Mass rapes in DR Congo.

curlzy · 15-10-2010 12:09PM #1

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20101015/twl-dr-congo-troops-accused-in-new-rape-696b303.html

"DR Congo government troops are raping and killing women in remote villages where hundreds were the victims of mass rapes by militias just a few weeks ago, a top UN envoy has said.
Margot Wallstrom, UN special envoy on sexual violence against women in conflict, said it was "unimaginable" that the same communities in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were again the target of sexual assaults.

She said the UN mission, MONUSCO, had reported new attacks in the Walikale region where in late July and August militias and Rwandan rebels rounded up women and raped them in front of their villages and families.
Wallstrom has in the past called DR Congo the "rape capital" of the world.
"I am gravely concerned about the ongoing military operations by FARDC (DR Congo army) in the Walikale territory and the implications for the protection of civilians," she told the UN Security Council on Thursday.
"Thousands of FARDC troops have now been deployed to the territory in an operation to implement the president's moratorium on mining in the area and to reassert government control.
"There is already some information from MONUSCO peacekeepers on the ground that rapes, killings and lootings have been perpetrated by FARDC soldiers.
"The possibility that the same communities that were brutalized in July and August by FDLR and Mai-Mai elements are now also suffering exactions at the hands of FARDC troops is unimaginable and unacceptable."
Wallstrom called on the DR Congo government to quickly investigate the new attacks and "hold any perpetrators to account."
She had blamed the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Mai-Mai militia for the mass rapes in July and August.
A Mai-Mai leader, Lieutenant Colonel Mayele, was arrested in an operation by Indian peacekeepers with the MONUSCO mission on October 5.
Wallstrom praised the Indian soldiers and called the arrest of Mayele an "important precedent".
"When commanders can no longer rest easy in the certainty of impunity, when it begins to cross their mind that they may be turned in by their own, for commissioning or condoning rape, this is the moment when we open a new front in the battle to end impunity," she said.
She said the Security Council should "escalate" the focus of the DR Congo sanctions committee on sexual crimes.
Wallstrom identified a militia leader, Lieutenant Colonel Seraphim, of the FDLR, and said he should be added to the list of those facing international sanctions, alleging that he was also to blamed for the mass rapes in July and August.
Wallstrom said the arrests sent a strong signal to the thousands of victims of rape in DR Congo each year, calling it: "A moment of solace, that the world is not blind to their plight."
But also highlighted what she called the "nexus" between the pattern of rapes and attacks and the presence of the huge mineral and natural resource wealth in eastern DR Congo.
"The mineral wealth that should be the source of their great prosperity is instead the source of their greatest suffering," she declared.
Wallstrom said that UN peacekeepers in DR Congo are "overstretched and under-resourced" with a "widening gap" between the expectations made of the force and the means it is given.
"They are demoralized by the sheer scale of the problems and constant barrage of criticism from all quarters."
MONUSCO has about 20,000 staff and troops from more than 50 countries. Costing more than 1.3 billion dollars a year, it is one of the world's biggest UN security operations."

Anyone else glad they don't live in DR Congo?

Biggins · 15-10-2010 12:11PM

Shocking and sad stuff.

Jamiekelly · 15-10-2010 12:13PM

Countries with DR or DPR in their name are usually pretty F**ked up. Glad I don't live in that sh*thole! (and I'm from kildare, which will tell you something..)

prinz · 15-10-2010 12:13PM

Yes. It's a hole and has been for a long time. It's long over-due an intervention tbh but our post-colonial sensibilities means it's a problem everyone is afraid of tackling head on. All the while there are people profiting by the millions if not billions.

Teutorix · 15-10-2010 12:14PM

Thats fúcked up

brianthebard · 15-10-2010 12:16PM

prinz wrote: »

Yes. It's a hole and has been for a long time. It's long over-due an intervention tbh but our post-colonial sensibilities means it's a problem everyone is afraid of tackling head on.

Disagree completely tbh, the reason there has been no (further) intervention is because mineral and material production continues to provide for the needs of western businesses at a price that could not be matched in a well organised peaceful company where coltan and other raw materials aren't dug by slave labourers at gunpoint.

