Congolese Army Promises to Stop Raping Congolese Women

by Michael Bear · 2009-07-14 12:33:00 UTC
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Just a quick one, to point out a great post by Texas in Africa explaining why it's so difficult to address widespread rape in the Congo.

According to a recent report by Human Rights Watch, the Congolese army (FARDC) has raped "thousands of women and girls" during recent operations against various rebel groups operating in eastern Congo.  As HRW details:

"Rape cases have also dramatically increased in areas of Congolese army deployment...While all sides continue to use rape and other sexual violence as a weapon of war, the majority of the rape cases investigated by Human Rights Watch were attributed to soldiers from the Congolese army."

In response, a spokesman for the Congolese army declared: "From this day, any serviceman guilty of reprehensible acts will feel the full force of the law."

One would think - and hope - that would go without saying.  As Texas in Africa explains, however: "The problem, of course, is that Kasonga and the army administration he represents don't have effective control over all the soldiers under their command."

In fact, it's something of a catch-22:

"It's also unclear what would happen to the FARDC. If they remove all the rapists from their ranks - as they absolutely should - there won't be enough soldiers to establish order throughout the region. Enforcement of the policy will also throw a wrench into the DDR system. You can't integrate former rebels (most of whom are also guilty of rape and numerous other war crimes) into the ranks if unrepentant rapists aren't welcome. It seems that by taking a necessary and important - if unenforcable - step, the Congolese military is backing itself into a horrible Catch-22 situation."

Texas in Africa ends the post on a somewhat more optimistic note: "But even if this week's announcement is only symbolic, it is a tiny victory in the fight to protect the women and girls of the eastern Congo."

It's all about the small victories, even if sometimes they seem incredibly small.

For more information on rape as a weapon of war in Congo - including community-based responses, survivor testimony, perpetrator testimony, and a bibliography of further resources on gender-based violence - please see here.

[Photo from Lynsey Addario / New York Times]

Michael Bear
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