Mass rape in Congo
Posted on 26. Aug, 2010 by Anna Zimmerman in Headlines, World
The United Nations peacekeeping mission is under fire for ignoring reports of mass rape in North Kivu province, Congo. According to CNN hundreds of Rwandan and Congolese rebels attacked a network of villages in the said province between July 30 and August 3, gang-raping nearly 200 women. Ironically, a U.N. peacekeeper military base is situated within 30 kilometers (approximately 19 miles) of the area of the attacks.
Margaret Aguirre, an International Medical Corps. (IMC) spokeswoman, told reporters that her group had informed the U.N. agency about the rapes on August 6. But the office seemed to have ignored them. Giorgio Trombatore, country director for the IMC in Congo, visited the site of the attack immediately after gaining knowledge of what happened. “Two hundred to four hundred armed men systematically pillaged and raped women in the village,” he said. “Rebels entered, tried to calm the people down on the pretext of needing food and shelter, and so (they) shouldn’t flee, but then another group came at night and they started attacking the people,” he continued. The IMC was among the first group to inspect the tragedy.
But the United Nations peacekeeping force disputed the account of their negligence and delay in action. Madnoje Mounoubai, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, told reporters that they have regular patrols in the area during the said period. “Unfortunately, the villagers and the local authorities never brought this issue to our knowledge. If we are not informed, it will be difficult for us to know,” he said.
Although the U.N. peacekeeping force maintains a number of unit bases in the region, they (U.N.) were unaware of the rebel attack and mass rape in that region until more than a week after the events took place. The U.N. troops in eastern Congo, known under the acronym MONUSCO, found out about the attack only after being informed on August 12 by the IMC.
Although the U.N. maintains a number of peacekeeping bases in the region, Mounoubai said the U.N. troops in eastern Congo, known under the acronym MONUSCO, did not find out about the attack until August 12, and only after being informed by the International Medical Corps (IMC).
Whether there was a delay or not, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was outraged over the incident. He condemned the attacks on Tuesday and immediately dispatched senior representative and assistant secretary general for peacekeeping missions Atul Khare to the affected areas to meet with the victims.
Meanwhile, U.S. State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton expressed sympathy saying she was “deeply concerned” by the reports. ”The United States has repeatedly condemned the epidemic of sexual violence in conflict zones around the world, and we will continue to speak out on this issue for those who cannot speak for themselves,” she said.
According to the U.N., rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda and militiamen from the Mai Mai movement headed the four-day attacks across 16 villages. So far, U.N. has documented 179 cases of rape from the days-long event.
In a 2010 listing created by the Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy Magazine, The Democratic REpublic of Congo ranks 5th in the worst failed state of the world list.