More than 50 rabbis including Reform head Rabbi Tony Bayfield and Liberal chief executive Rabbi Danny Rich have called on political leaders to make it an “absolute priority” for the next parliament to act to save war-ravaged Congo.

In a letter published in today’s Guardian, they say that the loss of life had reached nearly five and half million people by 2007 – with 45,000 still dying every month.

“What these shocking figures cannot convey is the scale of ongoing rape, torture and humiliation,” they write.

“The human rights organisation Genocide Watch lists Congo at the top of its 2010 list of countries facing ongoing massacres. There is still no end in sigh to the atrocities.”

Calling for British leaders to help mobilise world opinion, they say that while there are numerous humanitarian causes around the world requiring urgent attention, “the war and humanitarian crisis overwhelming Congo are on a scale that can no longer be ignored. Now is the time for action.”