Human Rights Group Raises Alarm Over Congo Rapes

Photo from UN Dispatch/The Great Silence

From Yahoo News/AP:

BRUSSELS – Congo must crack down on rampant sexual violence perpetrated by military generals and other top officers, a prominent international human rights group said Thursday.

Congolese authorities have failed to prevent widespread rapes, Human Rights Watch said in a new report, citing U.N. data showing 7,703 cases of sexual violence by the army were reported last year. Most victims were adolescent girls.

While soldiers now face legal action for rape, senior officers "continue to be untouched," said Juliane Kippenberg, Africa researcher for the group.

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My Comment: What is even worse is that (in the past) UN peacekeepers and officials have been complicit in these rapes and abuse of women and girls. As to sanctioned military rape, I have always been an advocate that this should be treated as a war crime .... and it should be charged against the command and political leadership of the groups that are permitting them.