The Economist (June, 2005)

[dcseain]

From dc_gay_man, verbatim. His original post is here.

Even with a vagina with magical properties, you can not escape the atrocities of war. I think this is the most shocking paragraph I have ever read:

Even by the standards of war, some of the atrocities in eastern Congo are shocking. Zainabo Alfani, for example, was stopped by men in uniform on a road in Ituri last year. She and 13 other women were ordered to strip, to see if they had long vaginal lips, which the gunmen believed would have magical properties. The 13 others did not, and were killed on the spot. Zainabo did. The gunmen cut them off and then gang-raped her. Then they cooked and ate her two daughters in front of her. They also ate chunks of Zainabo's flesh. She escaped, but had contracted HIV. She told her story to the UN in February, and died in March."

Comments

[ksatyr.livejournal.com]

Oh the inhumanity of it all :(

You may want to put the main text of this behind an lj-cut with a warning.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Done, despite the fact that i do feel that people should have stuff like this thrown in their face, as we are wont to live in denial. On the other hand, the people i know are aware, and sensitive, on the whole, so i took your advice. Thanks.

[still-asking.livejournal.com]

The lj cut is kind to those of us who might be checking our f-list just before bed. Thanks.

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

*crosses legs tightly together*

I was hoping this was an exaggerated story, but found even more gruesome confirmation:

http://www.monuc.org/Story.aspx?storyID=432
also quoted on
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/0/9d67ab5121b8582c49256fcc002563af?OpenDocument

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

I feel sick and I feel numb. I've stopped crying, at least. Some of it's the cat, I know, but perhaps I should know better than to click these things.

Paradoxically I feel like I should post these links but I don't know how to write about them such that more sensitive friends can get through their day without screaming.

Of course, as Seain says, it's important that these things are known...

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

That was stomach-turning, but thank you for sharing. *shudders*

[anniemal.livejournal.com]

And here I am, safely in my house of bricks where I know anyone who thinks to molest me will pay. I can lock the doors, and the worst thing I have to deal with is a cat dying. Don't want to go to Africa. Everything I hear about it seems to reinforce my perception of it as worse than a Beltway Clusterfuck. "Who do we kill or mutilate today? What specious reason can we come up with for it?"

I know it isn't all really like that, but dang, these incidents keep cropping up. Then there's China. James! My smelling salts please! What a good and clever doggie!

Nope, I can't quite handle this easily either. But I agree that it is important that we recognise it even if there's little we can make our "representative government" do to help with underlying causes.