'Post-colonial sensibilites' has nothing to do with it, and Belgium, the US or UK are not known for their shame about previous invasions of the country.

Morlar · 15-10-2010 12:18PM

brianthebard wrote: »

Disagree completely tbh, the reason there has been no (further) intervention is because mineral and material production continues to provide for the needs of western businesses at a price that could not be matched in a well organised peaceful company where coltan and other raw materials aren't dug by slave labourers at gunpoint.

'Post-colonial sensibilites' has nothing to do with it, and Belgium, the US or UK are not known for their shame about previous invasions of the country.

The other way of looking at it is that with that much vast mineral wealth at their disposal they should be able to take care of their own security issues without needing the west to do it for them. But of course this is liberal Ireland so we are about to hear how this is all really the fault of the west . . . .

humanji · 15-10-2010 12:22PM

So am I the only person who pictured a man called Dr Congo?

prinz · 15-10-2010 12:23PM

brianthebard wrote: »

Disagree completely tbh, the reason there has been no (further) intervention is because mineral and material production continues to provide for the needs of western businesses at a price that could not be matched in a well organised peaceful company where coltan and other raw materials aren't dug by slave labourers at gunpoint..

Like I said, there are people pocketing obscene amounts of wealth by keeping the status quo, "western businesses" but also African businesses and leaders.

brianthebard wrote: »

'Post-colonial sensibilites' has nothing to do with it, and Belgium, the US or UK are not known for their shame about previous invasions of the country.

Actually it has, and it has reared it's ugly head on more than one occassion in the past; the concept of letting Africans sort out the issue on their own etc. and also the objections of some leaders and countries to outside 'interference'.

Morlar · 15-10-2010 12:23PM

humanji wrote: »

So am I the only person who pictured a man called Dr Congo?

Dr King-o Congo, actually.

brianthebard · 15-10-2010 12:27PM

Morlar wrote: »

The other way of looking at it is that with that much vast mineral wealth at their disposal they should be able to take care of their own security issues without needing the west to do it for them. But of course this is liberal Ireland so we are about to hear how this is all really the fault of the west . . . .

What an incredibly ignorant post.

Nobody in the Congo wants the west to do it for them. Its persistent western intervention for the past 120+ years that has gotten the Congo where it is. In the late nineteenth century it was Leopold II's 23 year reign of terror that destroyed the country and killed half the population.

After that the Belgian state took over the plundering of the Congo until independence in the sixties.

Straight after the first elections America and American companies asserted their plans to use the resources of the Congo for their own goals, going as far as to assassinate the democratically elected leader of the country Lumumba. They then propped up a brutal dictator for decades as a barrier to the spread of USSR influence.

Moboto's eventual fall from power took the only semblance of control away from the country (not that he had any real control by the end) and left the country in a fractured state of civil war that we see now. Of course the US didn't bother to try and clean up their messes in Africa.

The Congo is a mess of international intervention, companies from America, Finland, Belgium, China, Korea, Canada, Britain, etc, etc, pillaging the nation's resources illegally, encouraging militia's to mine for them while turning a blind eye to slavery, rape and widespread murder.

brianthebard · 15-10-2010 12:30PM

prinz wrote: »

Actually it has, and it has reared it's ugly head on more than one occassion in the past; the concept of letting Africans sort out the issue on their own etc. and also the objections of some leaders and countries to outside 'interference'.

What you're talking about has no connection to postcolonialism or anything remotely postcolonial. Its business as usual, deciding whether to intervene or not simply on the basis of economics and possible political gain in the region. Both Hussein and Moboto were US installed dictator's, but one was deposed and executed and one was not. Neither event has anything to do with postcolonial sensibilities, and everything to do with what would bring the most gains.

Morlar · 15-10-2010 12:32PM

brianthebard wrote: »

What an incredibly ignorant post.

Nobody in the Congo wants the west to do it for them. Its persistent western intervention for the past 120+ years that has gotten the Congo where it is. In the late nineteenth century it was Leopold II's 23 year reign of terror that destroyed the country and killed half the population.

