Congo. But I can imagine.

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<bookmark>

Imagine all we could do in Africa if we were expending so many man-hours and billions in Iraq.

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

So, Liberia is not the Congo. But I can imagine.

But what does any of that have to do with this thread? I have a brother in Africa right now, but just because it's the same continent doesn't mean it is relevant here. This is a thread about the Second Congo War, a conflict that has killed more people than any other conflict since WW2. I don't see how a family member wanting to visit a completely different African country is relevant to this war.

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@Robert Gentel,

Was your brother in a 'tribe'? Don't go all snotty with me, I am trying.

Mission Song was interesting.

So, don't read it.

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

Was your brother in a 'tribe'?

My brother, like your niece, is not relevant to this topic.

I'm not trying to be snotty, but I really am frustrated with the narrating thing you do on what, for me, is a serious thread and one in which I care more about the signal to noise ratio.

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@Robert Gentel,

Signal to noise - I take you in this instance as the noise. You are related to your brother. Good on you. I am related to people in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the heart of amazing war. Don't try to diminish me as noise.

Oh, wait, I don't get to post.

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Congo: The World Capital of Killing

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