United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
2 December 2008
On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a resolution condemning the exactions perpetrated in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, and demanded an immediate cessation of all violations of fundamental rights by the warring parties.
At a meeting called in New York at the request of the European Union, the Council examined a draft resolution prepared by the African Group on the situation in eastern DR Congo, denouncing the acts of violence, violations and abuses, especially sexual violence and the recruitment of children by armed groups in North Kivu.
According to a press release from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council expressed its deep concern, and also requested UN rapporteurs on Human Rights to examine the situation in the DRC.
In a reaction to that request, the DRC representative at the meeting insisted that "sending in any number of special rapporteurs and observers will not help reduce the suffering of the populations". Instead he called for stronger, international pressure on the rebels who have been sowing hatred in the Great Lakes region.
Women are raped or subjected to other forms of violence on a regular basis in eastern DRC, according to a report by non-governmental organisations with membership in the Joint Initiative for the Prevention of Sexual Violence and for the Response to the Rights of Surviving Victims.
During the first six months of 2008, there have been some 2,288 cases of sexual violence recorded in North Kivu, with nearly half of these concentrated in the territory of Rutshuru which has seen numerous clashes between the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) and the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).
The city of Goma ranks second with 400 cases, where 90 percent of the victims have been identified to be among populations living in camps for displaced people in the surrounding areas.
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