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UN outgoing humanitarian chief slams case of mass rapes in DRC

27 August 2010 02:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The brutal gang rape of some 154 women and children in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) late last month "is a truly horrific event, the full scale of which we may not yet know," outgoing UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said here Thursday in his final press conference, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

On July 30, the UN alleges that Congolese militants of the Mai- Mai group and Rwandan rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), descended upon the eastern Congolese town of Luvungi, occupying it for four days and engaging in a violent mass rape.

Holmes noted that sexual violence has been going on in the DRC for a long time. "We’ve talked about it for a long time, we’ve tried to put in place measures which can help deal with the victims," he said.

"It is my perception at least, that until these armed groups -- particularly the FDLR -- are dealt with once and for all, this risk is still going to be there," he added.

The attacks occurred near a base of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) located in the North Kivu Province of the DRC. According to the UN, however, peacekeeping forces were unaware of the rapes until Aug. 12 -- over 10 days after they had occurred.

"However well MONUSCO performs, they cannot themselves stop every case of rape. As I’ve said before, they can’t be behind every bush, even though they have a significant presence in relative terms in that area," said Holmes.

According to Roger Meece, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special representative for the DRC, MONUSCO has around 80 military peacekeeping troops covering a total of 300 square kilometers in the area.

As MONUSCO’s lack of awareness of the rapes and belated response have come under question, Holmes said the focus should now be on the victims.

"There are of course legitimate questions to be answered, which are being pursued," he said.

The secretary-general dispatched Atul Khare, the UN assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, to the DRC on Tuesday to help in the investigation of the incident. Khare is set to report his findings to the Security Council early next month.