Abstract
Sexual and gender-based violence is not a new phenomenon. It is prevalent in almost every society in the world. However, during armed conflicts, this phenomenon becomes close to endemic particularly in societies where the rule of law is shattered. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in general has been in conflict for decades but the recent fighting in the Eastern Kivu regions have become the scenes for prolonged conflict, largely characterized by sexual violence against women, and girls. Till date, over 200,000 women and girls have been victims of sexual violence with close to 1,200 to 1,600 cases of sexual violence occurring monthly from January to December 2009 and approximately 32, 3523 rape cases reported in 2008. Statistics of perpetrators reveal that approximately 54% of sexual violence crimes committed in 2007were by members of the FARDC rebel group; 338% by civilians in 2008; and the rest by the members of the Congolese national police, people in authority and opportunists. With such statistics, there is need for reforms in the judiciary systems of the DRC and other alternative actions to curb the prevalence of the crime and bring perpetrators to justice.
Key: DRC, sexual violence, women, girls, justice, impunity, rape .
General Introduction
Women the world over have been victims of violence of different forms ranging from rape, domestic battery, coercion to sexual abuse. The pervasiveness of these acts have engendered renewed discussion as to the level of community awareness of the crimes , the protection mechanisms available and the public health adequacy to meet the needs of the victims. Although the phenomenon may be generalized in almost every society, it is more complex, widespread and destructive in conflict prone settings where the rule of law is absent and the judiciary system is shattered. The African continent has witnessed uncountable conflicts since independence in the 1960s and 70s but the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stands out. Often sarcastically referred to as the forgotten conflict, the two wars of the Congo and the current war in the Eastern region of the DRC has had a huge human impact on the population of the DRC, with more than 5 million lives taken. However, women and girls have bore the brunt of the fighting between government forces and rebels groups in their struggle to control the rich natural resources of the land. Women and girls and sometimes men and boys have been victims of sexual and gender-based violence during the different and numerous targeted village raids and attacks. The present paper seeks to shed some light on the human rights plight of women and girls in the conflict in DRC. It assesses the sexual and gender-based violence actions committed against women in the country, reviews international and national provisions against the act, critically thinks through the reasons for the discrepancies in obtaining justice and makes a few recommendations for the improvement of the social conditions of both victims and potential victims of sexual and gender-based violence in the DRC.
International Provisions against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
There are many international efforts and actions that have been taken in the past to protect and provide a safe haven for all women and girls in times of peace but most especially in times of disasters and conflicts.
United Nations Standards
UN Security Council Resolution 1325, October 2000
In October 2000, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1325. This landmark move was the effort of long periods of negotiation and brainstorming. The resolution aimed at protecting the human rights of women and girls and expanding their participation in areas such as humanitarian planning, peace negotiation, peacekeeping operations, peace-building and governance. Above all, resolution 1325 made provisions for the broad protection of the rights of women and girls through the promotion of their rights, law enforcement and accountability and the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence against them in times of conflicts, emergencies and disasters and in refugee camps. The resolution particularly classified sexual violence crimes as crimes against humanity, war crimes and/or genocide (UNIFEM, 2013).
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) December 1979
United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women commonly known as CEDAW in December 1979 which became applicable in September of 1989. This Convention was some sort of a bill of rights for women which set the basis for equality for all women in every activity and walk of life. The overall message of the framework was to eliminate any discriminatory barriers that excluded women from or forced them to perform certain duties because of their feminine gender in such areas as reproduction, employment, education and other socio-economic and cultural aspects (UN OHCHR, 2013).
The Geneva Conventions and Its Two Additional Protocols
The International Committee of the Red Cross initiated the drafting of four Geneva Conventions in order to improve the atmosphere and/or conduct of war as well as the protection of victims of war after the atrocities of World War II. All four Conventions were adopted in 1949. In addition to the four Conventions, two Additional Protocols were adopted in 1977 to strengthen the four Conventions and cover areas not previously covered by the 1949 agreement. Amongst these areas was the protection of women in all aspects from armed conflicts.
