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Genocide in the Congo
Author: BobR    Date: 12/05/2007 12:42:52

I posted this story on the board, but I think it's important enough to bear repeating here. I apologize in advance for all the cut & paste...

Although Darfur gets a lot of press and lip service, there is a little-known genocide going on in the Congo (little known in the U.S. anyway). From this article:
... By rights, Ombeni should be nearing the end of her university life, perhaps fending off marriage requests or applying for teaching posts in the city. But her schooling, and her life's journey, were brutally interrupted almost five years earlier.

Back then she was a typical 15-year-old with dreams of university and a better life. Her home was a village in the countryside, where, when she wasn't studying, she helped in the fields. It was while out working one evening that rebel forces captured her carefree innocence. For months she became their slave, both sexual and physical, as they lived in various wooded compounds along the Rwandan border. Heavily pregnant, and near death from lack of food, the rebels returned her to her village so her parents could watch her die...

---snip---

Schuler Deschryver's anger is also felt a few kilometres away, on the outskirts of Bukavu, where Dr Denis Mukwege, an obstetrician for more than 20 years, tries to deal with the aftermath of sexual violence. He runs Panzi Hospital, set up in 1999 in response to the emergency crisis after the so-called African war; it houses more than 350 patients. Each day, 10 new cases are admitted, some as young as nine, so badly damaged that reconstructive surgery is often required. The victims sit on benches, lining urine-soaked corridors, alone and frightened. On eye contact, there is nothing. No expression, no acknowledgement, no smiles - just a fleeting confirmation that behind their eyes, a pained suffering lies deep...

I've spared the blog the horrific details, but they are there in the article. I found this story via this blog entry on Bob Harris's website. He adds the following:
...The eastern D.R. Congo borders on Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, and the current horrorshow is a direct descendant of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the 1998-2003 Second Congo War (aka the African World War) which followed it. This Second Congo War, which at its height involved about two dozen factions from eight different countries, is almost certainly humankind's deadliest conflict worldwide since the end of World War II, with a death toll estimated by the International Rescue Committee at 3.8 million people as of early 2005.

Since the aftermath is still estimated to claim more than 1000 additional lives every single day (think malaria, malnutrition, dysentery, ongoing scattered violence, etc.), and about 1000 days have passed since the original estimate, at least four and perhaps more than five million Africans have died in less than ten years. ...

Something has to be done about this. In the article a woman states: "During the war here, just one silver back was killed. And when it happened, within 48 hours millions in funding was sent to ensure the rest of the gorilla population was protected. Why isn't the same done with our women?" That's a very fair question. The first step is to raise awareness about this, difficult as it may be to discuss the details.

Pass it on...

 

156 comments (Latest Comment: 12/06/2007 03:46:43 by BobR)
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Comments:

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Comment by BobR on 12/05/2007 13:14:41
Please note that I've got a workaround in place to display the comments. Until the ISP fixes the problem, the comments won't show the user icons...

Comment by TriSec on 12/05/2007 13:40:50
Oh, be still me heart! I think I can actually listen to Momma today!





Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 14:02:14
:cry: if Only the Congo had oil, then we would have done something about it!

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 14:02:54
:coffee: good morning everyone.

Comment by TriSec on 12/05/2007 14:10:03
Quote by Raine: if Only the Congo had oil, then we would have done something about it!




Do congo bars come from the Congo? if the worldwide supply of this elementary school staple were threatened...







Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 14:11:47
It's a blunderful life! I love it!

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 14:12:34
Quote by Raine: It's a blunderful life! I love it!
oh wait...

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 14:19:27
I cannot believe these HAwks... This is just crazy that they would think that the intelligence community would be trying to make bush look bad. Bush seems to do that well enough for himself.

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 14:25:06
:prince: Prince :prince:

Comment by TriSec on 12/05/2007 14:27:42
Well, I guess they'll be selling "War on Earth" and "Ill Will towards our Enemies" Christmas banners at O'Reilly.com???



And would they waterboard the baby Jesus?



Who was your father?? Tell us!!! *gurgle*





Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 14:35:49
Huckabee is in trouble.

Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 14:37:31
Morning! :hug:

Comment by BobR on 12/05/2007 14:42:01
morning folks... :coffee:

Comment by BobR on 12/05/2007 14:52:39
excuse me, Dubya - the NIE is created based partly on input from your office!

Comment by starling310 on 12/05/2007 14:54:24
Morning.



I missed it's a Blunderful Life? Dang!



Any word on the cell phone?

My Grandmother had her Virgin Mary stolen and then returned. Don't lose hope.



Comment by TriSec on 12/05/2007 14:55:25
So, is this a "High Crime and Misdemeanor" yet?





Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 14:57:27
It's snowing here, means panicky mom, crazy drivers, and a pain in the ass drive home tonight.



But atleast everuthing will look all snowy and Christmasie.

Comment by livingonli on 12/05/2007 15:00:17
Good morning all.



I think that's the snow we are supposed to get later. It got too cold too soon. I miss summer.

Comment by BobR on 12/05/2007 15:09:38
Is UTC-11 so-called because it's 11 hours off from GMT? (also known as UTC)

Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:11:22
Think optimistically summer's only 3 months away and it's warm for about 9 months of the year.

Comment by TriSec on 12/05/2007 15:13:33
Say, if one of us asked really nice, do you think we could get Kim Jong-il to read us "The night before Clistmas", or "The Glinch"?





Comment by livingonli on 12/05/2007 15:15:35
With the number fudging, is it just that Republicans are not good at math, or are they cooking the books?

