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Essay on the violence in the democratic republic of congo
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Almost 5.5 million people killed. Many more millions forced out of their homes. Over 15,000 filed rapes per year. If these number are not yet concerning, then IDont say I must have forgotten to mention that all of this has happened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the past 20 years due to wars and violence that have plagued the country. Widespread violence has overtaken the country, because ofits rich natural resources. Basic human rights and liberties are taken away, and citizens are raped, abused, and even killed while the government has no power to protect them. Violence exists across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, because the government lacks the power to stop the violence and protect its citizens. This violence is due to Said due to agian the fact that the DRC is one of the richest countries, overflowing with natural resources; some of which, including coltan and tantalumexplain what this is are widely used in electronics. People and groups invade the Democratic Republic of the Congo to illegally mine their natural resources, that they can sell at high prices to the more technologically advanced world. Armed violence groups create violence choose another word and keep citizens out of the mines, giving miners undisturbed access, and in …show more content…
It was reported by the New York Times in 2011 that every minute, a women is being raped in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Furthermore, in 2006, approximately 27,000 sexual assaults or rapes were filed. All of this happened in one year alone, and only in one of the DRC’s 26 separate provinces. Even more so, the UN estimates that for every rape that gets reported, 20-30 more go unreported. In fact, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now known as the rape capital of the world. All of the rape and sexual violence has stemmed from armed groups stirring up violence among
Congo was an astounding bestseller novel. It was a great fictional novel that took place in the depths of the Congo rainforest. The novel was later made into a movie. Both the novel and the movie were good, however, I prefer the novel. It just seemed like a more entertaining piece than the movie. This movie was based much upon the novel, but had many alternatives and a completely different ending than the novel.
Being located in the west coast of Africa and between Guinea and Liberia, “Sierra Leone has an abundance of easily extractable diamonds”(BBC News). The diamonds had brought “encouragement” for violence in the country in 1991. Attacks of the Revolutionary “United Front (RUF) ,led by former army corporal Foday Sankoh”(Encyclopedia Britannica), were on government military and civilians. In response to a corrupt government, the RUF performed violent and terrorist acts that scarred many. “The RUF captured civilians and forced them to work”(Analyzing the Causes) in their army to gain control over Sierra Leone. The savages went a...
This relates back to Congo, where violence spurred by ethnic rivalries is due to local groups’ desire to make money by getting into the extractive industries. In another example, Newmont, an American company, mines Ghanaian gold and pays the government part of the profits. Here, Burgis shined the spotlight on an environmental issue: the sodium cyanide spill in Kwamebourkrom that killed aquatic life and posed hazardous living conditions for locals (Burgis, 134). Finally, in the last few chapters, Burgis touched on Cecil John Rhodes’ legacy as the founder of De Beers, blood diamonds, imperialism, and violence carried out by local governments and mining companies in order to protect their interests.
The acts of violence that were performed by rebels in Africa were horrific. Adults and children were murdered, mutilated, tortured, and raped. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone performed despicable acts of cutting off a people's body parts with machetes to instill fear in the community. If you were working in the diamond mines and not performing up to the standards of the rebels you would lose a body part as punishment. Rebels would continue to do this from one village to another in order “to take control of the mines in the area” (Hoyt). It is estimated that in Sierra Leone that over 20,000 people suffered mutilation. The acts that the rebels performed to these innocent victims was clearly a violation to their human rights. The RUF collected 125 million a year to fund their war on the government and the people of Sierra Leone.
Raping is called sexual assault also, it is a action that against people’s (women) willing and force the people violently to have sex. It hurts women physiologically and mentally seriously. In every country, raping is regarded as a anomic criminal offence. In Congo, raping happens everywhere and take places in everywomen no matter you are a youth or old woman. First, talking about it without humanism, but disease. We all know a lot of diseases are spread by sexual, they could cause death, seriously. Woman is not a toy for man to have fun ! How can men hurts women so much? It can be seen chronic murder. There is no doubt that some women who are raped died with perennial torment by disease. Second, raping destroy women spiritually. A people lives under fear long time would cause the man lose normal human thoughts and actions. To be simple, wom...
... attention allowed economic exploitation in the Congo and its people devastated by human rights abuses, and even today the lack of international attention has caused many conflicts in and around the Congo. The economic exploitation of the Congo during colonial times robbed the country of wealth which could have been used to develop the land, and the lack of wealth has contributed to Congo’s poor standing in the world today. Lastly, the human rights abuses in the Congo Free State contributed to economic and political troubles during the colonial period and has continued into the present day, as human rights abuses are still prevalent in that region of Africa. Due to the lack of international attention, economic exploitation, and human rights abuses, the Congo Free State was harmful to the Congo region of Africa and its legacy continues to harm that region of Africa.
