Democratic republic of congo (DRC)

What we have long feared is beginning to happen in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  The UN mandated July election is not taking place and violence is beginning to erupt between the UN peacekeepers, DRC soldiers, the many militant groups and protesters seeking democracy.  The human tragedy of women and children being used as human shields is beyond comprehension. Click on links from various CNN articles.  Please continue to pray for not only Regina, but for all those who are trapped in the DRC.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/06/27/congo.un.ap/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/06/30/congo.protest.reut/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/07/03/congo.rampage.reut/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/07/05/un.congo.ap/index.html

Learn more about the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)

Population: 58,317,930 (NY is 19,000,000 and the entire U.S. is 290,000,000.)

Median Age: 15.8 years (U.S. is 35 years)

Infant Mortality Rate: 9.469% (U.S. is .7%)

Life Expectancy: 49. 14 years (U.S. is 77 years)

Major Infectious Diseases: typhoid fever, malaria, trypanosomiasis. plague, schistosomiasis, HIV/Aids

Source: CIA - The World Factbook, 2005

"Conflict and grave human rights abuses continue in eastern DRC. Abuses in the east included mass unlawful killings of civilians, rape, and extensive use of child soldiers. Torture, arbitrary arrests, and illegal detentions persisted throughout the country. Death sentences continued to be passed and executions resumed. By the end of 2003, around 3.4 million people remained internally displaced, in many cases, in areas inaccessible to humanitarian assistance." 

Click here for full report.

Source: Amnesty International Report on the Democratic Republic of Congo (December 2003)