D.R. Congo: Government and UN need to urgently investigate failure to protect civilians

Amnesty International is appalled by the latest report of mass rapes and other sexual violence in the Walikale region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and called on the government and the United Nations to urgently investigate the failure to protect civilians and to provide immediate medical and psychological relief to survivors.

Amnesty International said the DRC government and the United Nations must urgently review the failures to protect civilians to prevent such horrors from being inflicted again.

According to the United Nations, more than 150 civilians in 13 villages were raped between July 30 and Aug. 2 by members of armed groups, including the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR). Reports indicate that the rape was organized and systematic.

Amnesty International is calling for the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the United Nations to provide the survivors, witnesses and their communities with immediate medical and psychological treatment. Evidence, including witness testimonies, should be gathered and preserved, in order to facilitate bringing the perpetrators to justice.

The attacks occurred only weeks after the United Nations Security Council adopted a new mandate for its mission in the country to support the government in protecting civilians from violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses, including all forms of sexual and gender-based violence. The new mandate emphasized that protection of civilians must be given priority.

Sexual and gender-based violence is widespread in eastern DRC and committed by all sides to the conflicts, including the government forces that the United Nations is supporting.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

Source: Amnesty International