For første gang er en højtstående officer og andre militærfolk blevet arresteret, sigtet og dømt for voldtægt, begået under de senere års konflikt i DR Congo. FN ser det som et stærkt signal til omverdenen om, at sexuel vold er uacceptabel, og at det er muligt at retsforfølge og straffe gerningsmændene.
A senior United Nations official has welcomed Monday’s verdicts by a military court in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which mark the first time that a high-ranking commander and several other army personnel were arrested, tried and sentenced for conflict-related sexual violence in the strife-torn nation.
According to media reports, the military court in Baraka sentenced Lt. Col. Kibibi Mutware to 20 years in jail.
He was found guilty of crimes against humanity for sending his troops to rape, beat and loot from the population of Fizi on New Year’s Day.
Judges also sentenced three officers serving under the commander to 20 years and five soldiers to between 10 and 15 years.
– The sentences send a strong signal to all perpetrators in the DRC and beyond that conflict-related sexual violence is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. It also shows that accountability for sexual violence is possible, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, said in a statement.
