Femicide in Congo: Eve Ensler's Testimony

[LowlyPion]

Woman: 'They wanted to destroy my body and spirit'
By John Blake

(CNN) -- Eve Ensler can't find the right words to describe what she's seen and heard.

"Obscene. Horrible. Out of control..." The activist tosses out a cluster of angry words, trying to describe what is, in some ways, indescribable.

She talks about a woman being gang-raped by 15 soldiers. Some violated with sticks and knives. Cannibalism. She has returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where thousands of women and girls have been systematically raped during a 10-year war that some say has cost more lives than any other war since World War II.

"It's 'femicide,' " Ensler says, using another word to describe the treatment of Congolese women. "It's the systematic destruction of women. It's an economic war fought on the bodies of women. It's the destruction of the Congolese people and life itself."

... Congo's future, she says, may look even more frightening than its past.

"What's going on in the Congo is so extreme and so out of control," she says, "that if we don't intervene on behalf of women there, it will spread and something much more horrible will happen.

"You cannot let something that inhuman go on."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/15/congo.women/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

 

[Astronuc]

International Rescue Committee's program in the Dem. Republic of Congo (it's not very democratic).
http://www.theirc.org/where/the_irc_in_democratic_republic_of_congo.html

Rape Victims’ Words Help Jolt Congo Into Change
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/world/africa/18congo.html

Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07congo.html


World Briefing | Africa: Congo: War's Death Toll At 3.8 Million - NY Times, December 10, 2004
By Dec 2004, more than 31,000 civilians were dieing each month.

Congo’s Death Rate Unchanged Since War Ended (the 'formal' war ended, now it's just fighting) - NYTimes, January 23, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/world/africa/23congo.html

The survey, released Tuesday, estimated that 45,000 people continue to die every month, about the same pace as in 2004, when the international push to rebuild the country had scarcely begun. Almost all the deaths come from hunger and disease, signs that the country is still grappling with the aftermath of a war that gutted its infrastructure, forced millions to flee and flattened its economy.

In all, more than 5.4 million people have died in Congo since the war began in 1998, according to the most recent survey’s estimate, the latest in a series completed by the International Rescue Committee, an American aid organization. Nearly half of the dead were children younger than 5 years old.

I met Dr Richard Brennan (Director Health Programs, International Rescue Committee) two years ago at a function in which IRC's work and that of others was discussed. Brennan mentioned the Congo. Except for total number dead, the statistics haven't decreased in the DRC.

Dr Peter Salama informed members that the major cause of death within war-torn regions was not in fact due to weapon related injuries as many may have thought, rather high mortality rates are due to people being unable to access clean and sanitized water, resulting in fatal cases of diarrhea and measles. Shockingly, in the case of Afghanistan during 2001, these were responsible for 31% and 21% of deaths respectively.

Reinforcing the importance of sanitization, Dr Richard Brennan’s group, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), directs 25% of their funds towards providing healthcare and clean water around the globe. Unlike aid agencies that are focused on dealing with emergency crises, such as Medicins Sans Frontieres and the Red Cross, the IRC works with effected communities and regions for an average of 9-10 years. With operations in 25 countries, it is an organization geared towards enabling people to rebuild their lives by providing education, training and economic assistance.

Fortunately this is still up - http://www.advance.org/en/art/?438 - mp3's and ppt's of the presentations are available if anyone is interested.

IRC has a remarkable history - http://www.theirc.org/about/history.html

 

[mgb_phys]

Unfortunately it only has around 150M barrels of oil reserves so it's going to be a while before we get around to democratising it.

 

[turbo]

Unfortunately it only has around 150M barrels of oil reserves so it's going to be a while before we get around to democratising it.

I hope you are wrong. I hope that our government is purged of neo-cons who will cooperate with murderers as long as profits for their handlers are secured.

This is not new, people. The governments of central and south America have been infiltrated, influenced, and yes subverted for many decades by the US using the CIA and other agencies to enable the rape of their natural resources, much as France, Spain, and England did to North America until our citizenry grew strong enough to push back.

 

[mgb_phys]

Congo Free State / Belgian Congo / Republic of the Congo / Léopoldville / Zaire / Democratic Republic of the Congo, is rather the poster child for screwed over little African country.

 

[Proton Soup]

I hope you are wrong. I hope that our government is purged of neo-cons who will cooperate with murderers as long as profits for their handlers are secured.

This is not new, people. The governments of central and south America have been infiltrated, influenced, and yes subverted for many decades by the US using the CIA and other agencies to enable the rape of their natural resources, much as France, Spain, and England did to North America until our citizenry grew strong enough to push back.

he's not wrong. fwiw, the atrocities described in this thread are a lot like what went on in Serbia/Croatia a few years back. and believe it or not, it doesn't seem to matter who's in office. during the Clinton administration, the fastest genocide in recorded history took place in Rwanda, where during a period of only 100 days, 800,000 people were systematically slaughtered, most with simple machetes. it wasn't until footage of bodies floating down the rivers into neighboring countries that the US and other nations stopped pretending they didn't know what was going on. the UN had "peacekeepers" there, they knew exactly the situation. i strongly suggest this book by Samantha Power for a fairly even-handed analysis of the problem: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060541644/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I guess Bono isn't doing enough. Seriously, what can be done about Africa.

I am sponsoring this girl. But she is from Zambia.

 

[turbo]

I guess Bono isn't doing enough. Seriously, what can be done about Africa.

I am sponsoring this girl. But she is from Zambia.

That's wonderful, Greg. My cousin has been putting $25 a week into a microloan project, and he's been emailing pictures of loan recipients, their businesses, repayment rates, etc. It's pretty neat.