UN Security Council to Help End Sexual Violence

June 12, 2008

Your Excellencies,

In the name of Congolese women, we thank you for the attention you are giving to the scourge of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations. We believe the Security Council has an essential role to play in ending the abuses that we, and our sisters elsewhere, continue to suffer. Indeed, thousands of girls and women in conflict zones around the world are victims of rape and sexual violence committed by members of armed groups. We are heartened that the Council is set to discuss this issue on June 19, and we urge you to fulfill your obligations as guardians of international peace and security.

We, the 71 Congolese organizations representing the women of DRC, would like to take this opportunity to express our grave concerns about the tragedy sexual violence has inflicted on women and young girls in our country, particularly in the east.

We have suffered greatly during the years of war. Despite efforts at the international, regional, national and local levels to bring peace to DRC, the war against women rages on.

We fear the extermination of our society due to acts of sexual violence which, once committed against one woman, has consequences for her children and the entire community.

All the armed groups and even our own Congolese army brought sexual violence to our country, and now, after several years of destruction, this menace has unfortunately become a part of our culture.

It is difficult to imagine the number of people, men and women alike, who have died due to sexual violence. In the province of North Kivu, just in the month of April 2008, over 880 cases of rape were documented by NGOs and United Nations agencies. Yet this represents only a tenth of the cases that are left unreported because of widespread fear, shame, stigmatization, isolation and impunity.

We are vulnerable in our fields, in the streets, and even in our own homes. Even our daughters as young as 3 years old are vulnerable when they are playing with their friends or are on the way to school.

The nuclear family, the base of our society, no longer exists. Today in Congo, the woman has become an object. We are not protected. We have no justice. There is a crisis of authority and a culture of impunity.

We constitute over 52% of the Congolese population, but we occupy fewer than 10% of the positions of authority, in violation of our own constitution, while the war against us continues.

Convinced that sexual violence constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity, this scourge must be clearly perceived as a threat to peace and security in Africa and in the entire world.

We welcome the Security Council’s intention to adopt a special resolution in relation to sexual violence. We hope that this resolution, which will be of the utmost importance for us and for women around the world, will at least take into account our pressing concerns and the following recommendations:

* First, we urge you to include the strengthening of national judicial systems as an integral element of the mandate of UN missions in conflict zones. The mandates should also include a call to guarantee international justice where national justice is not operational. It is also paramount that you insist that laws of amnesty after conflicts do not apply to perpetrators of sexual violence, and that the countries concerned are urged to provide adequate protection to victims and witnesses. Sexual violence is not taken seriously by the judicial system here in Congo, which has neither the will nor the resources to act. We hope that you can help us to ensure that all suspected perpetrators of sexual violence are brought before justice and judged – and not compensated with political and military promotions.

* Secondly, we urge you to make service provision a key part of your response to conflicts. Women and girls who have been victims of sexual violence need urgent healthcare to treat their physical and mental wounds. Our society cannot heal so long as the wounds of our women and girls are not healed. We believe the provision of health services to victims of sexual violence is crucial not only to their achieving some peace as individuals, but to our society moving toward a lesser degree of conflict altogether.

* Thirdly, while we applaud your recent condemnation of the sexual violence we suffer, and your actions in that regard, we remind you that we have suffered for decades without any notable action on your part. You must ensure that this situation will never repeat itself in Congo or elsewhere. The Security Council cannot keep silent while thousands of women suffer indescribable sexual violence. We urge you to insist that the Secretary General provides you with information on the levels and patterns of sexual violence in all situations before the Council, to allow your analysis and action when required.

* Finally, we hope that you will put in place mechanisms to follow-up locally on how member states adhere to relevant resolutions concerning women, notably Resolution 1325 which specifically addresses the impact of war on women, and women’s contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace.

Given the catastrophic scale of the war on women in our country, we hope the Security Council will grant our concerns and recommendations the serious attention they require.

