ACPET - Basement of Horrors

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This section is intended to help raise awareness and shock people out of their complacency.
It also serves the Burden of Proof - these are the "Dead Bodies" it must take to get action from government and, more importantly, the public. "If you think violence is not a problem in your community, and it is amazing how many do not, read on. However, please be warned that you should find this material unsettling."
Please submit real life stories for inclusion to stewartr [at] peace.ca.

The world is dangerous not because of those who do harm
but because of those who look at it without doing anything.

Articles:

BURKINA FASO: CIRCUMCISERS ARE OPERATING ON BABY GIRLS TO EVADE LAW - An apparent decline in the number of circumcision operations carried out on young women in Burkina Faso masks a growing trend to circumcise younger and younger girls, according to a new survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Burkina based National Committee Against the Practice of Circumcision (CNLPE). Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=22278

Quicktime Movie of Dead Babies Being Thrown Into a Dump Truck CNN - Zaire, November 1996 [ Download the Quicktime Movie Player from Apple ] zaire_goma_dead_30.gif (53088 bytes)

Triumph Over Torture by Michael Lapsley

Excess Deaths in Congo

ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA - A Peace Dividend for Child Soldiers?

CIVILIAN HARM IN SIERRA LEONE CONFLICT excerpted in website presentation, with photos & film-clips:
http://CNN.com/SPECIALS/2000/cryfreetown/

Maimed Africans look to Canada: Hacking off limbs favourite terror tactic of child rebels in Sierra Leone's upheaval (Calgary Herald, Sept. 4/98)

africanman.JPG (10221 bytes) Child-soldiers hacked at this man's arms (left), but were unable to sever them from his torso.

africangrl.JPG (15706 bytes) Teenage girl with severed left arm

Sudan Haunted by Slavery

1999 - Aug 15 - Sudan haunted by slavery - bbc

As the ancient practice of slavery continues to haunt Sudan, Western charities are resorting to desperate measures to rescue the slaves - triggering a fierce debate.
Listen to Mike William's report
Christian Solidarity Worldwide is one of a number of organizations who give cash to people to buy back their enslaved relatives, captured in the largely Christian south by northern militia groups.
Each 'redemption' scheme costs between $50 to $100.
Reverend Stuart Windsor, UK Director of Christian Solidarity Worldwide told the BBC that over the last 18 months, "we've redeemed about 1,200 women and children from slavery".
But there are those who fear that the programme of redemption exposes others to attacks from the slave traders.
Many point out that the numbers of slaves being bought back in Sudan have increased to thousands in the past few years. The money for their release comes from well-meaning people in the west, who raise thousands of dollars.
"They are paying money for the freedom of a person. For us that is ethically wrong, you cannot buy somebody's freedom," said Patrick McCormick, a spokesman for the United Nation's Children's Fund (Unicef).
"We find it hard to believe that it hasn't encouraged people, if they are desperate, to sell their children. Or else, encourage slave traders to increase their business," he said.

Rwanda Image
© James Nachtwey/Magnum
A Hutu man who did not support the genocide had been imprisoned in the concentration camp, starved and attacked with machetes. He managed to survive after he was freed and was placed in the care of the Red Cross.