Rwanda-backed M23 rebels last week captured regional capital Goma in an anarchic and mineral-rich part of Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of women inmates in Munzenze prison of Congo’s Goma were reportedly burnt alive after being raped during the chaos after Rwanda-backed rebel groups entered the Congolese city last week, leading to a surge in human rights violation. Rwanda-backed M23 rebels last week captured regional capital Goma in an anarchic and mineral-rich part of Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions were killed and displaced in wars of 1996-1997 and 1998-2003.
Among human rights violation the conflict has led to, summary executions, bombing of displacement camps are some, along with reports of gang rapes and other sexual violence, according to UN rights office (OHCHR). Women raped, burned alive in Goma’s Munzenze prison Hundreds of female inmates were attacked in their wing inside Goma’s Munzenze prison during a mass jailbreak, according to a senior UN official cited in a report by The Guardian.
As per Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force based in Goma, several thousand men managed to escape from the prison but the area for women was set afire. Images that were reportedly taken shortly after the M23 rebels breached into Goma showed plumes of black smoke arising from the prison on January 27 morning.
UN peacekeepers have been unable access the prison to investigate the incident further because of restrictions imposed by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. While there are not many details on the incident, the atrocities are said to be the worst of the recent M23-led conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The report said that about 2,000 bodies could be still awaiting burial in Goma as on Tuesday.
“There was a major prison breakout of 4,000 escaped prisoners. A few hundred women were also in that prison…They were all raped and then they set fire to the women’s wing. They all died afterwards,” the report quoted as saying Van de Perre, who is now in Goma with thousands of UN peacekeeping troops deployed to protect citizens.
The UN Human Rights Council will hold a special meeting to discuss the situation in Goma, a UN statement said on Tuesday. The Democratic Republic of Congo requested the session and it would take place on February 7 in Geneva, the UN statement said. So far, 27 countries have supported the meeting, surpassing the requirement for a third of the 47-member council, it said. While the council has no legally binding power, its debates carry political weight and criticism can raise global pressure on governments to change course. Sometimes, investigations mandated by the council can lead to prosecutions for war crimes in international courts.
