'Nightline' shines light on Congo
By David Bauder
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Ted Koppel begins a five-part "Nightline" series on the war in Congo with an extraordinary apology from both his program and his profession.
Few Americans know about the estimated 2.5 million people who have died in Congo and surrounding African countries over the past three years, and even fewer know why. Koppel said journalists who failed to give the story the attention it deserves are to blame.
"These are events you should have heard about on 'Nightline' years ago," Koppel says in his introduction, his back to the rocky shore of Congo's Lake Kivu.
The ABC "Nightline" series is a heartbreaking, harrowing start in shining a light on the region's tragedy.
"How can 2 1/2 million people die over a three-year period and we don't even notice?" Koppel asked in an interview. "It's not as though we were looking at the story and saying, 'It's far away, let's not bother.' It didn't even rise to that level."
Contrast that to the attention paid to the war in Kosovo, where an estimated 20,000 people died.
Congo is far away, is so inaccessible that "Nightline" had to shoot some scenes from the air and, in many places, is too dangerous to visit. America has no obvious strategic interest, and it's nearly impossible to identify good guys and bad guys, he said. Racism is also partly to blame for the inattention, with the insidious sense that people expect this from Africa, he said.
After arriving in Congo, Koppel and his crew learned firsthand the difficulties in illustrating the story. The lake where Koppel narrates his first report is an example.
It's picturesque, the rocky shoreline behind him empty. ABC shows file footage from the same vantage point seven years ago, when the shoreline teemed with refugees from fighting in the nearby jungle. Tons of human waste were dumped into the lake, igniting a cholera epidemic that killed countless numbers of people.
"Nightline" shows the bones of animals killed for food at what had been a game preserve. As the cameras pan over valleys of lush vegetation at the park, Koppel lets his frustration slip.
"We don't have a pile of human bodies to show you," he says. "People are dying here in the Congo at a rate of 2,500 a day, and most of what we saw looks like a damned picture postcard."
Not quite. "Nightline" airs haunting pictures of malnourished children. Koppel interviews rape victims, one who says she was assaulted by 30 men.
A "Nightline" reporter's flight with U.N. peacekeepers is canceled, apparently by militia leaders, because of rumors that more ethnic killings are taking place. The futility and powerlessness felt by those who want to help comes through.
