The World Capital of Killing
February 8, 2010
In his recent New York Times op-ed column, “The World Capital of Killing,” Nicholas Kristof takes a close look at the war in eastern Congo, and compares it to the Holocaust. He states that an estimated 6.9 million people have been murdered in the Congo’s war. The war “in eastern Congo has not only lasted longer than the Holocaust but also appears to have claimed more lives,” Kristof writes. But, he goes on to explain, “what those numbers don’t capture is the way Congo has become the world capital of rape, torture and mutilation, in ways that sear survivors.” What can be done to stop this genocide? “Unless we see some leadership here,” Kristof writes, “the fighting in Congo—fueled by profits from mineral exports—will continue indefinitely.”
Discussion Questions:
- Despite the statistics, many people are not aware of the crimes in Congo. What would it take for people to become aware? What would it take for people to do something with that awareness?
- What is genocide?
- The word “genocide” itself was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a legal scholar and a Polish Jew who was forced to flee when the Nazis invaded Poland. As part of a much longer definition, Lemkin defines genocide as “the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group.” After reading Kristof’s column, in what ways are the Congolese being destroyed?
- After reading the column, what differences do you see between the war in Congo and what you’ve learned about the Holocaust and the ways Jews and many others were exterminated in Nazi Germany? What are some similarities?
- What can governments do to prevent human rights abuses?
- What is the responsibility of the international community when human rights are being violated across the globe? What can they actually do about it?
- What difference can it make if people around the world know about the continuing genocide in Congo? To what extent do you think spreading information can be a tool for ending genocide?
- Kristof writes that the Congo “has become the world capital of rape, torture and mutilation, in ways that sear survivors.” How do you think the true nature of what’s happening in Congo can be taught in schools, given the graphic and disturbing details that even Kristof’s short column portrays?
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