Sphere Standard 2011
The Sphere Project which is the effort of a coalition of international humanitarian organizations operating in the humanitarian field worked tirelessly to set up a set of minimum standards to guide the activities of organizations responding to the needs of victims of emergencies, disasters and conflicts. As part of the minimum standards, the Sphere Project established protection as one of its key fundamental principles in humanitarian relief. Under this principle, Sphere requires all humanitarian agencies to avoid exposing victims to further harm, help them recover from abuse, and protect them from physical and psychological human rights violence, abuse or coercion (Sphere Handbook, 2011, pp.29-43).
Case Study: DR Congo
The Conflict and Plight of Women and Girls in Eastern Congo
The conflict in the Congo has its origin as far back as two weeks after its independence in June 1960. But the present situation in Eastern Congo can be traced to the May 1997 assault led by Laurent Kabila that ended the thirty years dictatorial reign of President Mobutu Sese Seko. Sexual violence has grown into a pandemic in the course of the more than two decades of the conflict in the DRC. Since then, the DRC in general and the Kivu (North and South) Provinces have known no peace. The battle in the East is really about the struggle to control the extensively dispersed rich mineral resources that the region covers. There are many individual armed groups involved in this conflict that make its resolution very complex. The continues operation and threats by rebel groups such as the Rwandan-Hutu rebellion group called Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Ugandan based Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have made the UN to declare the Eastern region of the Congo as the “World’s worst humanitarian crisis” in March 2005. In the midst of this chaos, women have suffered even more heinous treatments in the form of sexual violence. According to the United Nations, there have been over 200,000 cases of rape in Eastern Congo since 1996 (Congressional Research Service, 2009, p.4). CARE International, an international non-profit organization posited that gender-based violence increased monthly since April 2012 and called it “endemic”, (CARE International, 2013). Out of 8000 cases , about 1,200 to 1,600 cases of sexual violence were recorded on a monthly basis from January to December 2009 according to UN Population Fund (UNFPA), meanwhile approximately 32, 3523 rape cases where reported by different organizations in 2008 (ACORD, 2010, p. 3). In 2004, Amnesty International revealed that 40,000 cases of rape cases that occurred in South Kivu were reported in the previous six years. The Journal of the American Medical Association on its part said in 2010 that 39.7 percent of women in the North, South Kivu and Province Orientale reported having been exposed to sexual violence in their lifetime (Wikipedia, 2013). According to the UN Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO), 54% of sexual violence crimes committed in 2007were by members of the FARDC rebel group, meanwhile others were committed by members of the Congolese national police, people in authority, civilians and opportunists. In this same vein, OXFAM reported that the number of rapes committed by civilian is on the rise, with 338 percent recorded in 2008 (Wikipedia, 2013).
Reasons behind Sexual Violence in the DRC
Sexual violence in the DRC is unique in terms of the statistics of the victims it produces but the reasons behind the act are similar to almost every conflict prone environment. There are a myriad of motivational factors pushing the sexual violence criminal statistics in Eastern Congo. In a region where armed groups operate under their own principles and law and depend on war booty and looting as a reward; the rape of women and girls has grown to be considered as one of the many pleasurable spoils of the Congo war. Women are used in other circumstances for troop mollification as LRA militias abduct women to act as cooks and sexual slaves. Often times, these acts are also committed by government forces, leaving the women not knowing who to trust.
Also, the prevalence of a general atmosphere of impunity and the absence of the rule of law has motivated indiscriminate rape of women in Eastern Congo. This atmosphere of impunity gives breath and to militia men who consider the act as fun, knowing there won’t be any form of prosecution in the aftermath.
In addition, sexual violence is considered as a weapon of war. Systematic violence is used as a way of humiliating or destroying the pride communities believed to support the opposing camps. This weapon is used pleasurably and indiscriminately by rebel groups and government forces all to the pain and hurt of innocent women and girls in the DRC. In this same vein, sexual violence most particularly rape is used to belittle the men of a community and make them feel weak and unable to protect their women. (United Nations, 1998, p.3).
