WUNRN
UN News Centre
CONGO - UN REPORT CONFIRMS MASS RAPE
OF WOMEN & GIRLS BY CONGOLESE TROOPS
Villagers
fleeing their homes in Sake, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s
8 May 2013 –
Congolese armed forces, known by the French acronym FARDC, raped more than 102
women and 33 girls, some as young as six years old, as they fled the advance
M23 rebels in country’s restive eastern region in November 2012, according to a
joint UN report released
today.
The report,
which details victim and eyewitness accounts of mass rape, killings, arbitrary
executions and other gross violations of human rights, was authored by the UN
Joint Human Rights Office comprised of the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and the
office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the DRC.
While the
report also cites M23 rebels for committing atrocities, it notes that the
serious rights violations committed by FARDC soldiers, in particular, were
“perpetrated in a systematic manner and with extreme violence” and may
constitute international crimes under human rights law, as well as crimes under
Congolese criminal law.
“Those
responsible for such crimes must know that they will be prosecuted,” UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement, calling the
sexual violence outlined in the report “horrifying” in scale and systematic
nature.
The joint investigation
attributes poor discipline among soldiers and officers, as well as improper
training and inadequate vetting mechanisms for what happened.
The
investigation also expresses serous concern about the failure of the Congolese
army to protect civilians, which it says stems from a lack of vetting
procedures which allowed former rebels to integrate into the national army
without verification of the human rights records.
Most of the
cases documented happened on 22 and 23 November 2012 in and around the town of
Minova in South Kivu and followed a similar modus operandi: “FARDC soldiers
entered houses, usually in groups of three to six, and, after threatening the
inhabitants, looted whatever they could find. One or two of the soldiers would
leave with the looted goods and at least one would stand guard as the remaining
FARDC soldiers raped women and girls in the house.”
“Victims
were threatened with death if they shouted; some were raped at gunpoint. Most
victims were raped by more than one soldier. Almost all cases of rape
documented by the UNJHRO were accompanied by death threats and additional acts
of physical violence,” the report continued.
During the
period of their occupation of the towns of Goma and Sake in North Kivu, M23
combatants also perpetrated serious violations of international humanitarian
law and gross human rights violations, according to the report. The UN
investigation documented at least 59 cases of sexual violence, 11 arbitrary
executions, recruitment of children, forced labour, cruel inhuman and degrading
treatment and looting by M23 combatants.
Noting that
the DRC authorities have made efforts to investigate the violations, Ms. Pillay
urged DRC authorities do more to ensure justice for the victims and
re-establish the confidence of the civilian population in the Congolese justice
system.
Authorities
suspended for further investigation the commanding officers of two of the
battalions implicated in the rapes after MONUSCO sent a letter to FARDC's chief
of staff requesting the formal suspension of support to these units.
Since then,
the Government said it had launched investigations and recorded some 400
testimonies from victims, witnesses and suspects. It added that several arrests
had been made as an interim internal disciplinary measure, and a number of
officers allegedly involved in these acts had been suspended and put at the
disposal of the Military Prosecutor for the purposes of the investigation.
Among these
officers are the commanding officers and deputy commanding officers of the two
main battalions suspected of committing these acts, as well as officers of
eight other units.
The head of
MONUSCO and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRC, Roger
Meece welcomed the measures taken by the authorities and affirmed UN’s
continued support for an independent, credible judicial investigation and the
Congolese armed forces.
Mr. Meece
added that future efforts to reform the security sector must include a
systematic verification of the human rights records of combatants and their
commanders in order for the Congolese army to fully ensure the protection of
civilians.
On 30 March,
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict,
Zainab Hawa Bangura, signed an agreement with Prime Minister Augustin Matata
Ponyo Mapon to prevent sexual violence.
The Joint
Communiqué lists commitments made by the Government, including fighting
impunity for crimes of sexual violence, accelerating security sector reform
efforts, creating vetting mechanisms when integrating former combatants into
the national army, ensuring a better control of mineral resources, and greater
support for services to survivors.
__________________________________________________________
Minova is a town and refugee area[1] in
northern South
Kivu Province, the Congo.
CONGO - GIRLS AS YOUNG AS AGE 6
RAPED BY SOLDIERS
By Michelle Nichols - May 8, 2013
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo troops raped at least 97 women and 33 girls, some as young as 6, in the country's volatile east after they fled from advancing M23 rebels in late November, according to a U.N. report released on Wednesday.
The majority of the rapes by the Congolese army (FARDC) occurred in Minova during a two-day period, and most cases documented by U.N. Joint Human Rights Office were committed in the same manner.
"FARDC soldiers entered houses, usually in groups of three to six and, after threatening the inhabitants, looted whatever they could find," the Joint Human Rights Office, which is part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, wrote in its report on abuses in eastern Congo between November 15 and December 2.
"One or two of the soldiers would leave with the looted goods and at least one would stand guard as the remaining FARDC soldiers raped women and girls in the house," the report said. "Most victims were raped by more than one soldier."
Twelve senior officers, including the commanders and deputy commanders of the 41st and 391st battalions, have been suspended over the Minova incidents and "were to be put at the disposal of military justice authorities."
The 391st battalion was trained by the United States in 2010 as "a model for future reforms within the Congolese armed forces," according to the U.S. Africa Command website.
The U.S. Defence Department said last month it condemned the crimes in Minova "irrespective of which unit is accused" and that U.S. training included teaching respect for human rights and prevention of gender-based violence.
The report said the United Nations threatened on February 4 to withdraw support for battalions 41 and 391 over the accusations of rights abuses in Minova but decided to continue working with them after the commanders and deputy commanders were suspended.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, has a mandate to protect civilians and support operations by the Congolese army. There are more than 17,000 U.N. troops in Congo, a country the size of Western Europe.
Peacekeepers have been stretched thin by the M23 rebellion in the resource-rich eastern Congo. U.N. experts said last year the M23 rebels were backed by Rwanda, but Rwanda has repeatedly denied any involvement.
M23 REBELS ACCUSED AS WELL
After provincial capital Goma and the town of Sake fell to M23 rebels, the report said thousands of Congolese troops fled in a disorganized manner toward Minova, where they "committed mass rape and other acts of sexual violence, as well as cases of arbitrary execution, mistreatment and systematic looting."
A further 11 Congolese soldiers have been arrested and are awaiting trial in relation to incidents in Minova, although the U.N. report said only two of them face charges of rape and another two are accused of murder.
The report found that at least two people, including a 14-year-old boy, had been killed by Congolese troops during looting incidents near Minova, while some men were beaten when they tried to stop the troops from raping their wives.
"In one of these cases ... the victim was tied with ropes and beaten by FARDC soldiers while his wife was raped in the adjacent room," the report said.
The U.N. report also said that during the M23 occupation of Goma and Sake, the rebels "committed gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law against the civilian population and FARDC who had surrendered."
It documented widespread looting by M23 rebels, at least 11 arbitrary executions and 59 cases of sexual violence. "The victims, mostly wives of FARDC soldiers who had fled during the M23 advance, were raped," the report said.
M23 began taking parts of eastern Congo early last year, accusing the government of failing to honour a 2009 peace deal. That deal ended a previous rebellion and led to the rebels' integration into the army, but they have since deserted.
The U.N. Security Council also last month established a special intervention force within the peacekeeping mission, which one senior council diplomat has said would be able to conduct "search and destroy" operations against the M23 rebels and other armed groups in the country.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission is providing support to Congolese military justice officials conducting investigations into the allegations raised in the report. The U.N. Joint Human Rights Office interviewed more than 350 victims and direct and indirect witnesses for the report.