WUNRN
Human Rights Watch - Link to Full
Article:
CONGO - M23 REBELS COMMIT WAR CRIMES
- AGAINST WOMEN & GIRLS +
September
11, 2012 - (Goma) – M23 rebels in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo are responsible for widespread war crimes, including
summary executions, rapes, and forced recruitment. Rwandan officials may be
complicit in war crimes through their continued military assistance to M23
forces, Human Rights Watch said. The Rwandan army has deployed its troops to
eastern Congo to directly support the M23 rebels in military
operations......"
"Since
June, M23 fighters have deliberately killed at least 15 civilians in areas
under their control, some because they were perceived to be against the rebels,
Human Rights Watch said. The fighters also raped at least 46 women and girls.
The youngest rape victim was eight years old. M23 fighters shot dead a
25-year-old woman who was three months pregnant because she resisted being
raped. Two other women died from the wounds inflicted on them when they were
raped by M23 fighters."
"M23
rebels have committed abuses against civilians with horrific brutality, Human
Rights Watch said. Just after midnight on July 7, 2012, M23 fighters attacked a
family in the village of Chengerero. A 32-year-old woman told Human Rights
Watch that the M23 fighters broke down their door, beat her 15-year-old son to
death, and abducted her husband. Before leaving, the M23 fighters gang-raped
her, poured fuel between her legs, and set the fuel on fire. A neighbor came to
the woman’s aid after the M23 fighters left. The whereabouts of the woman’s
husband remain unknown......"
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Women Make Movies
CONGO - JUSTICE FOR SALE -
COURAGEOUS WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER
Direct Link to Film Segment:
Justice
for Sale
A
film by Ilse
van Velzen & Femke
van Velzen
Netherlands/Congo,
2011, 84 minutes, Color, DVD, French/Swahili/Lingala, Subtitled
JUSTICE
FOR SALE follows the young, courageous Congolese human rights lawyer Claudine
Tsongo who refuses to accept that justice is indeed “For Sale” in her country.
When she investigates the case of a soldier convicted of rape, she becomes
convinced his trial was unfair and uncovers a system where the basic principles
of law are ignored—and when the system fails, everyone becomes a victim. The
documentary not only provides a glimpse into the failings of the Congolese
judicial system but also raises questions about the role of the international
community and non-governmental organizations in reforming it. Does their
financial support cause justice to be for sale? And who pays the price?
This is the third documentary in Dutch filmmakers Ilse and Femke van Velzen’s
trilogy about the Congo, following FIGHTING THE SILENCE, about the consequences
for victims of sexual violence and WEAPON OF WAR, confessions by those who
perpetrated the acts. These films are essential viewing for anyone interested
in the issues facing contemporary Africa.