Gender Report Card on the International Criminal ... - YWCA Canada

OTP Situations and Cases
Continued conflict and sexual violence
in South Kivu
A number of incidents of mass rape have
taken place in 2010-2011 in South Kivu, and
while some limited measures to combat
impunity have been implemented domestically,
prosecutions for sexual violence remain the
exception in the DRC. 582 Coordinated attacks
took place between 30 July and 2 August 2010,
against 13 villages located on the Kibua-Mpofi
road in the Walikale territory, North Kivu. The
Walikale territory, situated between Bukavu,
South Kivu, and the Maniema Province, is rich in
minerals, particularly cassiterite, and has a high
concentration of rebel groups fighting for control
of the mines. During these attacks at least 303
civilians were raped, of whom 235 were women,
52 were girls, 13 were men, and three were boys.
The villages of Luvungi and Lubonga were the
most affected. A coalition of 200 soldiers from
the FDLR, the Mai Mai Cheka and elements led
by Colonel Emmanuel Nsengiyumva, an army
deserter and former Congrès national pour la
défense du peuple (CNDP) member, are alleged
to be responsible for the attacks. 583 The majority
of rapes were committed by two to six armed
men. It is also reported that victims were often
raped in front of their families. Moreover, several
victims said they were beaten and subjected to
582 For a detailed analysis of the attacks and the responses
of Women’s Initiatives’ partners in the Kivus, see
Women’s Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong> Justice, ‘Commanding
officer convicted of mass rape in Fizi’, Women’s Voices
e-letter, April 2011, available at ; and
Women’s Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong> Justice, ‘The Women’s
Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong> Justice participates in the World
March of Women in Bukavu, South Kivu’, Women’s
Voices e-letter, April 2011, available at .
583 According to witnesses of the attack interviewed by
the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) during
its mission in the affected areas from 25 August to 2
September 2010, the mass rapes in the Walikale territory
were planned in retaliation for support given by the
local population to the government forces. Rape was
chosen as a form of punishment to forever mark the
victims and to humiliate the entire community.
genital searches before the sexual assault took
place. Apart from mass rapes, witnesses also
reported pillaging, beatings and abductions. The
rebels prevented the villagers from requesting
help by cutting off all the roads and means of
communication. 584
On 6 January 2011, the humanitarian
organisation Médecins sans Frontières (MSF)
announced that its medical team in Fizi
territory, South Kivu treated 33 women who
had been raped in a coordinated attack on 1
January in and around the town of Fizi. 585 Rapes,
including gang rapes by up to four men, were
accompanied by beatings, and houses and
shops were looted during the attack, which
was allegedly carried out by members of the
regular Congolese army (the Forces armées de
la République démocratique du Congo [FARDC]).
In the days following the attack, the count of
women victims/survivors of this attack increased
to over 60. It is reported that from mid-January
to mid-February 2011, 147 further rape cases
were examined by medical personnel in the
western area of Fizi only. 586 MONUSCO has
been heavily criticised for its inability to protect
civilians and to prevent the mass rapes.
584 The attacks only became known on 5 August, when
the first victims started arriving at a medical centre
managed by the International Medical Corps (IMC)
in Walikale. According to the IMC, only two survivors
arrived at the medical centre within 72 hours and
could therefore be administered the post-exposure
prophylaxis for HIV. Women who reached the centre
within 120 hours after having been raped were provided
with emergency contraception.
585 ‘MSF treats victims of mass rape on New Year’s Day in
DRC’, MSF, 6 January 2011, available at < http://www.
msf.org/msf/articles/2011/01/msf-treats-victims-ofmass-rape-on-new-years-day-in-democratic-republic-ofcongo.cfm>,
last visited on 31 October 2011.
586 Women’s Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong> Justice, ‘Commanding
officer convicted of mass rape in Fizi’, Women’s Voices
e-letter, April 2011, available at .
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