Consequences of Sexual Violence on Women and Girls
The impacts of sexual violence on women and girls in the two Kivu provinces are many and vary. Rape in its very nature is a painful act to endure by the victims because of the force and violence with which it is perpetrated. During sexual violence, the victims are subjected to involuntary sexual intercourse which is characterized by physical pain. Some are left with bruises and bleeding and to make matters worse, the women and girls do not have access to healthcare for medical follow-up.
Victims of sexual violence have also experienced reproductive health problems. This includes pain in their genitalia both internally and externally, menstrual inconsistencies, problems urinating or defecating, sexual dysfunction, rectal and vaginal fistulae.
Also, victims of sexual violence may contract sexually transmittable diseases (STDs), HIV and pelvic inflammation. The majority of the perpetrators of the act rebels and government forces do not use or care to use protection and so transmit every kind of diseases they may have to their victims.
In addition to the physical impacts, one of the most neglected and difficult to assess problems faced by victims of SGBV is the psychological impact. Women and girls who have undergone sexual violence are left with an incurable mental scar to deal with for the rest of their lives. The thoughts of the brutality and pain of rape lives to haunt the victims for the rest of their lives, especially when victims don’t have access to mental and psychological care which is like a rare service in the rural areas of Eastern Congo.
National Legal Provisions against SGBV in DR Congo versus Impunity and Challenges to Justice
The DRC has a few national laws that provide for civil liability in terms of reparations against rape and sexual violence committed on women. The Congolese Ministry of Gender, the Family and Child defines gender-based violence in its National Strategy to Fight Gender-based Violence as “any act or omission that is detrimental to an individual and results in distinctions between men and women, adults and children, the young and old” (ACORD, p.6)
Article 258 of the Congolese Civil Code, Book III stipulates that acts that cause injuries to others require the wrongdoer to do reparation. However, the conditions to this law make it difficult for justice to be met. This Article requires that, for reparation to be made, the victims have to provide ample proof that the consequences claimed are directly linked to the wrongful act. Under this condition, it becomes very difficult to prove psychological impacts of sexual violence. As a result of this, many perpetrators go scorched free without paying reparations to victims.
Secondly, Article 259 of the Congolese Civil Code, Book III, holds that “everyone shall be liable for the wrong he has caused, not only by his act, but his negligence or carelessness as well”. Despite the beauty of this law, they do have obstacles. Due to the lack of resources both material and technical expertise to conduct effective investigation as well as the broken or incompetent judicial of the DRC; perpetrators of sexual violence go free in most cases. When proves cannot be provided, the cases are generally dropped. In addition, most perpetrators who happen to be incarcerated still find a way of escaping prison because of defective prison systems.
Article 15 of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo of February 18, 2006 which considers sexual violence as a war crimes, crime against humanity and prescribes a public right to take action and obtain the applicable sentence that goes with its magnitude. Also under Article 24, point 3 of the Congolese Criminal Code, rape is “punishable by 5 to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than one hundred thousand inflation-adjusted Congolese Francs according to section170 of the Congolese Penal Code, Book II as amended and completed by Article 2 of Law No.06/018 of July 20, 2006” (ACORD, p. 10). However, this law has limitations because victims who do not file during the prescribed filing time limit public right of action may no longer have the chance to do so. Consequently, the perpetrators are left to go free when no case is brought against them on time.
Glimpse of Hope for Victims
Despite this grim picture of the judiciary system in the DRC, some efforts have been taken lately that has set the pace for some hope in the prosecution of sexual violence and war crime criminals.
The Congolese Ministry of Gender, the Family and Child set up the National Strategy to Fight Gender-based Violence. This effort is a step in the right direction for the provision of protection and assistance to victims of sexual violence in DRC.
Moreover, the Congolese government has invested resources for the functioning of the court in Ituri and Bunia areas of the Province Orientale region. Given that these areas are most known to be sexual violence prone for women in DRC, its establishment will expedite the legal proceedings and reparations for victims.
