In June 2000, the International Rescue Committee released a report on mortality in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for the 22 months beginning with the resumption of fighting in August 1998. Using normal baseline mortality rates, the report estimated that 1.7 million deaths occurred in excess of the number normally expected. To update its findings, the IRC conducted a second survey in March 2001. As a result, the IRC now estimates that 2.5 million excess deaths have occurred during the 32-month period beginning in August 1998 and ending in March 2001. The 2000 and 2001 surveys both indicate that the overwhelming majority of deaths were related to disease and malnutrition, while a proportionately smaller number were directly attributable to violence. This year’s survey puts the number of such violent deaths at 350,000.

The book, Management of Dead Bodies in Disaster Situations, provides the technical information needed to support relief workers in the proper management of dead bodies, based on the following principles: When a death is the result of a disaster, the body does not pose a major public health risk for the spread of infection. Victims should never be buried in common graves. Mass cremation of bodies should never take place when this goes against the cultural and religious norms of the population. Every effort should be made to identify bodies, and--as a last resort--unidentified corpses should be buried in such a way as to permit later identification or exhumation. This is a basic human right of surviving family members.