Tens of thousands raped in eastern Congo, report says
Last Updated Tue, 08 Mar 2005 00:18:42 EST
CBC News
KINSHASA, CONGO - Militants and soldiers have raped or beaten tens of thousands of women and girls in eastern Congo and almost all of the crimes went unpunished, an international human rights group says.
INDEPTH: Congo
Rape was a standard military tactic during the country's civil war from 1998-2002 and hundreds of new victims – ranging in age from three years old to 80 – are still being reported each week, says the study released Monday by Human Rights Watch.
Some of the victims have been gang-raped or abducted by combatants for long periods of sexual slavery. Others were mutilated or, if they fought back, killed.
"Perpetrators of sexual violence are members of virtually all the armed forces and armed groups that operate in eastern Congo," says the report called Seeking Justice: The Prosecution of Sexual Violence in the Congo War.
Yet only 10 soldiers and militants have been convicted of rape in the region since 2002, says the report by the New York-based organization.
A United Nations study cited by Human Rights Watch documented more than 40,000 rapes in two eastern provinces during the 1998-2002 war in Congo, also known as Congo-Kinshasa
The warring ethnic Hema and Lendu militia and other armed groups still battling in the east continue to use rape as a weapon, the report says.
Some of the UN peacekeepers stationed in the unstable town of Bunia have also been accused of raping young girls living in a camp for displaced people or of trading candy for sex with minors.
The Human Rights Watch report criticizes the transitional government created in 2003, saying it has done little to crack down on the problem.
"We're not seeing arrests in these cases, we're not seeing trials," Anneka Van Woudenberg, a spokesperson for the group, told CBC News.
The group says the problem stems in part from outdated rape laws, lack of police and criminal courts and a widespread belief that rape isn't a crime.
The group called on the international community to step in and help the Congolese government rebuild the justice system in the country, formerly known as Zaire.
CBC News
KINSHASA, CONGO - Militants and soldiers have raped or beaten tens of thousands of women and girls in eastern Congo and almost all of the crimes went unpunished, an international human rights group says.
INDEPTH: Congo
Rape was a standard military tactic during the country's civil war from 1998-2002 and hundreds of new victims – ranging in age from three years old to 80 – are still being reported each week, says the study released Monday by Human Rights Watch.
Some of the victims have been gang-raped or abducted by combatants for long periods of sexual slavery. Others were mutilated or, if they fought back, killed.
"Perpetrators of sexual violence are members of virtually all the armed forces and armed groups that operate in eastern Congo," says the report called Seeking Justice: The Prosecution of Sexual Violence in the Congo War.
Yet only 10 soldiers and militants have been convicted of rape in the region since 2002, says the report by the New York-based organization.
A United Nations study cited by Human Rights Watch documented more than 40,000 rapes in two eastern provinces during the 1998-2002 war in Congo, also known as Congo-Kinshasa
The warring ethnic Hema and Lendu militia and other armed groups still battling in the east continue to use rape as a weapon, the report says.
Some of the UN peacekeepers stationed in the unstable town of Bunia have also been accused of raping young girls living in a camp for displaced people or of trading candy for sex with minors.
The Human Rights Watch report criticizes the transitional government created in 2003, saying it has done little to crack down on the problem.
"We're not seeing arrests in these cases, we're not seeing trials," Anneka Van Woudenberg, a spokesperson for the group, told CBC News.
The group says the problem stems in part from outdated rape laws, lack of police and criminal courts and a widespread belief that rape isn't a crime.
The group called on the international community to step in and help the Congolese government rebuild the justice system in the country, formerly known as Zaire.
1 comment:
I think it's a smaller step now than a few years ago.
Post a Comment