Comment by BobR on 12/05/2007 15:16:18
I'd like to take a moment to point out new link in the heading of the blog called "Donate". We have until Dec. 11 to pay the yearly fee to the ISP that hosts this blog. Like everyone else here, money is a little tight, so we're asking for some help to keep this going. I'm not looking for money for myself; we just need to keep the lights on. We appreciate whatever you feel like tossing our way.



Thanks for making this a great place - without your participation, it wouldn't be so much fun.

Comment by TriSec on 12/05/2007 15:16:20
Quote by BobR: Is UTC-11 so-called because it's 11 hours off from GMT? (also known as UTC)




Yes, that would be 11 time zones west of London...as it is an hour short of UTC. UTC+11 would be eastbound, for the opposite reason.



So here in the EWT (Eastern Winter Time), that makes us "GMT-5" as Bill Gates still has it listed. (the term is obsolete among time-dorks.) Speaking of which, I have at least one clock in my house set on "Zulu".







Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:19:44
Quote by TriSec: Say, if one of us asked really nice, do you think we could get Kim Jong-il to read us "The night before Clistmas", or "The Glinch"?









Maybe he'll sing us "Yule a Mean One MeStir Glinch"

Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:28:07
Steph you could put that on a loop.

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 15:33:43
Now I am getting text messages asking the person who stole my phone if they are home! they are all in spanich!!!

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 15:35:10
:redface: I meant spanish, or maybe Spinach... :D

Comment by livingonli on 12/05/2007 15:36:21
Quote by Raine: I meant spanish, or maybe Spinach... :D


I'm Popeye the sailor man. Toot Toot.

Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:37:18
Quote by Raine: Now I am getting text messages asking the person who stole my phone if they are home! they are all in spanich!!!




Did you get your phone back? Or is this a new one?



Comment by starling310 on 12/05/2007 15:37:26
Quote by Raine: Now I am getting text messages asking the person who stole my phone if they are home! they are all in spanich!!!






Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:38:24
Maybe you should respond in French or Russian or something.

Comment by BobR on 12/05/2007 15:41:05
Quote by wickedpam:



Did you get your phone back? Or is this a new one?



We transferred the number to my old phone.

Comment by livingonli on 12/05/2007 15:42:49
Quote by wickedpam: Maybe you should respond in French or Russian or something.


Me likee. How about Pig Latin.

Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:45:29
Quote by BobR:
Quote by wickedpam:



Did you get your phone back? Or is this a new one?



We transferred the number to my old phone.






That was handy. Did you guys ever get anymore info from the numbers dialed on that phone?



Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:46:11
Quote by livingonli:
Quote by wickedpam: Maybe you should respond in French or Russian or something.


Me likee. How about Pig Latin.






Or just a simply



"Bugger Off and Happy Holidays"

Comment by starling310 on 12/05/2007 15:48:36
Oh no! NOT KEVIN!





Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 15:49:20
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by BobR:
Quote by wickedpam: Did you get your phone back? Or is this a new one?
We transferred the number to my old phone.
That was handy. Did you guys ever get anymore info from the numbers dialed on that phone?
I just called that number in california... tried to explain the situation... So all hope is not lost. The other number that keeps calling me is just stupid. They texted me last night to see if I was home! :doh:

Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:50:35
I would have been to chicken to call any number like that.

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 15:52:03
The phone has also been entered into a databse of SToln phones so if anyone tries to activate it... they will be unpleasantly surprised.

Comment by livingonli on 12/05/2007 15:52:48
Quote by starling310: Oh no! NOT KEVIN!





I guess he's now listening on line since 1260 is not available.

Comment by MMB on 12/05/2007 15:53:01
GoodMorning, I just got a Yahoo breaking news. Defense Sec. Robert Gates said during his visit to Baghdad that he believes a SECURE & STABLE IRAQ is within reach. But much work remains to be done. Is this guy on planet earth? On the story about the horrible things happening in the Congo I have found that lets say people that should care and some do but when rape is involved as a child or adult most people turn away like you have rape printed on your forehead. It is really sad that a lot of people just don't want to hear that word. Luckily there are some great people trying to save these victims physical lives, as for there mental health I wonder. But all you have to do is look into the eyes of a victim and you will see a pain that reaches into your very soul. And behind that pain there is a empty set of eyes. Sorry to go on so long.

Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:53:46
Quote by livingonli:
Quote by starling310: Oh no! NOT KEVIN!





I guess he's now listening on line since 1260 is not available.




He most likely was in the past too - if he's in the city, it has suck radio reception on any station.



Comment by starling310 on 12/05/2007 15:53:53
My office is FREEZING!

Comment by wickedpam on 12/05/2007 15:55:12
So's mine and I have a personal heater running.

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 15:57:21
Quote by wickedpam: I would have been to chicken to call any number like that.
I used to be like that. But right is right, and this woman needed to know that the number she called yesterday was to a stolen cell phone. I was very nice to her, actually, and I asked her to please try to contact the person the way she normally would and told her to please return the phone to Manuels Tavern in Altlanta Georgia. Sheesh! The search has gone nationwide!

Comment by livingonli on 12/05/2007 15:58:20
I have a portable heater running in my apartment because the landlady doesn't give me enough heat.

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 15:59:23
Good morning mmb! :tosses extra blankets: to Starling and Mala... I don't use them too much these days.

Comment by Raine on 12/05/2007 16:00:37
It looks like it should be snowing today... it has that grey look... but well, there shall be no precipitation again...