Mass rapes of women and children strongly condemned
A United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the mass rapes in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC and urged the DRC government to immediate launch an inquiry into the tragedy, which also involved children victims.
The latest victims of sexual violence in the eastern Congo include 21 girls between seven and 21 years old, and six men.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Claude Heller, the Mexican United Nations ambassador spoke to reporters in his capacity as the chairman of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.
"We expressed our strong condemnation of the tragic events which occurred in Walikale territory beginning late July and the following weeks in the Kivus involving minor victims," Heller said. "A total of 32 cases were reported. Thirty two cases of rape against children, 31 girls and one boy."
Heller's statement came at the end of a meeting of the working group, which reitereated a previous comment by the U.N. Security Council which strongly condemned the mass rapes in the eastern DRC in late July and early August.
It's estimated that 500 women have been raped by rebel soldiers in eastern DRC. Since U.N. officials first revealed that large numbers of women had been gang-raped, the number reported has grown to 242 victims from at least 150 concentrated in 13 villages in North Kivu province, including 28 minors.
"We recall the firm commitment of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in fight against impunity, in particular for sexual violence crimes," Heller said. "We call upon all parties to cease immediately violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, in particular sexual violence.
"We urge the government of the DRC to immediately launch an inquiry, arrest, and prosecute the perpetrators of such attacks," he said. "We encourage the U.N. to take all of the necessary measures to improve efficiency, to help prevent and to respond to such attacks and to better coordinate its actions."
The Security Council convened an open meeting to hear the briefing from Atul Khare, the U.N. under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, and Margot Wallstrom, the UN secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict.
The latest victims include 21 girls between seven and 21 years old, and six men, said Khare, who then told the Council that the U.N.'s actions "were not adequate" in preventing the mass rapes of women and children.
"While the primary responsibility for protection of civilians lies with the state, its national army and police force, clearly we have also failed. Our actions were not adequate, resulting in unacceptable brutalization of the population of villages in the area," Khare said.
Margot Wasstrom called for "collective responsibility" in the U.N.'s failure to prevent the brutal sexual attacks in the war-torn African country.
"At this moment, we are all compelled to look in the mirror and face our collective responsibility for our inability to prevent the mass rapes in Kibua," Wallstrom told the UN Security Council.
By: Catholic on Line
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