WUNRN
DRC - JOINT NGO STATEMENT AGAINST
ALARMING SEXUAL AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
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United Nations |
A/HRC/25/NGO/X |
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General Assembly |
Distr.: General XX February 2014 English only |
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Human Rights Council
Twenty-fifth session
Agenda item 10
Technical assistance and
capacity-building
Joint written statement* submitted by Femmes Afrique Solidarité, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, World Young Women's Christian Association, UN Non-Governmental Organizations in Special Consultative Status
The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which
is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution
1996/31. [17 February 2014]
Preventing Sexual
Violence in DRC by Addressing Its Multiple Factors
Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and World
Young Women Christian Association (World YWCA) submit this joint-statement
expressing concern that the incidence of sexual and gender based violence,
perpetrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), remains alarmingly
high. Especially in the eastern part of the country, mass rapes, sexual
violence and sexual slavery are used as a weapon of war by the Armed Forces of
the DRC and armed groups to intimidate the population and to force it into
subjugation. However, civilians are also responsible for these crimes, as
stated in the Report of the Panel on
Remedies and Reparations for Victims of Sexual Violence in the Democratic
Republic of Congo to the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR): “widespread sexual violence perpetrated with
impunity by illegal armed groups as well as national security forces has led to
a widely noted increase in sexual violence perpetrated by civilians as a result
of war”.
Despite
the existence of institutional, policy and legal frameworks and the efforts of
the Government of the DRC, supported by the African Union, the United Nations, the
international community and civil society organizations, in particular women’s
groups, sexual and gender based violence continues to occur in the country causing death,
large-scale displacement and distress among the civilian population,
particularly amongst women and children, thus
representing the main challenge for sustainable peace, security and the
development of the country and the region.
In this regard, we
welcome the decision of the Human Rights Council to hold, at its twenty-fifth
session, a high-level dialogue on the lessons learned and the continuing
challenges in combating sexual violence in the DRC and we would like to
contribute to this dialogue with Member States by sharing our strong experience
in women, peace and security to end violence against women and girls in DRC.
The
spreading of sexual violence against women has been so strong that it has
raised the concerns of various UN bodies, such as the CEDAW Committee and the
HCHR, who convened a special panel of experts in 2010 who conducted a mission
in the country with the objective of understanding the issue from the
perspective of victims.
As HRC resolution 19/48 points
out, “Apart from strengthening State
responses to cases of sexual violence, the root causes must be addressed, notably
women’s precarious and disadvantaged socio-economic position in Congolese
society”, gender inequality in particular in state decision-making power,
economic dependency, political underrepresentation, uncontrolled small arms
flow, insecurity and impunity. The dangers of the conflict situation is
exacerbated by pre-existing conditions of poverty and illiteracy amongst young
women, as well as young women’s economic dependence, insecurity, lack of access
to community infrastructure and related services. Only by adopting a holistic
approach will it be possible to effectively prevent sexual violence. For
instance, a socio-economic factor such as the lack of water pumps in villages
compels women to walk long distances to bring water home and puts them at a great
risk of being attacked. Furthermore, small arms are today widely available not
only to armed groups, but also to civilians. According to sexual violence
survivors, perpetrators used the threat of weapons to intimidate them.
Sexual violence is today an
“effective” tactic of war because of the stigmatisation of raped women. If rape
were considered as other kinds of torture and rape survivors were respected by
society as survivors of torture are, this tactic would not be as destructive
for the community. As affirmed by the Panel of 2010, “Shifting the stigma from the victims to the perpetrators would have a
great impact on the ability of victims to reclaim their dignity and rebuild
their lives”.
An appropriate
prevention policy will need to integrate and address all these negative factors
at the same time, combat negative gender stereotypes, contribute to women’s
participation and to their economic empowerment, reduce the uncontrolled flow
of small arms, combat stigmatisation and end impunity. In addition, survivors
of conflict-related sexual violence also need access to psychosocial services,
social support, legal redress and other economic initiatives to strengthen
women’s agency and ability to take charge of their lives. Finally there’s an
urgent need to strengthen preventive and early warning mechanisms to protect
women’s rights during conflict. The multiple factors that contribute to the
persistence of sexual violence were acknowledged in HRC Resolution
A/HRC/RES/23/7.
Women are often mentioned
solely as victims and the important role that women and young women can play in
ending impunity for crimes of sexual violence is often ignored. The
participation of women and gender experts in conflict resolution, decision
taking instances and in all policy elaborations reduces the levels of impunity,
in particular for sexual violence, and facilitates access to justice.
In this regard, we appreciate the commitment
made by governments of the Great Lakes region during the Bujumbura Conference
in July 2013 to support the grassroots women for the implementation of the
Regional Action Plan on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in
However, we would
like to highlight the lack of full implementation of United Nations Security
Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889 and 2016 for peace, security
and development in the DRC and the
In the context of the HRC high
level dialogue on challenges in combating sexual violence in the DRC, FAS,
WILPF and World YWCA would like to express their concern that there were no
recommendations specifically on UNSCR
1325, nor on young women’s
participation in the peace process
in the previous UPR review. In
conclusion, we recommend that the
following UPR (I) and CEDAW (II) recommendations be reconsidered:
I.
§
Effectively
implement the 2006 law on sexual violence and the “zero tolerance policy”
§
Ensure
the effective investigation, including allegations of rape being used as a
weapon of war, and prosecution of perpetrators of sexual violence, including
FARDC soldiers, without exception and without regard to rank
§
Strengthen
efforts to combat impunity of all forms of violence against women
II.
§
Prevent
gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence, by State and non-State
actors in conflict-affected areas; ensure the protection of civilians,
including women, in cooperation with the MONUSCO; conduct gender-sensitive
training and adopt codes of conduct for the police and the military, and
provide training for psychologists and health professionals;
§
Prioritize
the fight against impunity for sexual violence in conflict-affected areas;
promptly complete effective and independent investigations into the violations
of women’s rights by the Congolese army (FARDC) and other armed groups, and
prosecute the perpetrators of such acts, including those who have command
responsibility;
§
Establish
a human rights based vetting system that will ensure that no perpetrators of
human rights violations, including human rights violations of women, will be
maintained in the Army and the Police or be integrated in the army, especially
during peace negotiations with armed groups;
§
Ensure
the effective implementation of the National Action Plan for the Implementation
of Security Council Resolution 1325; establish a comprehensive national policy
to provide adequate reparations to victims of sexual crimes;
§
Ensure
the effective regulation of the arms trade, control the circulation of illicit
small arms; and consider ratifying the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty;
§
Significantly
enhance the inclusion and representation of women in peace negotiations and
also ensure their representation in provincial security committees;
§
Ensure
effective implementation of Security Council Resolution 2098