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Cedric Gerbehave/Doctors Without Borders/AP
A rape victim is photographed at a clinic in Western Kasai, Congo.
A rape victim is photographed at a clinic in Western Kasai, Congo.
UN to Address Rape as Weapon
June 17, 2008 07:02 AM
Long neglected, the issue of rape as a weapon of war will be the topic of a UN Security Council debate led by Condoleezza Rice later this week.
30-Second Summary
According to the Web site MONUC, Rice will lead the debate on June 19 in New York. Advocates are troubled by the lack of attention given to the issue of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where 60 percent of perpetrators are believed to have the AIDS virus.
UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said, “At this meeting, we hope the council will adopt by consensus a resolution to be proposed by the United States calling for an end to the use of sexual violence against civilians as a weapon of war.”
According to The Nation, “Rape as a weapon of war is as old as war itself. What has changed recently is that sexual violence is no longer considered just a byproduct of conflict but is being viewed as a war crime.”
In the DRC, more people have died than in Afghanistan, Darfur and Iraq combined, and “the most frequent targets of this hidden war are women,” reports CBS. The weapon of choice among militiamen is rape.
According to IRIN, the rape epidemic in Congo stems from genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s. “Since then, the Congolese army, foreign-backed rebels, and home-grown militias have been fighting each other over power and this land.”
Despite a 2004 Amnesty International report on the topic, the U.N. did not address conflict-related rape until April of this year. New York Times reporter Nicholas D. Kristof said the UN has responded “painfully slowly.”
UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said, “At this meeting, we hope the council will adopt by consensus a resolution to be proposed by the United States calling for an end to the use of sexual violence against civilians as a weapon of war.”
According to The Nation, “Rape as a weapon of war is as old as war itself. What has changed recently is that sexual violence is no longer considered just a byproduct of conflict but is being viewed as a war crime.”
In the DRC, more people have died than in Afghanistan, Darfur and Iraq combined, and “the most frequent targets of this hidden war are women,” reports CBS. The weapon of choice among militiamen is rape.
According to IRIN, the rape epidemic in Congo stems from genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s. “Since then, the Congolese army, foreign-backed rebels, and home-grown militias have been fighting each other over power and this land.”
Despite a 2004 Amnesty International report on the topic, the U.N. did not address conflict-related rape until April of this year. New York Times reporter Nicholas D. Kristof said the UN has responded “painfully slowly.”
Headline Links: Documenting rape as a weapon
On June 19, 2008, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lead a UN Security Council debate aimed at ending “the use of rape of women as a weapon of war,” said the Web site MONUC, which reports on the UN mission in Darfur. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said conflict-related sexual violence “has not received adequate attention by the international community.”
Source: MONUC
According to IRIN, the rape epidemic in Congo stems from genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s. “Since then, the Congolese army, foreign-backed rebels, and home-grown militias have been fighting each other over power and this land,” which is rich in natural resources, according to IRIN. Rapists usually go unpunished in Congo, and the crisis has led to an unbridled spread of HIV/AIDS.
Source: IRIN
In January 2008, CBS’s “60 Minutes” and CNN reporter Anderson Cooper traveled to Congo to meet with rape survivors and talk with aid workers. Anneka Van Woudenberg, senior Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch, said of rape in Congo: “It is a way to ensure that communities accept the power and authority of that particular armed group. This is about showing terror.” Even UN camps are not safe havens for Congolese women.
Source: CBS News
Background: The Rwanda connection
In April 2008, the United States held its first congressional hearing on the use of rape as a weapon of war, chaired by Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill. The hearing focused on a recent report, which found that “conflict-related sexual violence” has been documented in more than 50 countries. Legal options for rapists and the role of the United States were also examined.
Source: Chicago Sun Times
In October 2007, the New York Times documented rape in the DRC with video footage of Panzi, the main hospital for rape victims, where ten new women arrive seeking care each day. According to reporter Jeffery Gettleman, Hutu militias thought to be “psychologically destroyed by the Rwandan genocide” are gang raping and mutilating victims.
Source: New York Times
In July 2004, Amnesty International released a report called “Rape as a Weapon of War,” which included testimony from hundreds of women, and concluded that Sudanese pro-government militias were targeting non-Arab groups in Darfur. Amnesty requested an international commission of inquiry into the conflict, and said not enough was being done to protect women in Darfur and Chad.
Source: BBC
In March 2004, near the five-year mark of the war in the DRC, The Nation reported that rape was being used as “a cheaper weapon of war than bullets,” and frequently, family members were forced to watch or participate in rapes. Anneke Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch said, “The country is in an utter state of lawlessness.”
Source: The Nation
Related Topics: Aid workers contribute to crisis
In May 2008, U.K. charity Save the Children reported that humanitarian aid workers and UN peacekeepers were found to be sexually abusing children of impoverished, war-torn countries, including Ivory Coast, Haiti and Southern Sudan. Child trafficking and prostitution, and instances of rape and indecent sexual assault were included in Save the Children’s report.
Source: findingDulcinea
Opinion & Analysis: Shrugging off Central Africa
In his blog, “On the Ground,” New York Times reporter Nicholas D. Kristof said the UN is beginning to recognize the epidemic of mass rape, but it has happened “painfully slowly.” And although systematic rape is constituted as a crime against humanity, “it thrives in part because the world shrugs,” Kristof said.
Source: New York Times “On the Ground”
Reference: Profiling Sudan; Stop Rape Now
The BBC covers “Sudan in Depth,” with compiled feature articles, analysis and key stories on conflicts and peacekeeping efforts in Darfur.
Source: BBC
Stop Rape Now is the Web site of UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, which works to prevent gender-based violence by taking country-level action, raising public and political awareness, and establishing effective responses to the crisis.
Source: Stop Rape Now
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
