A Celebration of Women
is elated to Celebrate the Life of this powerful force to be reckoned with….a true inspiration showing the Women of our World that with persistence and a ‘will’ for truth, everything is possible. This woman has devoted her Life inside the United Nations, seeking Justice for Women around our World.
Celebrate with us, one of her amazing victories, an arrest of the Leader, a Mai-Mai commander, known as as Lt. Col Mayele of the DRC for alleged mass rape and more….
WOMAN of ACTION
Margot Wallström
Margot Wallstrom, who is visiting the country, said the arrest by the UN mission in the DR Congo of the self-proclaimed Lieutenant Colonel Mayele, one of the commanders of the Mai Mai Cheka is good news for the people there. She characterized it as a ‘victory for justice’, especially for the many women who suffered rapes and other forms of sexual violence. Ms. Wallstrom said the numerous criminal acts committed under his command cannot be undone.
However, she added, that his arrest should be a signal to all perpetrators of sexual violence that impunity for these types of crimes is not acceptable and that justice will prevail.
Zaina Niangoma who was raped along with her 15-year-old daughter (not pictured) by three members of the Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The UN peacekeeping force in DR Congo said that the Mai-Mai commander,
known as as Lt Col Mayele, was being held in Goma,
the capital of Nord-Kivu province.
Margot Wallström (left), the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, speaking with women of the village of Kampala in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week. Photo: Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/AFP
Lt Col Mayele is suspected of being one of the commanders in the mineral-rich Walikale area from July 30 to Aug 2 when between 250 and 500 people in five villages were repeatedly gang raped.
The UN has been criticised for failing to stop the attacks after it took days for help to arrive, even though the villages are 12 miles from a camp of UN peacekeepers from India. The UN said a peacekeeping patrol drove through one of the villages while it was being held by the fighters, but said peacekeepers took no action because no one told them what was going on.
Rape has been increasingly used by various groups of fighters,
in eastern Congo to intimidate, punish and control the population,
especially in the mining areas.
Dr Chris Baguma, of the Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps, said that he had seen many, many rape victims in the area “but I have never seen anything so planned, so systematic, so animalistic.”
According to the UN announcement, the mass rapes and human rights violations are said to have been committed by about 200 Congolese Mai-Mai rebels, rebels from the Rwanda-led Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda or FDLR, and elements loyal to former Congolese army Col. Emmanuel Nsengiyumva who was also a rebel in the former Tutsi-led People’s National Congress or CNDP.
The UN force said a preliminary report identified 303 civilian victims – 235 women, 13 men, 52 girls and 3 boys.
Margot Wallstrom, who is responsible for UN efforts to combat sexual violence in conflict, welcomed Lt Col Mayele’s apprehension, calling it “a victory for justice, especially for the many women who have suffered rapes and other forms of sexual violence.”
The arrest of a leader of the armed group accused of mass rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been welcomed by the top United Nations official dealing with sexual violence and armed conflict.
RADIO INTERVIEW….Margot at Work.
Justice for the mass rapes that took place in a string of villages in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is being demanded by two senior UN officials. 240 people were raped in North Kivu province between July and August. Athule Khare, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, was recently in Congo where he was investigating the crimes. In his briefing to the Security Council, he Calls for Action against the leaders of armed groups behind he attacks.
Jocelyne Sambira reports: KHARE: It is essential that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice. Rapid and exemplary punishment would deter others who might repeat similar criminal acts.
NARRATOR: The Security Council already has travel bans and asset freezes on members of the rebel groups. Margot Wallstrom, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict wants the Council to go a step further and “black-list” the rebel chiefs.
WALLSTROM: We already have some names such as Colonel Mayele, the Mai Mai Cheka Chief of Staff, and Colonel Serafim of FDLR who was present on the scene. And these names are starting point and constitute leads and leverage by which we may also identify some of the other participants in and architects of the mass rapes in Kibua.
NARRATOR: But for the Congolese Permanent Representative to the UN, Aleki Atoki these measures will have no effect on the rebels.
ATOKI: Some of your delegations will be tempted to seek the easy way out, that would be to establish an entire series of sanctions that in actual fact in the depths of the Equatorial forest will have no impact, and will be entirely ineffective, and would not be able to bring relief to us from this horror that we the men and the women of the Congo have been in, that is horror which is our daily lot, and a horror which has become commonplace.
NARRATOR: After the mass rapes, the spotlight fell on the UN peacekeepers stationed some 30km from the area for not being able to rescue the population. Athul Khare was made several recommendations to improve communications and response.
KHARE: While the primary responsibility for the protection of civilians lies with the State, its national army and police force, clearly, we have also failed. Our actions were not adequate, resulting in unacceptable brutalisation of the population. We must do better.
NARRATOR: Khare’s recent investigation uncovered more rapes in the North and South Kivu, in the last two months, bringing the total number of incidents between July and August to 500. Margot Wallstrom believes it is time to put an end to this.
WALLSTROM: We cannot turn back time for the victims of brutal acts of organized sexual violence. As we strive to help these survivors, we must do our utmost to ensure there are no more victims.
PRES: Margot Wallstrom, Special Representative for the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Producer: Jocelyne SambiraMargot speaks: UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallström says that the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo “must and can do” more to stop the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. MONUSCO
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WOMAN of ACTION – Margot Wallström, a year or so later…
May 16, 2012 by
