Stop the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The war/violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been going on now for many years and could almost be defined as a war of confusion because of the numerous political, national and armed groups involved.

This very fact, the confusion and lack of will by various leaders of the developed world to come to understand and educate themselves about this conflict and it's causes may be a major factor in the failure to resolve it and bring about it's end.

Some of the atrocities that have occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since it's beginning in 1998 and it's so called "end" in 2003 involve:

1.) The deaths of 5.4 million human beings mostly through starvation, disease in the aftermath of war.

2.) Hunting down, killing and cannibalization of the Pygmy people who are believed to be the original inhabitants of the vast equatorial rainforests of the Congo. Both sides of the war regard or regarded them as sub-human and believed their flesh can confer "magical powers".

3.) Over 40,000 cases of rape reported contributing to the spread of HIV and death by AIDS leaving many children without mothers and the proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases in general.

4.) Displacement of some 3.4 million people within the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as the impoverishment of 100's of thousands.

5.) Nearly 2 million others have been displaced in the neighboring countries of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

6.) Massive theft, looting and unregulated extraction of Congo's abundant natural resources which include minerals, diamonds, timber and the unregulated slaughter of wildlife including chimpanzees and gorillas by soldiers and impoverished citizens for food (called "bushmeat") and also criminal poaching that cannot be presently controlled because of the chaos caused by the war.

7.) Misery inflicted upon millions of helpless men, women and children who don't have stable governments or police forces to protect them or a place to lay their heads at night because of the destruction of their homes and villages and predatory attacks by soldiers and criminals that take what little they have.

Their are many sites on the Internet and articles in the news which attempt to illustrate and chronicle the tragedy which is now going on in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and we should all make an effort to educate ourselves and write to our government leaders and talk to our friends to bring about action and change concerning the chaos in equatorial Africa.

We the undersigned wish for our federal governments to be proactive in helping solve the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and request that in the coming days, weeks and months we see more debate, diplomatic involvement and legislation which will assist the people who are affected by the violence, confusion and chaos of equatorial Africa, and in particular, The Democratic Republic of the Congo.