By Timothy Nsubuga

22^nd Oct 2012:

DRC women: Are they targeted by UPDF rapists?

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), together with their Rwandese counterparts the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) have gone on the rampage in Eastern Congo, raping and abusing Congolese women and girls, an NGO worker has claimed.

In a moving interview with the BBC, William, (not his real names) who works for the NGO Everything is A Benefit based in Goma describes how difficult life has become for women and teenage girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

William alleges that UPDF and RPA frequently ambush women and girls who have gone out to look for daily survival commodities to sustain their families.  According to William, the rape of women and girls is particularly rampant in a place called Rushuru.

In some cases, William adds, UPDF soldiers would enter a home and ask the man to sit and watch as his wife and daughters are raped.  The news came as a local hospital announced that more than 5,000 women have been raped since the beginning of the year in the eastern province of North Kivu alone.  The UPDF has consistently denied being in Congo – which is in effect an implied denial of the rape allegations.

A UN panel of experts however revealed last week that both Uganda and Rwanda were still supplying the M23 rebels with weapons and other support.  In an interview with the BBC, Uganda’s Minister of State for International Affairs dismissed the UN’s allegations as “rubbish, rubbish, rubbish”.

In a non-binding Security Council statement however, the UN condemned the M23 for “…all its attacks on the civilian population, United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian actors, as well as its abuses of human rights, including summary executions, sexual and gender-based violence and large-scale recruitment and use of child soldiers”.

Although the UN Security Council statement didn’t explicitly mention Uganda and Rwanda, it also came very close to doing exactly that when it expressed “deep concern” at reports that external support “continues to be provided to the M23 by neighbouring countries”, and demanded that such support “cease immediately”.

M23 is led by Gen. Bosco Ntaganda who was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.  To listen to the interview in which the UPDF is implicated in the rape of Congolese women, click on the link below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20012151.  Uganda Correspondent could not independently verify the allegations in the BBC interview.  END.  Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates

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