KINSHASA – Rioting inmates raped about 20 female prisoners during a failed prison break in Democratic Republic of Congo’s violence-ravaged east, the country’s UN peacekeeping mission said.
Two people were killed and 12 others were injured when prisoners detonated two grenades inside the central prison in Goma, capital of the eastern border province of North Kivu, during an overnight escape attempt that began late on Sunday.
“The group of mutinying soldiers . . . raped around 20 female inmates,” said the statement released late on Monday by the UN mission.
Congolese police and military surrounded the prison, which holds a number of rebel and militia fighters, soon after the riots began, and no prisoners escaped.
Congolese prisons are generally overcrowded. Malnutrition and preventable illnesses are common. In many cases, soldiers, women, and children are mixed in with the general inmate population.
The UN blames a growing wave of attempted jail breaks and mutinies on a lack of food and access to healthcare. New York-based rights campaigner Human Rights Watch accused authorities of ignoring calls to improve the country’s prison infrastructure and failing to protect vulnerable inmates. – (Reuters)