Photo Credit: Refugees International
11/12/2006

Despite progress made in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the past few years, much of it thanks to the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC, civilians continue to die from attacks and abuse. As the Security Council debates MONUC's new mandate, protecting those most at risk must be the priority. Civilians bear the brunt of the ongoing conflict; families get caught in the crossfire or suffer reprisals from one group or the other. Troops from the national army continue to extort food and labor, and rape and sexually assault women and children. Reports emerging from the forest near Bukavu, in South Kivu Province, are an echo of the dark days of the war. The tactics used seem designed "to intentionally sow terror in the population," recounts a humanitarian assessment of the area.