U.N. puts Congo sex attacks at more than 500
What the heck is going on in Congo?
Here is the first part of the article; much much more is at the link.
(CNN) — U.N. officials on Tuesday put the number of rapes and other sexual attacks in eastern Congo since late July at more than 500, more than double the previous estimate.
In remarks prepared for delivery to the Security Council after returning from a fact-finding trip to the region, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Atul Khare cited 267 rapes or other sexual attacks in the town of Uvira — on the eastern edge of the country — and other nearby regions of North and South Kivu, in addition to the 242 rapes that had already been reported in and near Luvungi, a village .
Among the additional cases was a report of 10 women raped by elements of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo on August 17 and 18 in the community of Katalukulu, in Fizi territory, South Kivu, he said.
On August 17, at least 40 rapes were committed in the village of Mubi by an alleged coalition of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda and Mayi-Mayi, a militia group active in the region, he said.
Another 13 rapes occurred in Pinga area in Chuho market, he said.
On August 26, Khare received reports of 74 cases of sexual violence — including 21 directed at girls 7 to 15 years of age — and six men in the village of Miki in the territory of Mwenga, he said.
The incidents occurred in July and August, he said.
Five days later, he said, 130 cases of rape were recorded in several villages in the territory of Shabunda. There were reports that in one village, “all women might have been systematically raped,” he said.
Khare had gone to Congo to find out why peacekeepers said they hadn’t learned about the rapes near Luvungi sooner.
The United Nations reported last week that some 242 people were raped by armed Congolese and Rwandan rebels in villages in North Kivu province between July 30 and August 3.
Attackers blocked roads and prevented villagers from reaching outside communications. Many homes were also looted and burned. Many of the victims were gang-raped by as many as six men at a time, according to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The rapes were first publicly reported on August 22.