A Report On The Congo War Essay - 1388 Words

Sadly, war is a large part of life in the Congo. Blighted by political violence for decades, combatants continue to up the ante on aggression levels at an exponential rate since the inception of the Congo War in 1997. The Congo War is extraordinarily complex, with a conglomerate of loosely associated rebels fighting each other, and often swapping sides. As the levels of violence escalated, so have the casualties. The exact numbers of these casualties are in dispute. A report conducted by the International Rescue Committee in 2008 estimates that 5.4 million Congolese have died in the conflict between 1998 and 2007, while The Human Security Report from Simon Frasier University in Canada’s British Columbia endorses a Belgian report that places casualties at 200,000 between 1998 and 2004. Therefore, it is no wonder that researchers and organizations are having difficulties in obtaining accurate numbers since the combatants fight as groups of irregulars. Whatever the numbers are, it is clear that men, women, and children are dying, and those most affected by the violence are those most vulnerable. Men, Boys, and the Congo War The rebel forces that are fighting in the war consist of men and boy soldiers, some well under the age of 18. Paid meager amounts, if anything all, soldiers are encouraged by their superiors to live off the land. Consequently, this edict serves only to beget an escalation in violence, primarily against civilians. Unfortunately, this policy encourages manyShow MoreRelatedDemocratic Republic of Congo: An Explanation of the Country’s Population Problems1163 Words   |  5 Pages The Democratic Republic of Congo has been experiencing the same war for over two decades, and there is a strong correlation between the country’s demographic indicator rates and the conflict (World Factbook). 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