Conflict Minerals: The New Blood Diamonds
Congolese Civilians Working in Gold Mine, Northeastern Congo. Lionel Healing/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images.
As a family prepares to sit down and share a meal, their front door is kicked in and several rebels armed with machine guns and machetes file inside. Two men hold a grandmother’s frail arms as another man uses the muzzle of his gun to rape her. Another rebel soldier has a blade larger than his forearm pressed against a 10 year-old girl’s throat while he ravages her. A mother is raped and beaten to near-death as she fights for her family. Her 4 year-old son is shot in the head and tossed onto the kitchen table as soldiers laughingly suggest that he is eaten along with the rest of the meal. And the father? The rebels already found him outside and left his raped and mutilated body crumpled on the lawn, unable to help his terrified family. This is no horror film, nor any other work of fiction. This is daily life in Democratic Republic of Congo and you and I unwittingly perpetuate it. Read more