After that the Belgian state took over the plundering of the Congo until independence in the sixties.

Straight after the first elections America and American companies asserted their plans to use the resources of the Congo for their own goals, going as far as to assassinate the democratically elected leader of the country Lumumba. They then propped up a brutal dictator for decades as a barrier to the spread of USSR influence.

Moboto's eventual fall from power took the only semblance of control away from the country (not that he had any real control by the end) and left the country in a fractured state of civil war that we see now. Of course the US didn't bother to try and clean up their messes in Africa.

The Congo is a mess of international intervention, companies from America, Finland, Belgium, China, Korea, Canada, Britain, etc, etc, pillaging the nation's resources illegally, encouraging militia's to mine for them while turning a blind eye to slavery, rape and widespread murder.

So in other words yes it is the fault of the west.

brianthebard · 15-10-2010 12:35PM

Morlar wrote: »

So in other words yes it is the fault of the west.

You can blame Lumumba for dying when he was shot if you want to be hip and alternative and anti-'Liberal Ireland' or whatever it is you're trying to do in this thread. :rolleyes:

Morlar · 15-10-2010 12:38PM

brianthebard wrote: »

You can blame Lumumba for dying when he was shot if you want to be hip and alternative and anti-'Liberal Ireland' or whatever it is you're trying to do in this thread. :rolleyes:

I am just a bit sick of this ;

'Every problem of africa is caused by the west'

schtick.

Saadyst · 15-10-2010 12:40PM

Morlar wrote: »

I am just a bit sick of this ;

'Every problem of africa is caused by the west'

schtick.

I don't think people are saying that the mass rapes reported today are the direct fault of the west. I think it's attributed as an indirect effect of the long period of time that they have been getting screwed over.

brianthebard · 15-10-2010 12:40PM

Morlar wrote: »

I am just a bit sick of this ;

'Every problem of africa is caused by the west'

schtick.

You're right the people of the Congo invited Belgium to subjugate them, silly me.

prinz · 15-10-2010 12:44PM

brianthebard wrote: »

What you're talking about has no connection to postcolonialism or anything remotely postcolonial.

When the French sent troops in to the Civil War in the Ivory Coast there were immediately cries of 'colonisation' while the country was weak blah blah blah etc.

There is a reason more and more conflicts in Africa are being policed by often times badly equipped and ill trained soldiers from other African countries at the expense of the victims of the crisis rather than using troops much better equipped and capable to restore and keep order. This is also the reason why there are numerous examples of western UN troops being murdered while their African fellow soldiers are spared.

If western powers mobilised to go into the Congo, the same people here blaming the colonial history would be back accusing the foreign military intervention as being a front to maintain their literal gold-mine. Lose - lose.

Amalgam · 15-10-2010 12:53PM

There's 'physical problems' that persist long after being attacked. The BBC did a radio item on 'Fistula' and other complications with women from the Congo region. Not for the faint hearted.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3426273.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8677637.stm

Dr. Zeus · 15-10-2010 12:57PM

Thanks for posting this curlzy. Had heard about this must admit I know very little about what is actually happening there. Will read up to update myself.

Sounds horrific though.

brianthebard · 15-10-2010 12:58PM

prinz wrote: »

If western powers mobilised to go into the Congo, the same people here blaming the colonial history would be back accusing the foreign military intervention as being a front to maintain their literal gold-mine. Lose - lose.

The same people meaning me? Well even if you didn't mean me, I guess it does describe me. However military intervention is not needed. A boycott of Congo derived materials and foreign companies operating illegally in the Congo would make it no longer profitable to exploit the Congo in the way it has been. There is no foreign military intervention required at this point, only a willingness to actually change the economic system that is allowing the destruction of the Congo to continue.

orourkeda · 15-10-2010 01:01PM

Teutorix wrote: »

Thats fúcked up

Quite literally

prinz · 15-10-2010 01:03PM

brianthebard wrote: »

The same people meaning me? Well even if you didn't mean me, I guess it does describe me. However military intervention is not needed. A boycott of Congo derived materials and foreign companies operating illegally in the Congo would make it no longer profitable to exploit the Congo in the way it has been. There is no foreign military intervention required at this point, only a willingness to actually change the economic system that is allowing the destruction of the Congo to continue.

