HUTU rebels and their militia allies blamed for the mass rape of 284 women in the Democratic Republic of Congo "hunted all night" and raped old and young alike, one of the survivors told AFP.
"All the women who were there in the village that day were raped," said 30-year-old Monica Tamary, a spokeswoman for the women in Luvungi.
"They made no distinction between the old and the young," she added.
Rebels of the Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and their allies the local Mai Mai militia had raped girls as young as 13, the mother-of five said. "There was no sleep that night. They hunted all night."
The attack on Luvundi, in a remote forested northeastern corner of DR Congo, happened one night late in July.
Of the 350 women in the village, the only ones to escape that night were those who were working in the quarries, several hours walk away, Tamary added. Luvungi is a small centre for trade in the poor-quality gold extracted from local low-tech mines. The women there trade food for gold with the miners and sell it on to local dealers. Often, they keep several grammes of gold hidden under their clothing, said Tamary.AFP
Soldiers from the Indian Batallion of the Monusco stand guard in the village of Mutakato in northeastern DR Congo where armed rebel groups exchanged fire a day earlier with UN soldiers. Picture: AFP
Thursday, September 9, 2010
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