Rape has turned into a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
17 Oct 2009

New appalling figures by human rights activists claim that some 200,000 women and girls have been raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998.

In an interview with CNN, Anneke van Woudenberg, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, said the number of attacks on women have grown threefold over the past few years.

Rape has turned into a weapon of war and the condition of women has become worse as the Congolese army launched a military campaign against armed groups in the countryside.

"We notice and we have documented that when armed groups walk into town, they will rape the women and girls, sometimes publicly, sometimes privately, in order to punish the local population," said van Woudenberg.

"It's the easiest way to terrorize a community," she added.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, has accused the army of widespread abuses against civilians that it said amounted to war crimes.

In May, the UN handed over the names of five top military officers accused of rape. Two officers are being detained and the three others must report to authorities under close observation.

With a death toll estimated at more 5 million, Congo has witnessed the bloodiest war since World War II in a ten-year period.

Most casualties have come from indirect violence in forms of disease and starvation. While the war formally ended six years ago, fighting persists in eastern Congo, and women are paying a high price.

"One of the other sad realities is that the majority of those who are raped are adolescent girls aged 12-14. Their lives are often ruined by this," van Woudenberg said.

presstv