Disturbing reports are emerging from the Democratic Republic of Congo, of defilement of young children and even babies, further worsening the countries sexual violence record.
This is according to Dr Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who dedicates his time to saving rape victims in DRC. Dr Mukwege spoke to AFP
Dr Mukwege, who in November received the European Parliament’s Sakharov rights prize, said such atrocities began to surface around a year and half ago, with one recent case involving a girl of around 15 months old
He said 30 children had been raped in that manner in the nearby village of Kavumu.
“The condition of the babies who arrive to us like that at the hospital is dramatic. These are things that are completely new.”
Armed groups vying for control of the region’s vast mineral wealth often use mass rape to terrorize the local population.
Mukwege however said fewer rape victims were admitted over the past two years to his hospital as the army carried out offensives against rebel groups and militias in the east.
But at the same time, “several types of rapes that we had not seen before” were rearing their head, he said, referring to the rape of children.
“We now see sexual violence spreading in cities and spreading far from the epicenter in the east,” he said. “It’s as though rape techniques have been refined.”
Mukwege has launched an impassioned plea for good governance and argues that misrule and insecurity keep the vast, resource-rich African nation in deep poverty.
In 2012, the doctor miraculously escaped a bid to kill him by armed men who temporarily held family members hostage and gunned down his driver.
After more than two months in Europe, Mukwege today moves around his own clinic accompanied by two Pakistani soldiers from the large UN peacekeeping mission in the country.
Heaped with international awards for his medical achievements and ethical stance, Mukwege decisively brushes aside rumors he may harbor presidential ambitions.
In January, Kinshasa was rocked by bloody protests against a bill seen as an attempt to extend President Joseph Kabila’s hold on power in the nation he has led for 14 years.
Mukwege fobbed off speculation he was planning to launch a political career ahead of presidential elections due late in 2016.
