Sexual violence continues in Congo. Repeat again

(BRUXELLES2) In Congo (DRC), the days go by, the reports follow one another, and one has the impression of a permanent "bis repetita". "At least 170 women were raped by armed men believed to belong to the May-May Checka - Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) coalition in late July - early August in Luvungi, Walikale Territory" (in North Kivu), recently reported the NGO International Medical Corps (IMC), quoted in the latest situation bulletin from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This is not the first bulletin reporting mass rapes. And probably not the last...

Congolese tragedy

For the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Congo, Roger Meece, " the people who live in this area have been victims of extreme violence for years. Millions of people have died, and millions more have been victims of sexual violence “, he added during a press conference held by videoconference on August 25. These incidents were not immediately reported to the UN force present in the country, he said. " They were not reported to the Mission until August 12 ” is more than 10 days after the facts. Explanation: often, " the villagers are afraid of reprisals, or else they are paralyzed by a feeling of shame after what has just been done to them, to themselves or to their loved ones ».

The conflict - or rather this succession of conflicts, which arose after the Rwandan genocide of 1994 in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) - is responsible for 5,4 million deaths. And according to the UN, at least 200.000 women and girls have been victims of sexual assault in the past 12 years. In the first quarter of 2010 alone, there have been 1244 reported rapes, according to the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A figure that would be down (!), however, compared to previous years.

A "weapon of war"

This real "silent" war - which does not arouse much emotion - and qualified as "Africa's World War" in a study published last April by the NGO Oxfam and the American University of Harvard. These experts who have studied, in detail, more than 4000 cases of rape in South Kivu, speak of a "real weapon of war"."Women of all ages are hit. They're nowhere safe". Almost 50% perpetrated by armed soldiers, the mechanism of rape is also increasingly perpetrated by civilians - they note - thus testifying to a "normalization" of this violence and a "erosion" usual barriers in society (2). Another study conducted by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), and published in June, attempts to identify the motivations of rapists. Among the Mai-Mai, as well, "sexual violence is a motivation to fight"at the same time, a contradictory feeling of being able to exploit civilians (3).

It should be noted that in October 2009 the EU extended the mandate of the EUPOL DRC police mission to this question of sexual violence (4).

To complete :

• Lire: here

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)