In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the current conflict in the Democratic republic of the Congo, noting that the genesis was as much about exploiting the country’s natural resources, as it was an ethnic battle. In Part 2, we focused on coltan, a resource in abundance in the eastern Congo, noting how this mineral is used in consumer products around the world.
In this third installment, we describe the human consequences of the economic exploitation and the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as told by its victims.
WARNING: The following contains graphic and disturbing accounts of the human toll suffered by people in the region.
The human toll from the conflict in the Congo and neighboring Rwanda cannot be overstated. As this article goes to press, the situation in the eastern region continues to spiral downward with all of the opposing forces using murder and rape of innocent civilians as weapons of war, children are enslaved and used as soldiers and human shields and the country’s natural resources are being used to finance the human tragedy.
Efforts to renegotiate a cease file between the grossly corrupt Congolese army and the rebel forces lead by Laurent Nkunda have failed. Nkunda’s forces have renewed their attacks on Goma, a major city in the region and a recent U.S. Security Council report indicates that Nkunda is backed by the Rwandan government.
On December 22nd, the U.N. Security Council will take up a discussion on the current efforts to bring peace to the region amid ongoing refusal by the EU and the U.S. to commit forces to quell the conflict. In the mean time, the slaughter continues.
Rape as a Weapon of War
The following accounts were gathered by witnesses in and near the town of Goma, in the eastern part of the DRC and posted to Vday.com. There are literally hundreds of similar accounts representing hundreds of thousands of such crimes committed against these innocent people. These accounts are not atypical:
Marta
Men threw her to ground, She banged her head. She fought one off. The other soldier accused the soldier of being a girl. He raped her and picked up her baby. She was sure he was going to throw the baby against a wall. He threw baby on bed. Then they set the house on fire. Locked her in the house while it was burning. Her brother let her out. She went back for the baby and was burned from head to toe. She ran and jumped in the lake which was a very bad idea. The baby died three days later. I had no value until I came here. People were afraid of me. They thought I was a monster. Then they changed when they heard my story.
Valentina
Seven months pregnant when she was raped .He was hitting my hips telling me to move the way I move when I make love to my husband. I felt something coming out. Husband left me after even though he watched her being raped. They had a gun to his head and he was on his knees. The next day he accused me of liking it. Left me with five kids, kicked us out of the house. My family left me.
Janet
When I hear a boom, I am terrified. The pain they felt when they took my leg over my head as they raped me. They leg was lose and they were pulling it. I was screaming the pain was so great. I had 2 surgeries-nothing they could do. Head of the thigh bone was gone. I will be on crutches for the rest of my life. “I’ve always been courageous. Always will be courageous. If the military want to kill me for telling my story, I am ready to die.
As hard as it is to read these accounts, they are unfortunately all to typical of the horrible atrocities committed everyday in the DRC. It is estimated that 400,000 women have suffered a similar fate since this conflict began. Reports indicate that 350 women continue to be raped in the region each month.If that were not enough, the terror and suffering on children only compound the devastation.
Child Soldiers Enslaved for the Cause
An estimated 33,000 children were fighting for armed groups at the height of Congo’s 1998-2003 war. Nearly four years after the official end to the conflict, some 4,000 children still remain active in army brigades, local militias and foreign rebel groups mainly in the volatile east, according to the United Nations.The United Nations accuses five new government army brigades of hiding more than 300 children and sending some into combat, an act human rights campaigners say constitutes a war crime.
In recent weeks Human Rights Watch researchers visited Nyamilima and Ishasha in North Kivu province, where they saw at least 30 children guarding barricades and patrolling the streets with weapons they could barely carry. Some were as young as 12, and four were girls. They were operating in areas now controlled by Mai Mai militias and the Rwandan armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
According to AlterNet, in some areas of Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu, Nkunda’s rebels and other armed groups have gone door-to-door to force young boys and adults, some as young as 14, into their service. In other areas the group has recruited boys as young as 12 near displaced persons’ camps. Some have been sent into combat without military training.
Pro-government Mai Mai groups recruited dozens of children for military service in late October, and the Congolese army has also recruited children to transport and distribute weapons.
The following are the accounts of two children forced into the conflict:
Ndungutsa
Ndungutsa was taken when he was just 13 years old, forced to make a choice between the militia or death.”When they came to my village, they asked my older brother whether he was ready to join the militia.”He was just 17 and he said no; they shot him in the head. “Then they asked me if I was ready to sign, so what could I do – I didn’t want to die”.
Anthony
According to Human Rights Watch, Anthony was one of an estimated 50 children and dozens of adults forcibly recruited in mid-September by rival forces, CNDP and PARECO, just outside the displaced persons’ camp in Ngungu (Masisi territory). His family had fled to Ngungu days earlier, after the two groups fought in their home village, Numbi:
“Five CNDP soldiers stopped me on the road in the middle of the day. They sent me with a large group of other men and boys – some as young as 12, others as old as 40 – to Murambi, where they said we would transport boxes of ammunition for the rebel soldiers. They beat us badly so we couldn’t resist. When we got to Murambi, they didn’t order us to transport boxes, but instead gave us military uniforms and taught us how to use weapons. Then, after three days, they put us all in an underground prison. We stayed there for four days, and new recruits joined us every day. On the fourth day, they called us out of the prison and took us to Karuba. That night, I managed to escape with two other recruits, and we ran all the way back to Ngungu. The others who remained behind were sent to Kitchanga for military training.”
When Anthony and the others arrived in Ngungu, they sought refuge at the MONUC base. Like many fighters who choose to disarm or who escape forced recruitment, they were handed over to Congolese authorities, who sent them to the military intelligence prison in Goma (known as the T2) as a transit point on their way to demobilization camps. Detainees are often held at T2 for weeks or months without charge and are subjected to cruel and degrading treatment; some are tortured. After five days without eating, Anthony managed to escape and sought refuge at a MONUC base in Goma.
“I want to go back to our home in Numbi,” Anthony said. “But I’m scared. If the CNDP soldiers find me there, they will kill me.”
The funding for this conflict comes from the coltan that continues to be mined and shipped to the western world. The worlds largest producer of tantalum has shut down its mining operations in western Australia because of price competition from the Congo. Though demand for tantalum oxide – used in most consumer electronics – has fallen with the collapse of the global economy, the remaining demand is now largely filled from the supply of coltan from the DRC.
The next time you pick up your cell phone, listen carefully for the screams of Congo’s victims.
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