UN envoy accuses Congolese government soldiers of atrocities

The official responsible for United Nations efforts to combat sexual violence in conflict told the Security Council that U.N. peacekeepers have received reports of rapes, killings and looting by government soldiers.

Wallstrom is urging the Congolese government to investigate the allegations and deploy national police to the area to protect civilians and investigators. She said she had also asked U.N. peacekeepers to monitor and report daily on rapes and other sexual violence.

Rwandan-led rebels from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda committed mass rapes that ended in early August, after which Congo President Joseph Kabila ordered a moratorium on mining in the mineral-rich area and sent in thousands of army troops
to reassert government control.

Speaking to the BBC, Wallstrom said such atrocities will continue until there is real and effective enforcement of law and military discipline. "You have to see it as a tactic of war and you have to treat it as a phenomenon that can be addressed," she said. "And you do that by sending a very clear signal that this is not acceptable, you will be punished."

Wallstrom also urged that perpetrators of rape and sexual violence be barred from any amnesty provisions, from any benefits of disarming and returning to civilian life, and from any role in politics or government.

She said the mass rapes in Walikale demonstrate the link between the illegal exploitation of natural resources by armed groups and sexual violence, and encouraged European countries and other nations to enact legislation requiring companies to disclose whether their products contain minerals from Congo.

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