Jewish peace magazine Tikkun on Western Corporate Rape of Congo

The following excerpts horrifying article by Kathleen Kern explores how--no shock, here--Western governments and corporations are militarily and economically raping the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Except for the above sentence, I don't think I've ever used the word "rape" before in that way. And the only reason I'm using it at all is because the article also discusses how foreign soldiers and Congolese troops are literally raping the women of Congo in ways so monstrous they defy comprehension.

We must defeat international White Supremacy, yes, a system that is almost always capitalist and militarist. And we must defeat international Male Supremacy at the same time. The oppression of Afrikan women--half of our billion-strong population--is obviously the oppression of us all.

"The mother told me her baby's name was Esther. Clasping her breasts, she said she had no milk. She did not tell me what operation she was waiting for. Perhaps her rapist(s) had caused a fistula, penetrating the wall between her rectum and vagina with penises, guns, or machetes.

"Hundreds of other injuries are possible. We had seen pictures of women shot in the vagina, who had had salt rubbed in their eyes until they were blind (and thus could not identify their assailants), who had been burned, or had limbs amputated after their rapes.

"Since 1996, nearly four million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from a conflict that has involved several rebel armies, the militaries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Namibia, Angola, and their proxy militias.

:These armed groups and the official Congolese army have shifted alliances, split apart and regrouped under other names, but they all have important aspects in common: they target civilians and they all use rape as a weapon of war.

"The director of a woman's organization in Goma told us that if we wanted Westerners to understand the roots of violence in Congo, we ought to publicize how Western countries are facilitating and profiting from Congo's misery by dumping weapons into the country.

"We are treated like the wastebasket of the world," she said. A representative of the human rights organization COHDO spoke to our delegation of an 'Anglophone conspiracy' by the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa to keep distributing arms to militias and armies. By doing so, he said, they keep the region destabilized, and thus open to the exploitation of its resources.

"According to most of the people we spoke to, these resources are perhaps the key ingredient to understanding Congo's misery. The country has rich deposits of diamonds, gold, cobalt, timber, and other natural resources. It also contains 85 percent of the world's coltan ore. Tantalum, an element derived from this ore, is essential to the manufacture of laptop computers and cell phones.

"If the Congo were at peace and able to hold democratic elections, its citizens might gain control over its resources, either by claiming national ownership (as Iran and Venezuela do with their oil) or by regulating the multinational companies that seek to profit from those resources. The violent atmosphere, however, makes it impossible for the Congolese government to challenge corruption within or to exert any authority over multinationals seeking profits. It is thus in the interest of the multinational companies to keep the Congo at war."

Comments

Peter Matthes said…
It's amazing what people will do to others, or not do for others, all for the love of money.

I just learned about the situation in Uganda and I posted about The Night Commuters. The horrors that are occurring in Congo seem to be along the same lines. I will continue to read more about it, and try to spred the word to anyone who will listen.

Thanks for your great post.

Popular posts from this blog

Mazisi Kunene's “Thoughts on June 26 (South African Liberation Day)”

BARBARA PERRY ON HOW TO DEFEAT CANADIAN FASCISTS (MF GALAXY 175)

CATHLEEN ROOTSAERT ON WRITING MASS EFFECT, THREE DEAD TROLLS IN A BAGGIE (MF GALAXY 075)