Top UN envoy says perpetrators of DRC rapes must be held accountable

The perpetrators who committed the "horrific spree of rape, looting and pillage" of women and children late last month in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must be held accountable, a top UN envoy said on Tuesday.

Margot Wallstrom, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, made the statement at a press conference on the mass rapes that had occurred in the DRC.

"The illegal armed groups that continue to rape as a weapon of war must be brought to justice," she said.

On July 30, the UN alleged that Congolese militants of the Mai- Mai group and Rwandan rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) descended upon the town of Luvungi and its surrounding villages in North Kivu province, occupying it for four days and engaging in the brutal assault of at least 154 civilians.

"I would remind the political and military leadership of the armed groups involved -- the FDLR and the Mai-Mai -- that acts of widespread and systematic sexual violence can constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Wallstrom.

The attacks occurred near a base of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) located in the North Kivu province. Despite the presence of a peacekeeping force of nearly 20,000 in the DRC, the UN says troops were unaware of the rapes until Aug. 12 -- over 10 days after they had occurred.

According to Roger Meece, the UN secretary-general's special representative for the DRC, MONUSCO had around 80 military peacekeeping troops covering a total of 300 square kilometers in the area where the rapes took place.

MONUSCO's claim that it had been unaware of the attacks and its belated response have come under question. "We must improve the United Nation's response," said Wallstrom.

A report last week by The New York Times noted that the humanitarian group that documented the rapes, the International Medical Corps (IMC), said it first notified the UN of the assault on Aug. 6.

Wallstrom noted the UN's limited options in regards to its response. "We are in a trap," she said, adding that "this incident raises expectations on UN peacekeepers to scale up their operations, but the government is requesting that they scale down."

"This presents an obvious tension, also when peacekeepers are already overstretched and operating in volatile, heavily forested and difficult terrain. I don't think anyone can argue against that, "said Wallstrom.

Early warning initiatives such as distress call systems, village vigilance committees, patrols tailored to women's mobility patterns "need to be institutionalized," Wallstrom urged.

Meanwhile, the envoy highlighted her efforts to bring cases of rape and sexual violence at the top of the UN and international community's agendas.

"The latest atrocities reinforce a key finding from my mission: you cannot have a policy of zero tolerance backed by zero consequences," said Wallstrom.

"The time when sexual violence is tolerated and sidelined as a product of war is over," she added.

The secretary-general dispatched Atul Khare, the UN assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, to the DRC last week to help in the investigation of the incident. Khare is set to report his findings to the Security Council in early September.

Source: Xinhua