Marie A. King Corsair

Alerting Campus - Matthew Dearing of SMC's Amnesty International Club helps bring awareness of the issues of war-torn Congo to his fellow students.

• SMC's Amnesty International Club and the Progressive Alliance band together against violence in Congo .

Millions of people have died in the past five years as a result of the brutal civil war that is tearing apart the Democratic Republic of Congo. Media coverage of the war remains virtually non-existent in the United States . The American public is kept ignorant on the issue and the Congolese continue to suffer. 

Santa Monica College 's Amnesty International Club and the Progressive Alliance held a meeting on Oct. 28 to discuss the ongoing crisis in the Congo .  The discussion focused mainly on the epidemic facing young Congolese children.

"It is like a 'blind veil'...the U.S. doesn't see it," said Matt Dearing, SMC student and member of Amnesty International. 

Children as young as 7 are being targeted by the Congolese military, according to the Amnesty organization.

Militia groups patrol the country, abducting Congolese children and forcing them to serve as soldiers and wives to military commanders; thousands of children are being taken. 

The atrocities being committed in the Congo , say the activist organizations, are numerous: many young female children are raped by soldiers carrying HIV or AIDS. They are then sent back to their villages to transport and spread the virus. Children are being taken from their homes, from street corners, classrooms and refugee camps. Once captured, they are trained to be soldiers through carnage and bloodshed. The children are immediately forced to commit acts of severe brutality. Many of them must return home and shoot their families and friends or they will be killed themselves.

Child soldiers are exposed to such violence that the physical and emotional traumas are often irreversible.

Some children, according to literature distributed by the organizations, volunteer themselves to the military. Many have been separated from their parents and are now homeless. Education, often unavailable to the children of the Congo , makes the harsh reality of becoming a child soldier oftentimes desirable. 

"They choose children because they are more vulnerable," said Progressive Alliance member Nick Corbin.

"It is not that these are bad people. It is the playing out of socio- economics within capitalism. It happens out of desperation," Corbin said.

Dearing began the "Crisis in the Congo " meeting with a quick overview of the hierarchal and economic history of the country, dating back to the 1960s. 

Joseph Sese Seko Mobutu reigned over the Congo with a corrupt dictatorial regime for nearly 32 years; then, in 1997, he was exiled - with the help of the Rwandan military - and Laurent Kabila became president of the country. In 1998 President Kabila tried to expel the Rwandan military, which was apparently providing protection for many African governments against armed enemy militia. Kabila's actions evoked rebellion among many Congolese, which was the catalyst the current war. 

Following Kabila's assassination, his son, Joseph Kabila, became president and is still in control of DRC today.

The tension in DRC, according to club members monitoring the situation there, has been building for decades.

Competition for natural resources, some say, is a key factor in the Congo 's ensuing war. 

Much of the warring taking place in the Congo , says the Progressive Alliance, is a result of the exploitation of the country's natural resources. Diamonds, gold, silver and other precious metals are among the sought-after commodities of the country. 

Colton , a "new" metal that is now more precious than gold, is used for cell phones and internet connections, and many industrial nations seem to want a corner of this new market. 

Until the Congo is no longer in poverty and its national debt is somehow reconciled, the atrocities of war that are tearing apart the country and its people will continue, the activists said. 

There are ways to help. Amnesty International, an organization dedicated to human rights, has pre-written letters to people of power - such as Secretary of State Colin Powell, which can be signed by students at the end of each meeting to help put pressure and abolish this crisis.

People are also encouraged by the clubs to write personal letters. 

Since the Congo crisis is scarcely covered in our broadcast news, Amnesty International asks students to research information via the Internet, and by attending club meetings, which are held every Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:15 a.m. in room 136 of the Liberal Arts building.

To learn about more ways by which you can help with the crisis facing the Democratic Republic of Congo, visit the Amnesty International website at www.amnestyusa.org.