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| Africa Subsaharan |
| UN report finds Congo mass rapes 'defy belief' |
| 2010-09-25 |
| [Gulf Times] Three groups of armed militia raped at least 303 civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo over four days, said a UN initial report on the atrocities whose "scale and viciousness... defy belief". "At least 303 civilians were raped, in many cases multiple times," said a statement issued by the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the country in a preliminary report outlining the violations which took place between July 30 and August 2. "The known victims include 235 women, 52 girls, 13 men and three boys," detailed the probe, following the team's visit to 13 affected villages in the Walikale region in Nord-Kivu province. "In addition, at least 923 houses and 42 shops were looted and 116 people were kidnapped in order to carry out forced labour," it said. Rupert Colville, front man for the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned that the figures could still rise. "The total number of victims may be higher, attacks were still going on when the team was in the villages," said Colville. The team were unable to complete their work in six of 13 villages due to "serious security problems", he added. Before the probe, the UN officials had noted at least 242 rapes in these villages, and another 260 in other parts of Nord and Sud Kivu provinces. The UN joint mission said that due to the serious insecurity it had not been able to confirm the circumstances surrounding other incidents. "While one group was looting and raping in a village... another would be setting ambushes to catch people fleeing through the forest, who were also then raped or taken away as forced labour," it added. "The scale and viciousness of these mass rapes defy belief," said UN human rights chief Navi Pillay. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 I guess they believed their people were the only ones who could commit mass rapes. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-09-25 08:26 |
| #2 Defy belief? Really? What rock have you idiots been hiding under? The only thing that defies belief is that you guys supposedly had no clue. Excuses, excuses. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-09-25 01:04 |
| #1 atrocities whose "scale and viciousness... defy belief". First time on the continent, eh? The poor dears are in for a rude awakening. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-09-25 00:49 |