Though this war has had more casualties than any war since World War II, few Americans are aware of the civil war that has raged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998. From August 1998 to December 2002, an estimated 3.3 million have died, yet only about 10% of these deaths resulted from violence. The majority have died of starvation, malnutrition, or diseases which are easily treatable in developed countries.¹ The war officially ended this year when a transitional government was formed, but the horrors of war have remained. The Congolese people still suffer various forms of aggression, such as rape and torture.

The war in the Congo began when the neighboring countries of Rwanda and Uganda tried to overthrow the Congolese government in 1998. After achieving occupation of the eastern region, the Rwandans, Ugandans, and their militia allies began to compete for control of the vast mineral resources of the Congo. International corporations from the United States, Europe, and Africa have also played a role in competing for diamonds, gold, and coltan (used to make cell phones and nuclear reactor parts). The struggle to control the Congo's natural resources has resulted in mass killings, appalling standards of living, and the destruction of the land. Although the fields are ideal for farming, militias have destroyed and pillaged farms, leading to a scarcity of food. This lack of food combined with poor sanitary conditions has contributed to the displacement of more than 2.7 million civilians.¹

The UN has recently published several reports that detail which companies and countries have been operating illegally in the trading of resources and arms. While the reports recommend that exploitive practices be stopped, the international community has not taken any action to punish the war criminals involved. The International Criminal Court (ICC), formed in 2002 with enthusiastic international support, has stated that it would give priority to the crimes against humanity that have occurred in the Congo. However, the US has strongly opposed the ICC's use, because it does not want to sacrifice jurisdiction over US troops. At a presentation at the Regional Amnesty International Conference on October 25, 2003, Professor Ken Harrow argued that the ICC must be used, because it is "the only body that rises above national interest to look into human rights." (Harrow is a professor of African Studies at Michigan State University.) While the US has its own stable legal system, countries in crisis such as the Congo are clearly not able to deal with criminals by themselves. In order to assert any long-lasting authority, the ICC needs support from the US.

In 1996, militias began to force children to leave their families to serve as soldiers. These young recruits are subjected to military training and indoctrination, which may include torture, rape, or deprivation of food, sleep, or healthcare. Children are sometimes required to kill their family members. Children have also been forced to commit murder or rape against rival militias or civilians. Some children have been forced into sexual acts with corpses, or to engage in cannibalism. The UN estimates that 15-30% of all new soldiers are under 18 years of age, and a considerable number are under the age of 12. So long as these militias are not being punished and are able to acquire more arms, the recruitment of child soldiers does not seem likely to stop.²

Children are not alone in suffering from this war; tens or perhaps even hundreds of thousands of women have been sexually abused or raped.³ Rape is used as a weapon of war and is therefore classified as a war crime, yet the perpetrators go unpunished.⁴ Hospitals and rehabilitation centers have been overwhelmed by cases of women with wounds caused by knives, physical abuse, and guns to the genitals and anus. Because of tissue ruptured from rape, thousands of women have vagina fistula. These women cannot control bodily functions and may suffer throughout their lives. Doctors report that hundreds of women have come to hospitals in eastern cities of the Congo, often requiring three to four operations.⁵

Although many humanitarian aid groups are trying to help the Congolese people, their power and influence can only reach so far. To bring justice to the Congo, the first action needs to be the enforcement of the United Nations Security Council arms embargo. The embargo, formed by UNSC 1493 in July 2003, placed a ban on entering arms into the eastern provinces of the Congo, where most of the fighting has been concentrated. However, because of a complete lack of formal monitoring, the embargo has been wholly ineffective from the start. As a result, militias are still able to acquire arms, and so the killing and fighting continues. Professor Ken Harrow believes that stopping the illegal arms trade is "the most important thing in the world right now." Harrow also believes that if the United States will back the enforcement of the embargo, then Russia and China will. In the 1990s, the United States sold military equipment and training worth over $200 million to African armies. The recipients included six of the seven armies involved in the Congo.⁶ While profitable to the US economy, the people of the Congo have suffered the consequences of the continued arms trade.

Bringing peace to the Congo must be made a priority by the international community. One of the reasons for U.S. action in Iraq was that we had the responsibility to stop horrible violations of human rights by Hussein and his regime. How can the Bush administration justify this reasoning while ignoring the Congo? Bush's popularity has plunged in recent months, primarily because his motives for the war in Iraq have been called into question. If the Bush administration would use the U.S. government's incredible influence in world affairs to bring peace and justice to the Congo, Bush could restore some of his credibility.

The people of the Congo need help from the international community. This war has already claimed over half the number of lives extinguished in the Holocaust. Human rights violations need to be stopped, war criminals need to be punished, and the UNSC arms embargo needs to be enforced. The misery of the Congo is the Bush Administration's opportunity to prove to the world that the US really does care about protecting human rights.

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