In his first report on sexual violence in conflict situations, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon, mainly against women, is rife in armed conflicts in Africa, Asia and Europe, and called for States to strengthen prevention and protection measures against the crime. To further this objective, Ban called on the Security Council to set up an independent commission of inquiry, supported by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights, to investigate such abuses in the conflicts in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan.
In the DRC, Ban stressed that members of the DRC armed forces (FARDC) and the Congolese National Police (PNC) were responsible “for a large number of serious human rights violations, including rape. In parts of South Kivu as well, MONUC [the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC] has registered reports that militia commit sexual violence while looting villages near military encampments and attack women as they gather firewood, food or water.”
Ban also noted that a trend in attacks on civilians is the accompanying abduction, enforced prostitution and enslavement of the victims, highlighting that in the Sierra Leone conflict, women and girls were kidnapped and forced to marry combatants.
To remedy the situation, Ban called on States and other parties to conflict to commit to concrete actions, such as sending clear and forceful instructions and regular messages on the categorical prohibition of sexual violence, and to demonstrate that breaches will be punished; addressing inequalities and discrimination against women and girls by promoting more women to decision-making positions in society; ratifying and implementing core international human rights treaties; and strengthening national capacity to hold all perpetrators of sexual violence accountable for the crimes, ensuring that amnesties and immunities exclude those that commit or commission sexual violence; among other measures.
He also said the U.N. needed to fashion a multi-sectoral response to the scourge, which involves addressing the issue from planning to implementation of its mandates, creating a U.N. institution to advance gender equality and women’s human rights, and improving monitoring and investigation to overcome the hurdles faced in reporting on sexual violence.
In response, Rwanda’s representative remarked that perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in his country, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), had disrupted security and stability in the wider Great Lakes region, while survivors lived with the consequences of the genocide with little assistance from the international community. He urged the international community to complement efforts by the Governments of Rwanda and the DRC to eliminate the threat they posed and to provide assistance to the survivors.
See the following links to UN reports on sexual violence:
“Ban urges tougher steps to prevent widespread sexual violence in conflict”
“Ban calls for independent inquiry into use of rape as weapon in African wars”
