Then, in February, a military court in eastern Congo sentenced an army commander to twenty years in prison for crimes against humanity. Lieutenant Colonel Kibibi Mutware was found guilty of sending his troops on New Year's Day to rape, beat and steal in Fizi.
The United Nations noted it was the first time a high-level DRC commander was arrested, tried and sentenced for conflict-related sexual violence. Judges also sentenced three of his officers to twenty years, and five soldiers to long sentences as well.
All sides in the DRC have long used sexual violence as a weapon of war. This woman told her story to reporter Heather Murdock.
WOMAN [in Swahili]: "I was married and I was pregnant. Rebel soldiers came to loot and they raped me. [They] killed my baby and now I have a disease.”
Officials and activists agree that the situation is better now in eastern Congo. Congo's two thousand six rape law has made a difference. The central prison in North Kivu is crowded with men found guilty of rape. But lawyers and victims say lawlessness in the countryside means many rapists go unpunished.
North Kivu's Justice Minister Francois Tuyihimbaze Rucogoza says most of the victims live deep in lawless rural areas. But he says the rape law has slowed the rate of attacks.
FRANCOIS TUYIHIMBAZE RUCOGOZA [in French]: "The military helps impose justice in places we cannot go. For example, where there is a military operation, they help us punish the perpetrators of sexual violence."
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25