At the same time that this is going on, the Congo is being ripped off of its natural resources. Coltan is very abundant in the Congo and highly in demand. Forests fauna and flora are being ruined in search for this precious metal at a rapid rate.We learned from Christian how bad things are escalating in the Congo: “I was just by Yaka-Yaka. When I was there six months ago, it was a forest filled with noisy birds, now it looks like God spooned out heaping mouthful of earth, and every stupid bastard is trying to get a taste of it. It’s been ugly chérie, but never like this. Not here.” Such a shame that such a beautiful place it is being destroyed and drained from all its riches, and that includes their animal life and
...ards from high exposures of toxins from the minerals that are mined. (World Vision 2013: 5). As well, recruitment of children in both regular armies and militias has been related to the conflict in Congo with children as young as eight years old becoming soldiers of war (Hayes & Burge 2003: 30-31). These child soldiers usually start as runners, bodyguards, porters, or spies and later on learn to handle weapons and serve in combat (Hayes & Burge 2003: 31). Human rights violations also extend to women and girls as young as five years old who are sexually assaulted, gang raped, sold into sex slavery, have their genitals mutilated and murdered (Hayes & Burge 2003: 30). Despite the United Nations and international aid agencies trying to put an end to human rights violations, child and human exploitation is still a huge ethical concern in the DRC (Hayes & Burge 2003: 32).
Diamonds mined illegally caused a lot of problems, it caused wars and killed millions of people all for people to make money. Blood diamonds were used by rebel movements to finance wars against the government. The rebel groups successfully overthrew the government in 1999 and continue to cause conflict. They traded diamonds to buy weapons to terrorize and kill the civilians and forced them to dig in the mud along riverbanks with their bare hands to mine the diamonds.
...apidly our world today. There are hundreds of places people may go and visit for help or more information about rape and sexual violence. It is very important that when and if it happens, the victim needs to report the crime to authorities immediately. People must know the truth about rape and sexual violence and what to do about it.
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.
There have been more than 220 armed conflicts all over the world from 1946 to 2001. In general it includes about more than 140 civil wars, causing the death of about 20 million people and displacing about 67 million (Panić, n.d.) . As a result of combine interstates the number is even higher today; internal wars are in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. Because civil wars are not the only form of systematized violence and aggregation, the human costs of armed conflicts are better than data suggestion. Violence, organized crime, coup and even genocide has taken place in many countries such as Rwanda and Afghanistan.
Little children are forced into these disgusting acts, children are sold into marriages and are raped by their husbands. Young kids as young as two are raped in the Congo, mutilated, and are left speechless or dead. Their minds are damaged and may never emotionally recover (“Silence=Rape”). Rape Culture surrounds us and our society operates on its foundation; our world revolves around this culture. The average man will deny that this culture exists and that is because on the outside it doesn’t exist.
Sierra Leone’s civil war lead to the displacement of over one million people, with brutal killings and children armed with guns, all for the sake of power. Sierra Leone is the most abundant country in the world, based off resources. The main resource being diamonds. Leone is known for its quantity of diamonds, but due to the leadership, it is one of the poorest countries in the world. Even though the Joseph Momoh government was the cause of the mass destruction of Sierra Leone, due to the fact the leaders were unwilling to adapt to the needs of the people, Sierra Leone's civil war was founded off the distribution, or lack of distribution, of resources to its citizens.
On the eastern coast of Africa lies a land full of sunny blue skies and large plains in which zebras and elephants roam. This land is the country of Kenya. Outside of Kenya’s cities and towns lies many samples of natures beauty. Unfortunately, the people living in this land are troubled by their struggle with the government and trying to form a democracy. Matthew Carotenuto stated, “Much of the world had historically viewed Kenya as an island of peace and economic potential in a roiling sea of stateless chaos.” What he means is that people have long seen Kenya as a peaceful place that is surrounded by countries suffering from all sorts of violence and unfortunate circumstances. What many people do not know is that Kenya has a long history for political violence going way back to when the country was colonized. Understanding that Kenya’s past violence was due to their struggle for social and political authority helps us understand some of their violence issues today. According to Maina Kiai, violence broke out after Kenya’s 2007 election. Many people had thought that Kenya was a more peaceful country compared to others in Africa because they were working towards a democracy. Currently Kenya is a republic (“Kenya” The World...). Another thing Kiai mentioned is that one of Kenya’s major political problems is that Kenya's constitution gives the president full power to elect anyone he wants into a political position for any salary he chooses. Scott Baldauf and Robert Crilly also explain how Kenya is trying to become a democracy but its political system is weak and allows the president too much power, making the nation a dictatorship in disguise. This leads to many ethical issues within the governments systems. We should care about Ken...