Last month I brought you news that the UN Denounced Wartime Rape, which had followed a 2008 denouncement of the practice of rape warfare by the Security Council, who unanimously adopted a resolution which acknowledged the use of rape as ‘a tactic of war and an impediment to peace’. Much of the move by the UN was in direct response to the situation in the Congo, which continues to escalate in the wake of continual media coverage and public outcry.
The Congo’s long and bloody war-torn history is infused with the use of rape as a weapon of war. Tens of thousands of rapes were recorded by the UN in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, however the majority of victims do not seek medical treatment, thus the real number of victims looks to be in the hundreds of thousands. While the scale at which the use of rape has been utilized in the Congo is alarming, what is even more disturbing is the brutal way that the rapes are carried out, as women are often raped even more violently with objects such as guns and sticks. Women and girls are often brutally murdered following their rapes, children are ripped from their arms and even unborn infants are cut from the womb. The age of victims is in its own right disparaging, as many are only children, some only toddlers, many of which endure countless rapes as they are held in sexual slavery by their captors.
The use of rape to terrorize women and girls, has become a daily occurrence for women and girls, as the numbers of rape victims have continuously risen since the end of the Second Congo War (1998-2003). The increase in sexual violence is directly linked to the increase in rebel activity, and is only compounded by both national and international impunity of the crime. While in 2006 the government did pass stronger laws to punish offenders of sex crimes, the effect of these laws has been minimal, as women and girls continue to be raped and assaulted in mass and impunity continues to reign for the perpetrators.
As mentioned in my post Congo’s Rape Epidemic, Oxfam released a report in April, “Now, The World Is Without Me”: An investigation of sexual violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The study analyzed data collected over a period of four years from 4,311 female rape victims treated in Panzi hospital in South Kivu Province, and found that 60 percent of rape victims surveyed in the DRC stated that they were gang raped by armed men and that the level of rape was highest at points when military activities were in occurrence.
However it is the recent news of a the UN’s handling and knowledge of rebel attacks on villages in North Kivu that now has eyes turned once again in horror to the Congo, as rapes continue with impunity in wake of the UN’s recent denouncement of the practice. It is stated that UN officials were aware that rebels had the entered villages on July 30, 2010 and only warned staff members and humanitarian groups to avoid the area. It is this admission that has raised questions over why nearby peacekeeping forces were not deployed in an attempt to protect residents in the area, as the rebel forces reportedly began to gang-rape women and girls immediately, leaving at least 179 women over the course of five days (NY Times). In response United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called an investigate into the assaults, which occurred with in a 10 mile radius of a UN peacekeeping base, and was also stated to also included infant boys as well as women and girls (BBC).
The use of rape a weapon to attack and destroy villages is a plague upon the country, and as one of the most horrific crimes against humanity it takes those who are victimized and scars them for life mentally, and often fiscally as. In a previous piece I stated; “…as I sit here in contemplation of the violence it [rape ware-fare]continues to take with its daily feed of victims as the hunger of war rages on and I ask myself, have we forgotten the Congo? And then I question myself again and think maybe we haven’t actually forgotten, but simply given up hope that the war will ever come to an end.” Now in light of the newest surge of rapes I see that we have more than given up, we have turned a blind eye and without increased pressure and the rule of law the recent mass attacks will not be the last and this heinous crime will continue with wreck-less abandon.
For more information please see my previous posts on the use of rape as a weapon of war here.
