AFRICAN GENOCIDE

Pygmies During the congo Civil war (1998-2003) Pygmies

were hunted down and eaten by both side in the conflicts who regarded them as
subhuman. Minority rights group international reported evidence of of mass killing,
cannibalism and rape so it is considered a genocide. In the Ituri district, rebel forces
ran a operation code name Effacer le tableau (to wipe the slate clean). The aim of
the operation was to rid the forest of pygmies. Although they have been targeted by
virtually every all armed groups, much of the violence against pygmies is attributed
to the rebel group, movement for the Liberation of Congo which is part of a
transitional government and still controls much of the north, and their allies.
The pygmies population was also target of the Interahamwe during 1994 Rwandan
Genocide. Of the 30,000 Pygmies in Rwanda, an estimated 10,000 were displaced. They are
described as forgotten victims of the genocide. The current Rwandan Pygmy population is
about 33,000, and is reportedly declining. By one estimate, the total number of pygmies killed
during the civil war was 70,000. In the Republic of Congo, where Pygmies make up 2% of the
population many Pygmies live as slaves born as slaves at birth. Working for a master's whim
like cigarettes, used clothing, or even nothing at all.
The attackers come after darkness falls, making their way through thick jungle in search
of the pygmy settlements. Then the horror begins. "They start killing people and eating them ... I
saw them cutting up human flesh, then they were putting it on a fire to grill it. I got scared and
ran away, not knowing what else happened behind me. Those are the words of Amuzati N., a
Bambuti pygmy who escaped a massacre by a rebel group in Democratic Republic of Congo,
the scene of the conflict known as Africa's "first world war" because of the number of parties
involved in the struggle for the mineral-rich country.
The government has done nothing to stop the pain and suffering of the poor pygmies
and there is still activist trying to get the government to stop this. There is not very much
eyewitness to the cases because there usually too scared. Also Pygmies are often evicted from
their land and given the lowest paying jobs. At a state level, Pygmies are not considered citizens
by most African states and are refused identity cards, deeds to land, health care and proper
schooling. Government policies and multinational corporations involved in massive deforestation
have exacerbated this problem by forcing more Pygmies out of their traditional homelands and
into villages and cities where they often are marginalized, impoverished and abused by the
dominant culture.