NEW YORK, 24 August 2010: The United Nations is dispatching a senior staff member to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as senior officials express outrage at the recent rape and assault of more than 150 civilians by rebels based in the remote and troubled east of the country.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, condemned the attacks, saying they demonstrated the widespread level and systematic nature of sexual violence in the DR Congo.
Mr. Ban and Ms. Wallström urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice and pledged to help authorities in the DR Congo to fight impunity against sexual and gender-based violence.
A UN human rights team has confirmed that members of the Mai-Mai militia and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group of ethnic Hutu fighters linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, carried out the attacks in a series of villages in North Kivu province over a four-day period ending earlier this month.
At least 154 civilians were raped in 13 villages along a 21-kilometre stretch of road in North Kivu’s Banamukira territory between 30 July and 2 August, with the attackers blocking the road and preventing the villagers from reaching outside communications. Many homes were also looted.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban stressed the need for all armed groups in the DR Congo to lay down their weapons and join the peace process. The country’s civil war officially ended earlier this decade but sporadic fighting continues in the east and rebels wage frequent and brutal attacks against civilians, especially in North Kivu and South Kivu.
“The United Nations supports the efforts of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fight impunity and ensure the protection of civilians from violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including all forms of sexual and gender-based violence,” the statement noted.
Mr. Ban said he is immediately dispatching Assistant Secretary-General Atul Khare from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to the region, where he will look into the UN response on the ground.
Mr. Khare is scheduled to meet with victims of the attacks, local community representatives and peacekeepers with the UN mission to the DRC (known as MONUSCO) who operate from a base in North Kivu.
MONUSCO’s efforts to protect civilians are constrained by both the scale and remoteness of the area, which makes patrolling difficult. Roads are often in extremely poor condition.
