WUNRN
NGO WORKING GROUP ON WOMEN, PEACE AND
SECURITY:STATEMENT ON THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
The NGO Working Group on Women Peace and
Security is alarmed at the latest reports by its member organizations and the
United Nations of mass rape and other crimes against civilians perpetrated in
the Fizi area of South Kivu by troops of the armed
forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).[1] The NGO Working
Group urges the Government of the DRC, the United Nations and Member States to
heed the voices of Congolese women, who have repeatedly stressed that
such attacks stem from the persistent failure of the DRC authorities to advance
equality for women and ensure justice for survivors.
According to local sources, a senior officer
of the Congolese army (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo -
FARDC) defected from a training course at Kananda military training centre in
South Kivu after learning he was to be demoted. He left the centre on 9
June with approximately 150 soldiers, who then terrorized and raided
communities including raping over 120 women in the village of Nyakiele near the
town of Fizi, and the surrounding area. Members of this group were previously
convicted and jailed by a military court for "crimes against humanity"
in February 2011 for raping at least 60 women in the same area in early January
2011. Such attacks also mirror atrocities committed in July and August
2010, in which more than 300 women, men, boys and girls were systematically
raped in Walikale, North Kivu.[2]
The UN Security Council has stated its
commitment to end discrimination against women and address sexual violence in
situations of conflict through the adoption of five resolutions on Women, Peace
and Security.[3] At the request of the
Council, the UN Secretary-General has also appointed Special Representative on
Sexual Violence in Conflict to coordinate and strengthen UN efforts, and has
created a Team of Experts to assist national authorities in strengthening the
rule of law to prevent and respond to the use of sexual violence.[4] After the events in
Walikale last year, the Security Council further "demanded that all
possible steps should be taken to prevent such outrages in the future."[5] Twelve months on, the
latest incidents of mass rape demonstrate that no meaningful action appears to
have been taken in the DRC to prevent such crimes against women and other
civilians.
While we recognize the difficult conditions
under which the UN Peacekeeping Mission in DRC (MONUSCO) operates, given the
proximity of the most recent attacks to a MONUSCO military base, and that this
is an area in which women have often been targeted in the past, the NGO Working
Group is deeply concerned that the measures taken by the UN Mission in
fulfillment of its protection of civilians mandate are woefully insufficient to
adequately prevent attacks of this kind.
The Security Council has required early
warning indicators that should prompt immediate action to prevent such attacks
on civilians. Key provisions of the recent Security Council resolution 1991
renewing of the MONUSCO mandate, including those on vetting and security sector
reform, must be implemented immediately to ensure the DRC national army is
effectively reformed to protect, not terrorize, civilians.
The NGO Working Group welcomes the UN's
announcement that it has already conducted an initial assessment of the
incident and plans more in-depth investigations.[6] The United Nations
should investigate and publicly report on why the soldiers were not prevented
from carrying out the attack, and what measures are being taken to respond to
the needs of the survivors and to guarantee non-repetition of such crimes.
Measures must include improved vetting of reintegrated soldiers, strengthening
rule of law institutions, bringing suspected perpetrators to justice, and
advancing equality for Congolese women.
The UN's current investigations into the
attacks in the Fizi area must not become yet another "lessons
learned" exercise, destined to gather dust in unread UN manuals and
archives. This is a pivotal moment to implement measures old and new that will
guarantee non-repetition of such attacks. Prompt, thorough, independent and
impartial investigations must be conducted into these crimes in accordance with
international standards and, where there is sufficient admissible evidence, the
perpetrators must be brought to justice in a process that ensures protection of
victims and witnesses and foresees the provision of health services to the
victims.
The wider culture of impunity for this and
other crimes must be ended through a comprehensive reform of the judicial
system and the security sector. In addition, the international community -
including the Security Council, the UN system, and donor countries - must
invest all available political, technical and financial resources in leveraging
the DRC executive, judiciary and legislature to meet their responsibility to
respect, protect and fulfill the rights of all Congolese.
********************
The NGOWG on Women, Peace and Security, a
coalition of 17 international NGOs, advocates for the equal and full
participation of women in all efforts to create and maintain international
peace and security. Formed in 2000 to call for a Security Council resolution on
Women, Peace and Security, the NGOWG now focuses on implementation of all
Security Council resolutions that address this issue. The NGOWG serves as a
bridge between women's human rights defenders working in conflict-affected
situations and policy-makers at U.N. Headquarters.
More information can be found on the website:
www.womenpeacesecurity.org
[1] Amnesty
International: New mass rapes in DRC are result of horrific failure of
justice, 23 June 2011
[2] Amnesty
International, Mass rape in Walikale: Still a need for protection and
justice in eastern Congo, December 2010. See also the Final Report of
the Fact-Finding Missions of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office
Into the Mass Rapes and Other Human Rights Violations Committed By a Coalition
of Armed Groups Along the Kibua-Mpofi Axis in Walikale Territory, North Kivu,
from 30 July to 2 August 2010
[3] Security Council
Resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), and 1960 (2010)
[4]Security Council
resolution 1888 (2009) on Women, Peace and Security, paragraphs 4, 5, 8, and
24.
[5] Security Council
press statement SC/10016; AFR/2030, "Security Council Press Statement on
Democratic Republic of Congo," 26 August 2010
[6] United Nations: UN
team confirms mass rapes occurred in remote villages in eastern DR Congo, 1
July 2011