Our shameful footnote to the Congo horror story
And with good reason. Five million people - yes, five million - have lost their lives since 1998 as armies from neighbouring countries battle for the rich pickings of diamonds and cotton from the Congo's fertile fields.
As is increasingly the case with modern conflict, citizens bore the brunt of the violence and, according to a recent report, many thousands of women and girls, some as young as five, were raped or kept as sex slaves by soldiers from more than 20 armed militias and the armies of the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Even though the war is now officially over, its victims continue to suffer. The report, written by Amnesty International, says that more than 40,000 of these rape victims are in desperate need of medical treatment and are facing an HIV epidemic.
