Update [2005-2-25 11:52:59 by SusanHu]: Latest from Reuters at end of diary.
If you've seen Hotel Rwanda, a brilliant film, you'll recall the words at the end -- that the horrific conflict in Rwanda ended when the Hutu militia fled to DR Congo.
Everyone in the small, charming Rose Theatre in Pt. Townsend was sobbing last Sunday because the film evidenced the triumph of humanitarian help in the midst of the most base and horrific cruelty.
But my heart sank, and my tears flowed, because I knew the story didn't end there. Over 1,000 -- yes, 1,000 -- Congolese are dying every day, thanks to the "displacement" of that war. In fact, I wanted to scream in the theatre -- "Cry too for the 3 million murdered Congolese!"
And we all cried over the indifference of the West. As the U.N. general in the film says, "You're worse than niggers. You're Africans."
Now this breaking news on the murder of nine U.N. peacekeepers -- and several more are missing or wounded:
::: more below the fold :::
9 UN Peacekeepers Killed in Democratic Republic of Congo
By VOA News
25 February 2005
The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo says up to nine peacekeepers have been killed in an ambush.
The U.N says unidentified gunmen attacked the troops earlier Friday, during a patrol in Congo's volatile northeastern region of Ituri. All those who died are from Bangladesh. Several other U.N. troops are wounded or missing. VOA
The article gives a hurried bit of background:
Thousands of U.N. troops are in Congo to help oversee the transition from a five year long war which ended in a series of peace deals in 2003.
Although the war is over, eastern Congo remains volatile with sporadic violence among various ethnic groups and the Congolese army and dissident soldiers. VOA
Right now, 1,000 people are dying every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation the size of modern Europe and formerly known as Zaire.
Over 3 million have died in a six-year war that metastasized out of the Rwanda civil conflict.
Aid Group: Congo War Claims 1,000 Lives Each Day
By David Lewis, Kinshasa, 9 December 2004
More than 1,000 Congolese civilians are dying from war related disease and malnutrition every day, according to the International Rescue Committee. ... at least 31,000 civilians continue to die every month due to a festering conflict that has killed an estimated 3.8 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A five-year war that sucked in six other neighboring countries was officially declared over last year, but ... continues to be the deadliest crisis in the world. ....
[T]he number of people killed in Congo during the past six years was the equivalent to the population of the city of Los Angeles, or the whole of the country of Ireland.
... almost half ... were children under the age of five ... all of them were killed by disease and malnutrition resulting from a healthcare system destroyed by years of war.
How is the West -- and the U.S. -- culpable? See my Dec. 11, 2004 diary.
P.S. I have, on my lap, an article from the Dec 19 Seattle Times that I've been saving. The title: "Peacekeepers accused of sexual abuse." I've also seen TV reports -- primarily on Free Speech TV and on LINK TV -- of the sexual exploitation of Congolese women by the U.N. peacekeepers. I rather doubt that that has much to do with today's massacre. This is just to make you aware. I'll find the links to these stories later. I only have the print copy.
P.P.S. This is so sweet, particularly since Hotel Rwanda was snubbed for best picture at the Oscars ... Internet Movie Database (IMDb) subscribers have made it #190 in the all-time #250 best movies ever. IMDb subscribers also give it an 8.5 out of 10 -- very rare. Ha!
Update [2005-2-25 11:52:59 by SusanHu]: The Reuters article has much more:
U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno could not confirm the deaths, but said nine Bangladeshi troops were missing and had possibly been killed.
The second source said it was not clear how many troops had been on patrol but that the number should have been between 20 and 30. He said 90 peacekeepers and Mi25 attack helicopters had since been sent to the scene.
The United Nations has a 4,800-strong force in Ituri [eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo] made up of four contingents from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Nepal. The total U.N. force in Congo numbers 16,000, making it the world body's biggest peacekeeping operation.
Ituri is one of Congo's worst troublespots, where ethnic militias have killed 50,000 civilians since 1999 -- the year the current U.N. mission in the country, known by its French acronym MONUC, was established.
HEAVY RAIN
One of the U.N. sources said the patrols were attacked in the Ituri district's town of Ndoki, some 19 miles east of the main city of Bunia and an area controlled by a predominantly ethnic Lendu militia known as FNI.
He said it seemed that two peacekeepers were killed on the spot and seven were taken into the bush and murdered.
"Lendus are not people that take hostages, they just kill. ...