Human Rights Watch and the Museum of Tolerance are pleased to present

The Hidden Face of Gold / The Democratic Republic of Congo
Photographs by Marcus Bleasdale

September 18th – November 2nd, 2007

The Museum of Tolerance
Simon Wiesenthal Plaza
9786 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles

For hours, directions and visitor information, please visit the Museum of Tolerance website.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most mineral-rich nations in the world.  Its resources should be a blessing for the Congolese people, but instead the competition for control of these riches has fueled a bloody war in which nearly four million people have died since 1998.  A Congolese gold miner told Human Rights Watch, “We are cursed because of our gold. All we do is suffer.”

Marcus Bleasdale partnered with Human Rights Watch to expose and document the illegal gold smuggling from Congo’s mines where abusive local warlords gain the profits while local populations suffer.  Marcus’ photographs have received numerous awards, including the 2006 Overseas Press Club and the 2006 World Photo Press Award for Daily Life Singles. His photographs have appeared in Time, the New Yorker, Newsweek, National Geographic, and the Telegraph.

For more information about Human Rights Watch and the Curse of Gold Report, please click here.