BETWEEN JULY 30th and August 3rd, hundreds of rebel soldiers took over two North Kivu villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), raping 179 women and children. Many of the attacks were gang-rapes by two to six men. Even by the standards of a country where sexual violence has become pervasive – more than 9,000 people, including men and boys, were raped last year – the scale and brutality of the latest offences are particularly shocking. And they must once again raise questions about the role of the UN’s 18,000-strong peacekeeping force MONUSCO, already under fire for not doing enough to protect civilians.
Eastern Congo is teeming with brutal rebel groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army which slaughters and kidnaps in the name of the Ten Commandments, and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu force whose members include exiled perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and which is blamed for the recent attacks.
The DRC army (FARDC) and the Rwanda army began a military offensive against the latter in early 2009, backed by a UN operation that has become its largest mission in the world, costing $1 billion a year. But the FDLR’s estimated 3,000-4,000 troops still terrorise communities with a large degree of impunity. The poorly trained and ill-disciplined government forces, themselves accused of widespread human rights abuses, and the vast densely wooded terrain make defeating the rebel groups almost an impossible task.
The UN last year made a continued MONUSCO role in the campaign against rebels conditional on it increasingly constraining FARDC operations, apparently to no avail. There is no evidence of new restraint, officers linked to war crimes remain in command, and UN troops have never yet used force to prevent FARDC rogue elements committing crimes.
In the circumstances the recent rapes, in villages some 30 miles from a UN base which were visited by UN patrols even during the period of rebel occupation, have caused it considerable embarrassment. At the very least there has been a serious failure of intelligence. And if MONUSCO, whose mandate requires it to ensure the protection of civilians under imminent threat of physical violence “emanating from any of the parties engaged in the conflict”, cannot stop either FADRC or FDLR outrages, what is it doing in the Congo? UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who has rushed a representative to the area, has made protecting civilians and combating sexual violence central themes of his term at the helm, and insists MONUSCO did not know about the attacks until a week after they occurred.
The UN has withdrawn 1,700 peacekeepers recently in response to calls from Congo’s government to end its mission next year. Kinshasa does not appreciate UN assistance, a reality reflected in the little leverage MONUSCO exerts on its army. Ultimately, however, the huge humanitarian challenge remains and continued UN engagement as a buffer force is crucial, however difficult the circumstances or unwanted its presence.