The Mass Murder of the Forest People

 

    When people think of pygmies, they think of little people living peacefully in theforest; however, this is just the view of the ignorant. Most people in the world know nothing about the current pygmy people’s hardships. The Pygmies are being hunted down like animals, raped, beaten and then killed and eaten. It is the secret genocide, which no one knows about. The average Joe thinks that the last genocide has been the Holocaust but this is a false thought because the mass killing of the pygmies is happening currently and there is nothing that is stopping it. The pygmy people are going through hell because of this genocide, no one knows and no one is doing anything to prevent further killings.

 

    The pygmies had been suffering far before the actual mass killing and cannibalism began. Like all other genocide, the pygmies went through six steps before the killing of their people. These steps include classification, symbolization, dehumanization, polarization, and preparation. The classification and dehumanization were the worst for the pygmies, because they were discriminated against and basically all their rights were taken away. “Approximately 6,500 Bambuti pygmies live on Idjwi Island under very difficult circumstances. They live more or less like tramps, being kicked from place to place. They have no rights to the land in which they live and no fishing rights, a key source of their food (Bideri and Hergum 6).” This is just one of the earlier forms of their discrimination. Like their Rwandan and Burundian counterparts, the Pygmy people of DRC are often victims of discrimination. They are often considered immoral, dirty, deceitful and uncivilized. They are also described as creatures, not human beings. The forest based way of life is the basis for the extreme discrimination and inhuman consideration (Bideri and Hergum 10).

 

      It is clear to see the third step of genocide, dehumanization, the pygmies are considered as animals or creatures and not human beings. The pygmies are not only called animals but they are denied almost every right given to the normal citizens. They are forced to make their houses out of leaves and sticks because the government can expel them from the forest at any given time. Not only are they forced to walk for miles to a different place to stay, but because they cannot have permanent homes, they are forced to live in grueling conditions. Their right to represent themselves is also taken away, which is another example of dehumanization. The pygmy peoples are also being routinely deprived of their human rights by governments, which fail to consider them as equal citizens (Chakma and Jensen 320). Accordingly, they virtually have no access to basic services and utilities, and are denied development and assistance (W’lsuka 77-79). Many people consider the pygmies as ‘museum peoples’ rather than really being considered as human beings created in God’s image, called to enjoy life equally as other peoples (W’lsuka 77-79). This just gives more reason for people to discriminate against the forest peoples. The little people had been thrown around for many years but the worst was yet to come.

 

      After the first six steps of Genocide occurred, the people of the forest were suddenly the targets of mass murder and cannibalism. Amuzati N., a Bambuti pygmy who escaped a massacre by a rebel group in Democratic Republic of Congo said, "They started 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 (Penketh 1).” Truscott 3The rebels have deliberately targeted the Bambuti pygmies, who are considered "subhuman" or dismissed as beggars and thieves by other ethnic groups (Penketh 1). The pygmies are threatened with being eaten as a weapon of war to get them to leave the area. Also, their attackers believe that by consuming the flesh of a pygmy, they are conferring magical powers on themselves (Penketh 1). The pygmies are being hunted down like they are deer and eaten for their “magical powers,” ;however, there is another reason for their mass killing. A group known as the Erasers used cannibalism to clear the land of the people in order to get to their natural resources (Zahara 1). They are murdering and eating the pygmies for the resources that the pygmies lived around.

 

