At the old Catholic mission on a steep hill just outside the gold-mining town of Kilo in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, hundreds of people gathered outside the school, built by Belgian missionaries at the end of the 19th century and now crumbling. The priest, Abbé Jean Pierre, stood at the top of the church steps. 'This is a historic day for Congo,' he said. 'This is the day we vote for peace.' Barely a hundred yards from the polling station, there is a mass grave. Three years ago, dozens of people were killed here in a single day: the victims, mostly civilians, were stripped, thrown face down on the ground and attacked with spears.

LRB 19 October 2006 | PDF Download