With Its Record of Rape, Don't Send the US Military to the Congo to Give 'Sensitivity' Training to the Congolese Military!

On
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's August, 2009 trip to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), she announced $17 million in
new funding in the U.S. Government's contribution to international
efforts to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence in
the DRC.

200,000 Women and Girls Raped in the DRC

The
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the coordinating agency for
work on sexual violence in Congo, estimates that 200,000 women and
girls have been the victims of sexual violence since 1998. In 2008,
UNFPA recorded that nearly 16,000 women and girls had been raped in the
Congo. 65 percent of the victims were children, mostly adolescent girls.

The
US Agency for International Development (USAID) will implement a $7
million program with medical care, counseling, economic assistance and
legal support to 10,000 women and girls in North and South Kivu
provinces, the regions most affected by rape and sexual assault.

Another
$10 million U.S. contribution will fund new programs in eastern DRC to
include equipping women and front-line workers with mobile devices to
report abuse and share information of treatment and legal options.

A
separate $2.9 million U.S. program will recruit and train female police
officers to investigate rape and interview survivors of violence
against women.

Congolese Military on Rape Rampage

According to Human Rights Watch, rape in the Congo is increasing (https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/10/faq-drc-human-rights-watch-dossier-hillary-clinton-s-visit). Human Rights Watch visited nine conflict zones since
January 2009 and in those zones, rape cases had doubled or tripled
compared with last year. In over half of the cases, the victims were
gang-raped by at least two or more assailants, and the youngest victim
was 2 years old. Human Rights Watch reports that the cases of men being
raped are increasing.

According
to figures collected by Human Rights Watch, 65 percent of the new rape
cases in North Kivu were perpetrated by Congolese army soldiers.

But,
despite the huge number of rapes by soldiers, military courts in
eastern Congo convicted only 27 soldiers of crimes of sexual violence
during 2008. In 2009, 17 soldiers have been convicted in North Kivu. In
July, 2009, the highest-ranking officer convicted to date, Lieutenant
Colonel Ndayambaje Kipanga was found guilty of rape by a military
court, but he remains at large. No general has been convicted either
for his own actions or for failing to control his troops.

In
July, 2009, Human Rights Watch published a 56 page report on rape by
soldiers titled: "Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who Condone" (https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/07/16/soldiers-who-rape-commanders-who-condone-0) which
called on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to
urgently investigate and prosecute senior army officials allegedly
involved or complicit in rampant sexual crimes against women and girls,
as part of its efforts to combat sexual violence.

U.S. Military to Give Rape "Sensitivity" Training to the Congolese Military!

Part
of the new U.S. initiative in the DRC includes a baffling addition to
U.S. government agencies involved in prevention and response to sexual
assault and rape of the women of the Congo--the U.S. military!

According
to the State Department's August 12, 2009 fact sheet on the U.S.
partnership with the DRC on gender-based violence, the U.S. military's
Africa Command (AFRICOM) is sending an assessment team to "determine
how to best assist survivors," and provide "sensitivity training on
sexual violence and legal seminars that contribute to the
professionalization of the Congolese military." (https://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/August/20090814111339eaifas0.4135706.html )

AFRICOM
is the U.S. military's newest command and is looking for missions to
justify its existence--in this case with new funding available--in rape
prevention. The Bush administration more than tripled
U.S. assistance to Africa, to about $9 billion annually. U.S. military
training for African forces has steadily expanded, and U.S. troops have
dug wells, built schools and clinics and have provided medical care as
humanitarian assistance.

In
the past decade, the U.S. military has created and funded programs in
fields that are normally done by other U.S. government agencies. Arguing
that the militaries of other countries are key organizations to prevent
the spread of HIV/AIDS, the U.S. military carved out a major role in
the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program, in
HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care, strategic information, human
capacity development, and program and policy development in host
militaries and civilian communities of 73 countries around the world.

AFRICOM
had to reduce its initial goals after African governments refused to
provide a location for its headquarters and civilian aid groups
protested plans to expand the military's role in economic development
in the region.

Warning: U.S. Military Rape Statistics Show They Should Not be "Sensitizing" Any Other Military

If
the women of the Congo should Google, "U.S. military - sexual assault
and rape," I suspect they will decline the offer of assistance from the
African Command. 1 in 3 women in the U.S. military are sexually assaulted or raped. Women and girls in countries with U.S. military bases are raped by U.S. military. 8,000
U.S. Marines are being "re-located" from Okinawa in great measure
because of citizen activist pressure following the numerous rapes of
women and girls there. Prosecution rates in rape cases in the military are abysmal--8% versus 40% in civilian cases.

In
2008, the US Ambassador to Japan had to fly to Okinawa to give his
apologies for the rape of a 14-year-old girl by a US Marine. The US
military forces on Okinawa had a 3 day stand-down for "reflection."

Secretary
of State Clinton's predecessor, Condoleezza Rice, had to express her
"regrets" to the Japanese Prime Minister "for the terrible incident
that happened in Okinawa... we are concerned for the well-being of the
young girl and her family."

The August 10, 2009 Washington Post article "Congo's Rape Epidemic Worsens During U.S.-Backed Military Operation" begins with an alarming statement:

"For the women of eastern Congo, a U.S.-backed Congolese military operation meant to save them from abusive rebels has turned an
already staggering epidemic of rape has become markedly worse since the
January deployment of tens of thousands of poorly trained, poorly paid
Congolese soldiers, with people in front-line villages such as this one
saying the soldiers are not so much hunting rebels as hunting women." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081000492.html?sid=ST2009081001043 )

I think the United States government can find a sufficient number of civilian organizations to assist the women of the Congo. There is no need to jeopardize the women of the Congo with our U.S. military.

The
Human Rights Watch report "Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who Condone"
can apply to our own military. The U.S. military should stop the
criminal acts of sexual assault and rape in its own ranks before
offering advice to another country's military.

For the Sake of the Women of the Congo, Don't Send the U.S. military there!

Please don't send the U.S. military to the Congo! The women of the Congo have enough problems!