The Limits Of Smart Power In Congo

The Limits of Smart Power -- David Axe, American Prospect

Can the U.S. military end the epidemic of sexual violence in Congo without getting involved in another endless conflict?

In February 2006, an army of rapists descended on Duru, a farming community of 5,000 in eastern Congo. They called themselves, without a trace of irony, the "Lord's Resistance Army."

Twenty-three years ago in neighboring Uganda, under firebrand founder Joseph Kony, the LRA fought to establish a bizarre voodoo-Christian theocracy in the country's impoverished, neglected north. Soundly defeated by the Ugandan army in 2006, the LRA fled westward into the thickly forested, poorly governed border region of Congo, Sudan, and Central African Republic. There, the rebels have lost all touch with their politics and fight only to survive. To eat, they murder farmers and pillage their fields. To keep up their numbers, they kidnap and brainwash little boys. For recreation, they catch and keep girls.

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My Comment: A sobering analysis on the limits of power (smart power) in conflict zones like The Congo.

Study: 48 Women Are Raped Every Hour In Congo

DR Congo: 48 Rapes Every hour, US Study Finds -- BBC

A study by US scientists has concluded that an average of 48 women and girls are raped every hour in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The study, in the American Journal of Public Health, found that 400,000 females aged 15-49 were raped over a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007.

That rate is significantly higher than the previous estimate of 16,000 rapes reported in one year by the UN.

The DRC says the figures reflect women being better able to report rape.

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More News On The Epidemic Of Rape In DR Congo

400,000-plus women raped in Congo yearly: study -- Reuters
48 women raped every hour in Congo, study finds -- CBS/AP
1,152 Congolese raped daily, study finds -- Boston.com/AP
Congo Study Sets Estimate for Rapes Much Higher -- New York Times
Study: 420K Congolese women are raped each year -- 48 per hour -- USA Today
1,100 women raped every day in Congo, study finds -- MSNBC
Congo: nearly 2 million women have been raped, reports study -- Global Post
Congo Rape Crisis: Study Reveals Shocking New Numbers -- Danielle Shapiro, Daily Beast
How can we explain the rape epidemic in Congo? -- Elizabeth Dickinson, Passport/Foreign Policy

My Comment: When Blogger went down last week, this post was archived and not published. Well .... here it is now.

The Conviction Of Colonel Kibibi Mutware

DR Congo Colonel Kibibi Mutware Jailed For Mass Rape -- BBC

A military court in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo investigating a case of mass rape has sentenced Lt Col Kibibi Mutware to 20 years in jail.

He was found guilty of crimes against humanity for sending his troops to rape, beat up and loot from the population of Fizi on New Year's Day.

Forty-nine women came to testify in the court in in Baraka.

The BBC's Thomas Hubert says it is the first conviction of a commanding officer for rape in eastern DR Congo.

Humanitarian agencies regularly cite government troops as the largest single group of perpetrators of widespread sexual violence in the Kivu region, says our reporter, who is in the town of Baraka, not far from Fizi.

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More News On The Conviction Of Colonel Kibibi Mutware

Congolese Army Colonel Kibibi Mutware jailed for 20 years for mass rape -- The Australian/AP
Congo colonel gets 20 years after rape trial -- Globe And Mail
Congo court jails nine soldiers in mass rape case -- Reuters
Congolese Army Officers Receive 20 Years for Ordering Rape -- Bloomberg
Jail terms line up in DRC rape cases -- UPI
Congo colonel gets 20 years for rape -- Financial Times
Congo army colonel guilty of ordering mass rape on New Year's Day -- The Guardian
9 Congolese Troops Jailed For Committing Mass Rape -- RTT News
DR Congo mass rape verdicts send strong signal to perpetrators – UN envoy -- UN News Centre

My Comment: He got off light.

Trying To Stop The Cycle Of Rape And Violence In African Soldiers

AFRICOM Trying To Stop Violent Cycle Among African Soldiers -- Stars And Stripes

STUTTGART, Germany — There was no field manual to consult, no military doctrine to guide the way.

When Michele Wagner, an academic with U.S. Africa Command’s social science research center, deployed to a Congolese military camp in 2010, the goal was to get the Congolese soldiers to open up dark chapters of their past. The goal was to help them take the first step toward breaking an ugly cycle of sexual violence and rape, which has long been used as a tactic of intimidation by soldiers and militias in remote parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For the United States, creating a professional military in the DRC is seen as the best chance at bolstering security and stability in a resource-rich country where more than a decade of conflict has left millions dead.

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My Comment: Children/adults who are traumatized tend to follow one of two paths later on .... they become (and follow) those who traumatized them, or they become the opposite .... confronting and battling those who traumatized them. For the soldiers in the DRC, rape and violence is so ingrained in the culture that it will take generations to overcome and eliminate this mindset. But you have to start somewhere .... and kudos to Africom who are now trying their best to take the first steps in stopping this cycle of violence.

DR Congo Soldiers Arrested For Coordinating Mass Rapes

UN: 8 Soldiers Arrested In New Year Rapes In Congo -- Washington Post

KINSHASA, Congo -- A former rebel commander integrated as a colonel into the Congolese army has been arrested in the rapes of dozens of women in volatile eastern Congo on New Year's Day, the United Nations reported Wednesday.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid also reported that the number of people who have come forward to report being raped has risen to 50, from 13 a week ago. That number could rise as more survivors emerge from the bush to which they fled.

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More News On Mass Rapes In Congo

DR Congo army commander 'led mass rape' in Fizi -- BBC
50 women raped in DR Congo revenge mission: UN -- AFP
Congolese army commander accused of directing mass rape -- The Guardian
DRC army officer named as mass rape leader -- UPI
Congo Commander Accused in Mass Rapes -- Newser

More Reports Of Mass Rape Being Reported In Congo's War Zone

Photo: Women denounce sexual violence in an October march in the Democratic Republic of the Congo city of Bukavu.

More Than 30 Women Raped And Beaten In DR Congo Attack -- The Guardian

Médicins Sans Frontiéres says women were restrained with ropes before attack in Fizi, South Kivu, in eastern Congo

More than 30 women were raped in a coordinated attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo on New Year's Day, the aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières has reported.

MSF said 33 women were raped in Fizi, South Kivu, in the eastern part of the war-torn country.

"Women had been restrained with ropes or beaten unconscious with the butt of a gun before being attacked, some in front of their children," said Annemarie Loof, an official with the medical aid organisation. "Up to four armed men were involved at a time and homes and shops were looted," she said in a statement.

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Update: Women raped in mass attack in Congo, humanitarian group says -- CNN

My Comment: If they are reporting only 30 rapes .... you know that there are probably hundreds that are not being reported at all.

UN Changes Rules of Engagement In The Congo To Better Protect Civilians From Rape

Congo: UN Scrambles To Better Protect Civilians In Wake Of Mass Rape -- Christina Science Monitor

The UN's largest peacekeeping force failed to prevent mass rape by Congo rebels in July. Now it's pushing to be more proactive – and more innovative – in its mission to protect civilians.

A woman working alone on her farm in a remote corner of eastern Congo is usually a worrisome sight. It's there, among her beans and potatoes, sorghum, cassava, or cabbage, that she is especially vulnerable to robbery, abduction, and rape – crimes committed throughout Congo's nearly 15 years of crippling violence.

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My Comment: When you read reports like this one .... you know that what the UN is trying to do is too little .... too late.