In the meantime the people continue to die, suffer and are subject to mass rapes, amputations etc., the foreign companies rape what they can in terms of money and resources, then up sticks and move to the next place. Meanwhile the people have suffered and continue to suffer. The country is left desolate and ripe for the next tin pot dictator to rise to the top and invite the companies back in and the cycle starts over. IMO anyway.

p.s. I wasn't referring to you in particular.

brianthebard · 15-10-2010 01:07PM

prinz wrote: »

In the meantime the people continue to die, suffer and are subject to mass rapes, amputations etc., the foreign companies rape what they can in terms of money and resources, then up sticks and move to the next place. Meanwhile the people have suffered and continue to suffer. The country is left desolate and ripe for the next tin pot dictator to rise to the top and invite the companies back in and the cycle starts over. IMO anyway.

p.s. I wasn't referring to you in particular.

The Congo holds up to 50% of the world's reserves of some minerals, and is a truly huge country. Moving elsewhere would not be enough to continue production on the same scale, and Finland needs that cobalt to produce mobiles.
Your version of it is obviously the worst case scenario but there's no reason why holding foreign companies accountable would make things worse.

Saadyst · 15-10-2010 01:08PM

prinz wrote: »

In the meantime the people continue to die, suffer and are subject to mass rapes, amputations etc., the foreign companies rape what they can in terms of money and resources, then up sticks and move to the next place. Meanwhile the people have suffered and continue to suffer. The country is left desolate and ripe for the next tin pot dictator to rise to the top and invite the companies back in and the cycle starts over. IMO anyway.

p.s. I wasn't referring to you in particular.

What's your solution?

prinz · 15-10-2010 01:14PM

Saadyst wrote: »

What's your solution?

Military intervention should be now. Millions of people are dying and this mass rape is continuing.

Once the different factions have been separated and end put to the mass murder, proper governance fostered. Proper regulation put in place and enforced to stop the wholesale exploitation by foreign companies of the people, the environment and the resources... and so on. Ground up, not top down.

Liberalbrehon · 15-10-2010 01:15PM

Horrible stuff, has been going on for decades, when it was the Belgium Congo a lot of nuns were raped by militias in the 1960's and the Vatican had them all have abortions. Anyway, unfortunately that situation won't be solved any time soon.

Absurdum · 15-10-2010 01:16PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYj5o4kQsXs

OutlawPete · 15-10-2010 01:17PM

Was just watching a documentary about this last night actually.

It starting off discussing the rapes and that is shocking enough in itself.

But it then went on to interview young boys and almost every single one of them had murdered other men by the age of 14 and took part in gangrape by the age of 12.

Saadyst · 15-10-2010 01:17PM

prinz wrote: »

Military intervention should be now. Millions of people are dying and this mass rape is continuing.

Once the different factions have been separated and end put to the mass murder, proper governance fostered. Proper regulation put in place and enforced to stop the wholesale exploitation by foreign companies of the people, the environment and the resources... and so on. Ground up, not top down.

That's great, but what country is going to go in? And what population will support it?

I agree it should be stopped, and I do believe that military intervention can't always be just for self-gain. But realistically, it's not going to happen without any national interest at stake.

There was a thread here on AH with people complaining about the 400-500 million euro or so that Ireland gives to foreign aid, with the usual comments about "look after our own", "it's not our problem" etc.

Having to commit the amount of resources and lives of your own people to secure what is needed here... I think it's beyond any democracy at the moment.

WindSock · 15-10-2010 01:27PM

brianthebard wrote: »

What an incredibly ignorant post.

Why do you have to resort to this kind of posting when refuting someone elses? I am sure you are aware that not everyone has studied history or whatever it is you study or have studied yourself. You obviously have a lot of knowledge on some subjects to share but why you have to call people incredibly ignorant in any discussion...

Mass rapes in DR Congo.

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