The conflict in Congo-Kinshasa
27.08.2014 18:18
is the worst in the world since World War II. Eight African countries and 25 armed groups are involved. 5.4 million people have died so far, but still little is done to put an end to the fighting. DRC is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of access to valuable natural resources such as gold and diamonds, but also tin, tungsten and coltan. However, the population lives in extreme poverty. Resources disappeared from the country during colonization, under dictator Mobutu's 30 years in power and during the fighting between militias and African armies after Mobutu's downfall. Still, the battle for natural resources, is one of the main causes of the conflicts. The armed groups exploiting the assets that are sold in international markets so that they can continue to fund weapons and illicit activities. The conflict is driven by the struggle for control of natural resources.
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Armed groups attac the people, targeting especially the women with horrific atrocities. Nowhere else on earth so many women and girls are subjected to rape and torture. The men who carry out the terror seems to have lost all humanity and decency.
A report in Läkartidningen 2013 is infuriating to read and should help the rest of the world will stop these diabolical monsters in Congo from further crimes against humanity. Atrocities against these innocent women and girls are so grotesquely horrible that it almost can not be described in words! The world at large seem to ignore the large number of murdered and mutilated.
Source: www.lakartidningen.se/Aktuellt/Nyheter/2013/08/Tva-miljoner-valdtagna-i-krigets-Kongo/
The rebels' diabolical war strategy is to rape and torture women and children. When they are using rape instead of bombs, they spread fear and shatters communities without facing military resistance.
Sylvie is only 14 year old when we meet her in the women's clinic in Goma.
- Three men raped me before I came here. They took me and stuck a knife in my vagina. I did not know them. I do not remember them, and even if I would see them again, I would not recognize them. They had uniforms, she says.
Source: https://www.svt.se/ug/bakgrund-kriget-mot-kvinnorna-i-kongo-kinshasa
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The revenues from coltan mining fund the ongoing civil wars in Congo-Kinshasa. Coltan is used in capacitors, for example in printed circuit boards used in mobile phones, laptop computers, computer games or MP3 player. The lower production costs, the greater the profit for rebels and smugglers. In eastern Congo the small-scale mining dominates. Whole families are working to dig and sift the "gray gold" - coltan. Ten year olds in the quarries in eastern Congo are looking for coltan in order to let ten year olds in the West be able to play with their PlayStations. In many mines there are miserable working conditions and wages. 75% of mine workers earn too little to support their families. Security is poor. The workers have no protective equipment. Debt slavery and child labor exist. Assault and rape are common. As late as in August 2010 hundreds of rapes in the villages were reported around the mining areas in Walikale in North Kivu in eastern Congo.
The requested minerals that should have given the country prosperity, is now funding an ongoing war, where murder, torture and poverty prevail.
Coltan mine in Congo-Kishasa.
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Armed groups attac the people, targeting especially the women with horrific atrocities. Nowhere else on earth so many women and girls are subjected to rape and torture. The men who carry out the terror seems to have lost all humanity and decency.
A report in Läkartidningen 2013 is infuriating to read and should help the rest of the world will stop these diabolical monsters in Congo from further crimes against humanity. Atrocities against these innocent women and girls are so grotesquely horrible that it almost can not be described in words! The world at large seem to ignore the large number of murdered and mutilated.
Source: www.lakartidningen.se/Aktuellt/Nyheter/2013/08/Tva-miljoner-valdtagna-i-krigets-Kongo/
The rebels' diabolical war strategy is to rape and torture women and children. When they are using rape instead of bombs, they spread fear and shatters communities without facing military resistance.
Sylvie is only 14 year old when we meet her in the women's clinic in Goma.
- Three men raped me before I came here. They took me and stuck a knife in my vagina. I did not know them. I do not remember them, and even if I would see them again, I would not recognize them. They had uniforms, she says.
Source: https://www.svt.se/ug/bakgrund-kriget-mot-kvinnorna-i-kongo-kinshasa
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The revenues from coltan mining fund the ongoing civil wars in Congo-Kinshasa. Coltan is used in capacitors, for example in printed circuit boards used in mobile phones, laptop computers, computer games or MP3 player. The lower production costs, the greater the profit for rebels and smugglers. In eastern Congo the small-scale mining dominates. Whole families are working to dig and sift the "gray gold" - coltan. Ten year olds in the quarries in eastern Congo are looking for coltan in order to let ten year olds in the West be able to play with their PlayStations. In many mines there are miserable working conditions and wages. 75% of mine workers earn too little to support their families. Security is poor. The workers have no protective equipment. Debt slavery and child labor exist. Assault and rape are common. As late as in August 2010 hundreds of rapes in the villages were reported around the mining areas in Walikale in North Kivu in eastern Congo.
The requested minerals that should have given the country prosperity, is now funding an ongoing war, where murder, torture and poverty prevail.
Coltan mine in Congo-Kishasa.
