US trained DRC troops accused of mass rape: UN official

A senior UN envoy says the United States trained an army battalion in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), some of whose members are accused of mass rape.
Zainab Hawa Bangura, the UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, made the remarks at a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

“We do know in the UN which are the two battalions. Interestingly, one of them was trained by the Americans, that’s what the American ambassador [to DRC] himself told me,” Bangura said.

UN said earlier that at least 126 women had been raped in the eastern town of Minova in November.

Bangura said she met with the general in charge of the units accused of raping the women in Congo.

“He told me there, categorically, that already 33 military personnel, including officers, had already been identified and they’re in the process of taking necessary action,” she said.

Several armed groups, including the March 23 Movement rebels, are active in the east of the DRC and fighting for control of the country’s vast mineral resources.

Since early May 2012, nearly 3 million people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. About 2.5 million have resettled in Congo, but more than 460,000 have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.

Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.