DRC urged to prosecute soldiers accused of raping 130 women and girls
Published: 2013 October 07 05:50:17 (4646 Views)
The United States and Britain pushed Democratic Republic of Congo officials to prosecute soldiers accused of raping some 130 women and girls in Congo's volatile east, UN security council envoys said during a visit to the country on Sunday.
US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, and British UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant raised the issue during a meeting between the 15 security council envoys and Congo's defence, interior and justice ministers in Kinshasa on Saturday.
"Nobody knows better than the Congolese the price of impunity, because the Congolese people have for years been the victims of armed groups who have been killing and raping their way through eastern Congo," Power told Reuters on Sunday.
"On the Minova case, the government must show it practices what it preaches by punishing those officers and soldiers responsible. We made clear our concerns about the lack of progress thus far," she said.
The United Nations threatened in February to withdraw support for two Congolese battalions after soldiers raped at least 97 women and 33 girls, some as young as 6, in the eastern town of Minova after the troops fled from advancing M23 rebels in late November.
The peacekeeping mission decided to keep working with the 41st and 391st battalions after 12 senior officers, including the commanders and deputy commanders, were suspended and about a dozen soldiers were charged over the rapes in Minova, according to a UN human rights report.
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 US Africa Command website.
Lyall Grant said the Congolese ministers told them there was no question of impunity and investigations were still continuing. The ministers said there were some difficulties obtaining victim statements from a humanitarian group due to patient confidentiality, which had delayed inquiries, he added.
"We made clear we were expecting some follow-up prosecutions because the concern that we had was although some lower level soldiers had been arrested and some others had been suspended, we hadn't seen any evidence of prosecutions," Lyall Grant said.
After provincial capital Goma and the town of Sake briefly fell to M23 rebels, a UN 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 arbitrary execution, mistreatment and systematic looting."
Congolese troops and UN peacekeepers have been battling an M23 rebellion in the resource-rich eastern part of the country for the past 18 months. - Reuters
US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, and British UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant raised the issue during a meeting between the 15 security council envoys and Congo's defence, interior and justice ministers in Kinshasa on Saturday.
"Nobody knows better than the Congolese the price of impunity, because the Congolese people have for years been the victims of armed groups who have been killing and raping their way through eastern Congo," Power told Reuters on Sunday.
"On the Minova case, the government must show it practices what it preaches by punishing those officers and soldiers responsible. We made clear our concerns about the lack of progress thus far," she said.
The United Nations threatened in February to withdraw support for two Congolese battalions after soldiers raped at least 97 women and 33 girls, some as young as 6, in the eastern town of Minova after the troops fled from advancing M23 rebels in late November.
The peacekeeping mission decided to keep working with the 41st and 391st battalions after 12 senior officers, including the commanders and deputy commanders, were suspended and about a dozen soldiers were charged over the rapes in Minova, according to a UN human rights report.
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 US Africa Command website.
Lyall Grant said the Congolese ministers told them there was no question of impunity and investigations were still continuing. The ministers said there were some difficulties obtaining victim statements from a humanitarian group due to patient confidentiality, which had delayed inquiries, he added.
"We made clear we were expecting some follow-up prosecutions because the concern that we had was although some lower level soldiers had been arrested and some others had been suspended, we hadn't seen any evidence of prosecutions," Lyall Grant said.
After provincial capital Goma and the town of Sake briefly fell to M23 rebels, a UN 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 arbitrary execution, mistreatment and systematic looting."
Congolese troops and UN peacekeepers have been battling an M23 rebellion in the resource-rich eastern part of the country for the past 18 months. - Reuters
0
You May Like These Videos
WATCH: Victims Narrate Ordeal After Being Clobbered By Riot Cops
FLASHBACK: Morgan Tsvangirai Won't Resign Despite Illness 
Police Violently Beat Harare Protesters 
Zimbabwean Man Who Was Shot By Tswana Employer Appeals For HelpComments
There are no comments.
Get Zim Metro Updates Alerts
Big Reads
Schoolgirl drops out after continuous 'sexual abuse' by teacher
by Staff Reporter | 2019 August 13 07:42:33
Mugabe Knows Nothing About The Zimbabwe Constitution: MP
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 08:12:02
Zim's Protesting Graduates Risk Losing Degrees For Expressing Anger Against Mugabe
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:57:08
Troubled Harare Giants Dynamos Falls Into Another Deep Crisis
by Own Correspondent | 2016 October 01 07:49:17
Grace Mugabe Grovels At Mnangagwa, Says I Did Not Ask Ubaba To Fire You
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:31:48
Mugabe Attacks Mawarire, Claims The Exiled Pastor Failed To Divide Zimbabwe
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:19:13
Shock As Local Bank Denies 'Rich' Mugabe's Son Heifty Credit
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 30 19:14:54Trouble For Police Officers Who Have Been Mercilessly Bludgeoning Protesters
by Staff Reporter | 2016 October 01 07:20:19
Mugabe "Home Coming" And "Thank You" Rally On Cards
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 23 06:48:24
Prof Moyo Was Dumped By Western Embassies, Claims Mutsvangwa
by Staff Reporter | 2016 September 22 10:08:07Broke RBZ Tracks Down Zimbabweans Living Outside The Country Over Taxi
by Staff Reporter | 2016 September 22 09:16:20
You Are Too Old To Lead, Aging Zim President Mugabe Told
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 22 07:19:25
Anti-Corruption Commission Loses Property In Failed Probe
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 20 03:18:19
.jpg)
SHOCKING:14 Year Old HIV-Positive Boy Rapes 7 Pupils
by Own Correspondent | 2016 September 20 00:04:55
