The “Confronting Rape and other Forms of Violence Against Women in Conflict Zones Spotlight: DRC and Sudan” joint hearing is to be held today at 2:30 pm before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on African Affairs and the new Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women’s Issues. Senator Feingold and Senator Boxer are presiding.
The hearing is open to the public. There will be two panels. The first panel’s witnesses are Honorable Melanne Verveer (Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues for the Department of State), Honorable Esther Brimmer (Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs for the Department of State), and Phil Carter (Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of African Affairs). The second panel’s witnesses are Eve Ensler (V-Day Founder for the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Chouchou Namegabe Nabintu (Journalist from the Democratic Republc of the Congo), Robert Warwick (County Director of Southern Sudan International Rescue Committee), Neimat Ahmadi (Darfur Liason Officer, Save Darfur Coalition), and John Prendergast (Co-Founder, The Enough Project).
Rape and other forms of violence against women have been used by armed groups as a weapon of war. According to the State Department’s “2008 Human Rights Report: Democratic Republic of the Congo” published on February 25, 2009, there were continuing reports of rape of civilians by members of the security forces, with many being committed in the context of the conflict in the east and also outside of the conflict zone. The report lists among several rapes, a rape that occurred on February 26th where a FARDC soldier in Rwindi, North Kivu Province, allegedly raped a three-year old girl. The perpetrator was detained by military justice authorities however, no further knowledge of his status exists.
According to the State Department’s “2008 Human Rights Report: Sudan” published on February 25, 2009, there were cases in which Southern Sudan Police Services officers and SPLA officers reportedly raped women. In Darfur, government forces, rebel groups and tribal factions kill, injure and rape civilians.
At today’s hearing, Chouchou Namegabe Nabintu plans to share information on how rape is being used as a war strategy in the DRC. Excerpts from her testimony today follow:
“The women of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have waited a long time for American policy-makers to take an interest in this situation. I thank Vital Voices Global Partnership for their commitment to empowering women around the world, and for their support of the women of the Congo.
Rape and sexual violence is used as a weapon and tactic of war to destroy the community. The rapes are targeted and intentional, and are meant to remove the people from their mineral-rich land through fear, shame, violence, and the intentional spread of HIV throughout entire families and villages.
The South Kivu Women’s Media Association is the voice of thousands of voiceless women. We use radio to give them the space to express what has happened to them, begin their healing and to seek justice. We have interviewed over 400 women in South Kivu, and their stories are terrifying. In fact, the word rape fails to truly describe what is happening, because it is not only rape that occurs, but atrocities also accompany the rapes. That is what makes the situation in the eastern Congo so different, and horrible. Of all the testimonies we recorded there are two that stay in my mind that I will share with you.
I met a woman who had 5 children. They took her into the forest with her 5 children, and kept them there for several days. As each day passed the rebels killed one of her children and forced her to eat her child's flesh. She begged to be killed but they refused and said “No, we can't give you a good death.””
She will also be presenting six actions that can help the situation. Her first suggestion is addressing the need for security and peace for the women. Her second suggestion is that, in the Congo, the American government should get involved politically by pressuring the Rwandan government to accept the return of the FDLR and dialogue with the rebels. Thirdly, she sees a need for strong justice to end impunity on rape and sexual violence. Fourth, she suggests that the US government and multinational corporations contribute financially to the recovery and healing of the women and the communities. As a fifth suggestion, she suggests that US multinational corporations develop ways to ensure that Congolese minerals imported into the US are “conflict-free” and that investments foster security and infrastructure needs. Finally, she suggests that the US have an increased presence in the eastern Congo.
Following the hearing today, Lynn Nottage and actress Quincy Tyler Bernstine will speak at a public reception. Bernstine will deliver a monologue form “Ruined,” Nottage’s Pulitzer-winning play that is set in the DRC and concerns women as human battlefields in civil war. The reception will be held in the Russell Senate Office Building, Hearing Room 332.
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