Also, the government has made efforts of trial of high profile cases such as that of Songo Mboyo in its Mbandaka Military Court. Although the final verdict has not been reached, this move is a huge step in the right direction (ACORD, p. 4). Similarly, the government has referred cases of crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Rome which is believed to be more equipped with legal expertise and resources for effective trial. The ICC has already begun trying some of the high profile cases such as those of Jean-Pierre Mbemba, Germaine Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo (Congressional Research Services, p.13).
The United Nations and other national and international non-profit organizations such as CARE International and the International Rescue Committee have also been very instrumental in assisting both the government of the DRC with legal policy directions as well as documenting cases, reporting, assisting victims establish legal proceedings, providing medical care and protection to victims of sexual violence in the DRC (Eldis, 2013).
Recommendations and the Way Forward
The following are a few recommendations that can help alleviate the suffering and reduce the number of sexual violence in the DRC in general and in the two Kivu and Orientale Provinces in particular.
- The government of the DRC should allocate a budget for reparations to victims of sexual violence committed by members of the government forces and other civil servants under the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Such funds will include money that will be directly deducted from their salary of perpetrators both military and civilian.
- Government should strengthen its justice system and train legal practitioners accordingly. It should ensure compliance with national and international laws among all armed forces and military during the war.
- Government must revise its laws to include all aspects of sexual violence for greater protection of women and girls and ensure the physical protection from reprisals or attacks of victims or families of victims who report cases involving government officials. There is need to reduce the complex elements of proof as a condition for prosecution and reparation.
- Any government worker involved in the shameful act of sexual violence should be dismissed from work and prosecuted accordingly.
- More courts as well as medical facilities should be opened and equipped in remote areas where the majority of the rape cases have been reported. This will guarantee more prosecution and reparation and ensure access to medical care for victims.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper made a condensed assessment of the phenomenon of sexual violence in a war stricken country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. While the political situation in the DRC in general is complex with ongoing fighting for power and the control of the vast natural resources; the paper posits that civilians should not become war booty. In this respect, the paper addressed the plight of women and girls who have become easy targets for sexual violence, perpetrated both by armed militia groups, government forces and other civilians. The prevalent atmosphere of impunity and the lack of the rule of law among other reasons have provided grounds for the increase in the crime of sexual violence in the DRC. In this state of affair, the weak judiciary and prison systems as well as the inadequacy of medical facilities for victims to receive care has made the situation and lifestyle of women and girls in the DRC a very sad, pitiful and insecure one. To dovetail, the paper made a few recommendations which if taken into consideration, can help alleviate the dire condition of sexual violence victims in the DRC.
References
ACORD (2010). Protection and preparation under Congolese law for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. Retrieved from http://www.acordinternational.org/silo/files/drc--protection-and-reparation-for-survivors-of-sexual-and-genderbased-violence.pdf
UNODC (2013). Rape at the national level, number of police-recorded offences. Retrieved from www.unodc.org/.../Crime.../Sexual_violence_sv_against_children_and_rape.xls
UNIFEM (2013). UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Retrieved from http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_war_peace/unscr_1325.html
United Nations Human Rights (2013). Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women commonly December 1979. Retrieved from
United Nations, Division for the Advancement of Women Department of Economic and Social Affairs (1998). Women2000. Sexual violence and armed conflict: United Nations Response. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/cover.pdf
Congressional Research Service (2009). Sexual Violence in African Conflict. Retrieved from http://www.stoprapenow.org/uploads/advocacyresources/1282163655.pdf
CARE International (2013). DR Congo: Sexual violence rising due to escalating conflict. Retrieved from http://www.care-international.org/Media-Releases/dr-congo-sexual-violence-rising-due-to-escalating-conflict.html
Wikipedia (2013). Sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_violence_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo
Eldis(2013). Seeking justice: The prosecution of sexual violence in the Congo war. Retrieved from http://www.eldis.org/go/country-profiles&id=18841&type=Document#.UW61HM
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