Yours sincerely,

A Coalition of 71 Congolese NGOs, representing the women of DRC:

1. ACAEFAD (Action Chrétienne d’Aide aux Enfants et Femmes Abandonnés et pour le Développement)
2. ADIJ (Action pour le Développement Intégral de la Jeunesse)
3. AES/Sud-Kivu
4. AFECOD (Association des femmes Pour la Conservation de la Nature et le Développement Durable)/CRAF/Sud-Kivu
5. AFEJUCO/Sud-Kivu
6. AMALDEFEA
7. APANIVIP (Actions de Promotion et Assistance pour l’Amélioration du Niveau de Vie des Populations)
8. APDEV /Sud-Kivu
9. APPEF (Actions Pour la Promotion et la Protection de l’Enfant et de la Femme)/ Nord-Kivu
10. APREDECI (Action Paysanne pour la Reconstruction et le Développement Communautaire)
11. APROFEDD (Association pour la Promotion de la Femme et de l’Enfant pour le Développement Durable)/Sud-Kivu
12. ASADHO (Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l'Homme)/Sud-Kivu
13. ASPD (Action Sociale pour la Paix et le Développement)
14. ASSODIP (Association pour le Développement des Initiatives Paysannes)/Section des Droits Humains
15. ASVOCO (Association des Volontaires du Congo)
16. AVIFED/CRAF
17. Blessed Aid
18. CADERCO (Centre d’Appui pour le Développement Rural Communautaire)
19. CADRE (Comité d’Appui au Développement Rural Endogène)
20. CAFED (Collectif des Associations des Femmes Pour le Développement)/Nord-Kivu
21. CAPP (Change Agents Peace Program)
22. Caucus des Femmes/Sud-Kivu
23. CEMADEV-Femme
24. Centre Olame/Sud-Kivu
25. CEREBA Goma
26. Children’s Voice
27. CISF/Sud-Kivu
28. CODHO (Comité des Observateurs des Droits de l’Homme)/ Nord-Kivu
29. COJESKI (Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo)/Nord-Kivu
30. COPADI (Construisons la Paix et le Développement)
31. CREDDHO (Centre de Recherche sur l’Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme)
32. CRONGD (Conseil Régional des Organisations Non Gouvernementales de Développement)/ Nord-Kivu
33. DJAD
34. EFIM (Encadrement des Femmes Indigènes et des Ménages Vulnérables)/EAC
35. EFPS/CRAF/SUD-KIVU
36. ETN
37. FESOP
38. FUDEI (Femmes Unies pour le Développement Endogène et Intégral)
39. GADHOP/Nord-Kivu
40. GALE
41. GEAD (Group d'Etudes et d'Actions Pour un Développement Bien Défini)/Nord-Kivu
42. Groupement Féminin Sud-Kivu
43. GTDP (Genre et Tradition pour le Développement et la Paix)
44. Héritiers de la Justice
45. IFEDI (Initiative des Femmes pour le Développement Intégré)
46. LIPD (Lutte et Intégration des Paysannes au Développement)
47. LOFEPACO (Ligue des Organisations des Femmes Paysannes du Congo)
48. NYAMULISA/CRAF
49. OPIFET (Œuvre pour la Promotion des Initiatives des Femmes Transporteuses)/Sud-Kivu
50. PAFEVIC (Programme d’Appui aux Femmes Victimes des Conflits)
51. PAIF (Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Féminines)/Nord-Kivu
52. PDH (Promotion de la Démocratie et Protection des Droits Humains)
53. PENDE/Nord-Kivu
54. PPSSP/Nord-Kivu
55. R2SF (Regard Rural Sans Frontière) /SUD-KIVU
56. REFED (Réseau Femme et Développement)/NORD-KIVU
57. REID (Réseau d’Initiatives Locales pour le Développement Durable)
58. REPRODHOC (Réseau Provincial des ONGs de Droits de l'Homme)/Nord-Kivu
59. SAFDF/Nord-Kivu
60. SAFEDI (Syndicat des Associations Féminines pour un Développement Intégral)
61. SAJ (Synergie pour l’Assistance Judiciaire aux Victimes de Violations des Droits Humains au Nord-Kivu)
62. SARCAF
63. SFPJ
64. SFVS (Synergie des Femmes contre la Violence Sexuelle)/Nord-Kivu
65. SOFEPADI (Solidarité Féminine pour la Paix et le Développement Intégral)/Nord-Kivu
66. SOPADI (Solidarité et Paix pour le Développement Intégré)/Uvira/Sud-Kivu
67. SOPROP (Solidarité pour la Promotion Sociale et la Paix)
68. TGD
69. UWAKI/Sud-Kivu
70. VICO (Village des Cobayes)/Sud-Kivu
71. YWCA/CAFCO/Sud-Kivu