     Not only were the men killed but everyone else was murdered as well for the inanimate objects around them. Women pygmies were slaughtered and raped and the childrenwere gathered and beaten to death (Penketh 1). Sumbula R., who survived a massacre by armedmen in military clothes in the village of Mbuluku said, “It was in the night around 8pm, whenpeople began to fall asleep, once they were sure the village was asleep, they attacked and started to shoot and kill. They started shooting at all those who tried to escape. One ran this way, they shot him. Another ran that way; they shot her - even the women. They captured the youngchildren, gathered them and held them until daylight. Then they put some of them in a mortarand pounded them to death. They destroyed the huts and set them on fire. The people were alsoburned” (Penketh 1). Pindjaone B., from the same village, was already hiding in the forest with her husband and mother when four soldiers came across them. "They started to push us around and to intimidate us, asking for goat meat. We said we were not able to find that sort of thing. They said that was good because we were people with powers, people who could heal illnesses. That if we didn't have meat they could eat us and they would get the power. Then they asked my husband several times to sleep with my mother in order that they could see our power. They beat him but he refused to do it. Then they raped my mother and me, one after the other, each by two of them. Afterwards they asked my husband to sleep with me in front of them to see how we make love. After strong threats and blows my husband finally accepted and we did it in front of my mother and in front of them. It was horrible” (Penketh 1). Not only did they kill them, they raped them and humiliated them in front of their families. The rape was very common when the soldiers attacked, Cecile N. from the region of North Kivu, was one of nine Bambuti women chopping firewood when about 20 rebel soldiers from the Rwandan-backed RCD-Goma appeared, armed with rifles and knives. She said that after orders from their commander: "The soldiers raped us in turn; at least two or three soldiers for one woman (Penketh 1)." It is bad enough that these unhuman crimes occurred, but what is far worse is that it is still going on today and the killers have received no punishment for their crime against humanity.

 

     This genocide of the forest people of the Congo started in the early 2000s and has been ongoing to the present time, the UN refuses to classify it as genocide. Not only the UN, but no international organization or Western government wants to fully acknowledge it due to the fact they will be forced into action. After setting up peace agreements, MONUC (The UnitedNations Mission in Congo) has enough worries of trying to keep rival militia groups away fromone another in order to avoid another war (Zahaaa 1). That is reason that people are being eatenwith no help, because the UN is too busy. There has been no punishment for these crimes as ofyet (Penketh 1). Many of the pygmy victims are afraid of testifying but the ones who have, havemade it clear that this is crimes against humanity. The UN refuses to really do anything becauseit was the rebels that did the crime and not the government. The main problem occurring inthis genocide is that there are so few people that know about it and even fewer, that know theentire story. There must be more knowledge about this occurrence in order to pressure the UN tointervene and stop the mass killing and cannibalism of the pygmy peoples.

 

 

     This genocide of the forest people of the Congo started in the early 2000s and has been ongoing to the present time, the UN refuses to classify it as genocide. Not only the UN, but no international organization or Western government wants to fully acknowledge it due to the fact they will be forced into action. After setting up peace agreements, MONUC (The UnitedNations Mission in Congo) has enough worries of trying to keep rival militia groups away fromone another in order to avoid another war (Zahaaa 1). That is reason that people are being eatenwith no help, because the UN is too busy. There has been no punishment for these crimes as ofyet (Penketh 1). Many of the pygmy victims are afraid of testifying but the ones who have, havemade it clear that this is crimes against humanity. The UN refuses to really do anything becauseit was the rebels that did the crime and not the government. The main problem occurring inthis genocide is that there are so few people that know about it and even fewer, that know theentire story. There must be more knowledge about this occurrence in order to pressure the UN tointervene and stop the mass killing and cannibalism of the pygmy peoples.

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

Bideri, Clemence and Hans Hergum . The Pygmies of the Great Lakes. Sandakerveien, Norway:Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian Church Aid 2004. Web. 13 March 2014.

 

Chakma, Suhas and Marianne Jensen. Racism Against Indigenous Peoples.Denmark. Eks-Skolens Trykkeri, The International Work Group For Indigenous Affair and Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network 2001. Web. 13 March 2014.

 

Penketh, Anne. Extermination Of The Pygmies. Rense.com. Web. 13 March 2014.

 

W’Isuka, Paul. Encountering Pygmy Peoples as a Challenge to Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs, Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011. Web. 13 March 2014.

 

Zahara, John. A Secret Genocide: “The Pygmies of East Congo” Planet Ivy. 16 July 2012.Web.13 March 2014.