- GENEVA -- United Nations
relief workers are finding thousands of women who have suffered "atrocious
rapes" during five years of civil war in Congo, a spokesperson said
on Tuesday.
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- "Never before have we found as many victims of rape
in conflict situations as we are discovering now," said Christiane
Berthiaume, spokeswoman for the World Food Programme.
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- "Thousands of women who have been atrociously raped
are coming to health centres for treatment," she added. "We strongly
fear that it is only the tip of the iceberg."
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- UN officials, joined by actress Jessica Lange, have expressed
alarm previously about the rapes committed by the warring factions in Congo,
but Berthiaume said a peace accord has shown the situation was worse than
feared.
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- "We have been able to gain access to more regions
and vulnerable people who have been hidden and now are arriving in cities
in search of help, food and care," Berthiaume said.
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- She said relief workers estimate that for every woman
who has sought treatment, 30 more either remain in hiding or have been
unable to travel the long distances to health centers.
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- 'Systematically' raped
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- "These are women and girls from five to 80 years
old who have been systematically raped a number of times, tortured and
shot," Berthiaume said.
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- Some have walked 300km suffering from bad wounds, including
bullet holes in their vaginas, burst bladders and broken legs, she said.
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- Many have been rejected by their husbands, others will
never be able to have children again and a number are too weak from hunger
to be able to withstand an operation, Berthiaume said.
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- She said the United Nations is distributing food to women
in Goma and Bukavu so that they can save their money for surgery.
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- "Some must undergo several operations to repair
the damage," Berthiaume said.
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- Lange, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's
Fund, spent a week in the region last August as a French-led international
force finished securing the Bunia area and handed over supervision to UN
peacekeepers.
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- She called the Congo situation "the worst humanitarian
crisis on the planet and the worst documented war in the history of Africa".
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- Civil war broke out in Congo in August 1998 when Uganda
and Rwanda sent troops to back rebels seeking to oust then-President Laurent
Kabila.
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- http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1440344,00.html
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