from the Editorial staff of
The New York Times

Darfur is not the only place where people are dying in staggering numbers. Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken more than three million lives in the last nine years. Since damping down a civil war in 2003, the outside world has largely focused on the struggle for power in the capital, Kinshasa, culminating in elections last year that were mostly free and fair.

Fine, but thousands of people are still dying as violence once again flares in the east of this huge country where government troops and rebels continue their ruthless war of attrition. Meanwhile, throughout the country, government security forces terrorize and rape civilians and pillage their goods in lieu of the wages they fail to receive. To escape the violence, tens of thousands of civilians have been driven into the forest, where far too many die from preventable disease and malnutrition.

A large United Nations peacekeeping force - the largest in the world - has been present in the region for years. It deserves credit for reducing the fighting. But peacekeepers have also been accused of smuggling gold, sexually abusing minors and deliberately killing militia members in their custody. The U.N. is investigating these killings, but the organization has a poor record of seeing that the guilty are appropriately punished. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon needs to insist on full disclosure and accountability when peacekeepers commit crimes under the U.N. flag.

The Congo’s biggest need, however, is for better governance, including a healthy, independent judiciary and better disciplined security forces. The international community needs to do a lot more to help the government on these fronts. Until that happens, the death toll will continue to rise.