Monday January 28, 2008, 3:32 am
I see this as VERY grave as there are many injured women & children. I only pray that countries support the efforts of the UN and set up a plan to help bring the violence in this region more under control.

Monday January 28, 2008, 5:47 am
Noted with thanks Mark.

Monday January 28, 2008, 7:40 am
Sexual abuse and rape are heinous acts made even more so when committed by those who are there (theoretically) to protect.
Noted with thanks, Mark.

Monday January 28, 2008, 11:48 am
Notes, thanks Mark. recent conversations here:

How you can help here:

Monday January 28, 2008, 11:49 am
That other discussion in News is here:

Monday January 28, 2008, 12:11 pm

Oops -- that link didn't show up, Jude. Maybe a type or a spacing problem in the html?

Monday January 28, 2008, 1:05 pm
sheesh! try again! sorry. I'm not wearing my glasses! (lol)

here it is with out the html in case this doesn't work again.
http://www.care2.com/news/member/625613553/604889

and with the link
http://www.care2.com/news/member/625613553/604889

Tuesday January 29, 2008, 4:30 pm
The "African World War" in the DRC ended in 2003, but there are still regular conflicts between the established transitional government and rebel parties, and tensions are still ripe between the DRC and neighboring countries, especially in the eastern part of the region. It is entirely possible that the country could experience another civil war at any given time, encouraging the government and rebel factions both to continue to recruit armed militia men and terrorize local populations.

What we don't hear so much about the DRC is why there are so many inter and intra-national interest in controlling this region. A little less than 40% of the worlds rough diamonds come from the area, and almost half of the world's coltan comes directly from one mineral deposit (one physical location) in the DRC. Coltan is used universally in electronic devices such as cell phones, dvd players, computers, and most electronic device batteries. The government of Congo as well as a variety of rebel parties and outside governments have been warring over these resource deposits for years, resulting in almost three million deaths by 2003 and approaching four million in the present day.

Any organization or agency that advocates for victims of this conflict has my full compassion and support, but perhaps it is time to look at how the global trade in these kinds of resources contributes to these conflicts. It would be beneficial for the UN to be able to prosecute political leaders who directly economically benefit from the trade in these resources and utilize the funding from their extraction to perpetuate these kinds of wars and human rights abuses. Otherwise we are just treating the outcomes of these kinds of conflicts, not the root causes.

If you would like to learn more about natural resources and their relationship to human rights abuses in developing countries, please check out
http://www.globalwitness.org

Saturday February 2, 2008, 3:06 pm
Good info thanks Lindsey.