Groups say mass rapes by armed men including soldiers are far from rare in Congo but few perpetrators are ever held accountable.
DAKAR (AlertNet) – Rights groups said the jailing of nine soldiers for the mass rape of 50 women in the east of Congo was a positive step in the fight against sexual violence but more still had to be done.
On Monday a military court jailed a commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Kibibi Mutware, and eight of his men for 10 to 20 years for an attack on the town of Fizi in the South Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on New Year's Day. One soldier was acquitted and another who is 16 will be tried in a juvenile court.
“I'm delighted by the verdict, which is a huge victory for justice in eastern Congo,” said Kelly Askins, a regional legal officer for the Open Society Justice Initiative. “Convicting a senior military leader of crimes against humanity signals that the courts take rape and other atrocity crimes very seriously.”
Aid groups say mass rapes by armed men including soldiers are far from rare in Congo but few perpetrators are ever held accountable.
Analysts hope the administrative and judicial authorities' swift response to the Fizi attack is a sign of an end to such impunity.
“On New Year’s Day, over 50 women were viciously and systematically raped. Less than two months later, the leader and eight of his soldiers have been arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced… Finally, actions have consequences, something that's been absent in the DRC for far too long,” Askins said in an email response as she travelled from the DRC to Burundi.
Mutware, who was sentenced to 20 years and expelled from the army, is the highest-ranking military officer to be tried for sexual and gender-based violence in Congo although there are several other high ranking Congolese rebels and soldiers who are facing charges in international courts.
The rights group, Amnesty International, says the verdict is a step in the right direction but that endemic corruption and interference in the judicial process means a lot remains to be done.
“Enforcement of prison sentences is rare and prison escapes and breaks frequent. If justice is to be achieved, the DRC authorities must immediately increase spending in the justice sector and take concrete steps against interference,” Claire Morclette, DRC campaigner at Amnesty International in London, said in an email.
She said fear of reprisals continues to undermine victims’ and their families’ willingness to seek justice which further reduces the chance of real progress in bringing perpetrators to book.
“If the Fizi trials are to have a positive impact,” she said, “the authorities must immediately put in place witness and victim protection mechanisms.”
Amnesty said it would also like to see jurisdiction over crimes under international law- including those committed by members of the army- transferred to civilian courts.
The tribunal that tried the soldiers is part of a system of mobile gender justice courts that has been travelling around remote areas of South Kivu to provide justice to victims of sexual violence, based on a project by the Open Society Initiative and the American Bar Association launched in 2009.
In 2010, nine such courts were held by Congolese officials, hearing 186 cases. Of these, 115 were for rape cases and 95 resulted in convictions (plus another 42 convictions for non-sex cases). The prison sentences ranged from three to 20 years.
“I was incredibly impressed by the professionalism of the court and the work ethic of the Congolese lawyers and judges working on this case,” said Askins who was involved in the design of the mobile courts project and witnessed the trial of the Congolese soldiers.
“The justice and rule of law needs in DRC remain enormous, but this is a major step in the right direction.”
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