DR Congo Colonel Kibibi Mutware Jailed for Mass Rape
taken from BBC NEWS
A military court in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo investigating a case of mass rape has sentenced Lt Col Kibibi Mutware to 20 years in jail.
He was found guilty of crimes against humanity for sending his troops to rape, beat up and loot from the population of Fizi on New Year's Day.
Forty-nine women came to testify in the court in in Baraka.
The BBC's Thomas Hubert says it is the first conviction of a commanding officer for rape in eastern DR Congo.
Humanitarian agencies regularly cite government troops as the largest single group of perpetrators of widespread sexual violence in the Kivu region, says our reporter, who is in the town of Baraka, not far from Fizi.
Anger
Sitting in a mobile open air court in Baraka, the military judges also sentenced three officers serving under Lt Col Mutware to 20 years and five soldiers to between 10 and 15 years.
Our reporter says some of the estimated 2,000 people who attended the verdict proceedings, reacted angrily to the sentences.
A victim of the mass rape in Fizi on New Year's day, who testified in court, and her child This woman is one of the 49 rape victims who gave evidence
Crowds surrounded the vehicles which took away the soldiers and began shouting.
"The people are not happy with this judgement; the people were expecting the death sentence," one man in the crowd told the BBC.
Lt Col Mutware is one of many former rebels who joined the army as part of peace agreements in 2009.
The judges said the state should pay compensation to the more than 60 women were raped on 1 January in Fizi.
Our reporter says it is unusual for such large numbers of victims in eastern DR Congo to be willing to testify against their rapists.
Ahead of the verdict, many of them gathered at the rape victims' centre in Fizi.
"I was fleeing the violence but unfortunately I met four soldiers," a 29-year-old mother of five told the BBC about the events on New Year's day.
"They began to tear the pants I was wearing. They took my child from my arms and left him on the ground. Then they had sex with me."
In August 2010, rebel forces were accused of raping hundreds of women, girls, men and boys around the town of Luvungi.
Map
The UN recorded some 11,000 rapes in 2010 - the true figure is believed to be much higher.
Our reporter says since January there have been other reports of sexual violence in an area where the Rwandan FDLR rebels are still active, 40km (about 25 miles) from Fizi.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres says it is planning to deploy a mobile clinic to the area on Monday after receiving credible reports of 30 new rapes last week.
It says it has treated more than 70 victims of rapes in two similar incidents in the area between 19 January and 4 February.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Moise Katumbi: Football team owner determined to rebuild Congo
Moise Katumbi: Football team owner determined to rebuild Congo
From Tom Hayes, CNN
"I can't live without my soccer team," says Katumbi. If he had to choose between the governorship and being chairman of the team, "I think I'll go to my team," he says.
A self-made businessman, Katumbi worked his way up from selling fish as a teenager from the back of his brother's truck to becoming one of the DRC's most successful entrepreneurs.
His business acumen led to calls for him in 2007 to enter politics. That's something Katumbi says initially he was reluctant to do.
"After a lot of talking on the end they convinced me to try," he said. "I promised the president, if I'm not doing well I'm going to resign because I don't know politics."
Four years later, his success in regulating Katanga's previously chaotic natural mineral extraction, coupled with his efforts to accelerate the area's rebuilding process, have made him an increasingly important figure in a country still facing massive problems after years of conflict.
Determined to make a difference as a governor, Katumbi has launched a school improvement program to make sure all of the province's children have access to a decent education.
He estimates that presently only 30% of Katanga's children go to school. His goal is to take that figure as close to 100% as possible by 2015.
"Education is even more important than mining," Katumbi says. "If you don't have minerals at least the children will be educated. They are going to run this country properly because the future is these children."
But it's not just the education infrastructure that Katumbi wants to improve -- the governor's priorities include an ambitious road building program.
"There were no roads before -- you had to choose which roads to go on with journalists," he says. "Today you can go on any road. We have more than 1,000 kilometers of tar road. In Katanga you need 12,000 kilometers."
Despite the progress in Katanga, Katumbi says much still needs to be done to improve living conditions in an area with vast untapped deposits of raw materials.
He describes Congo as a "geological scandal," pointing out not only the country's abundance of minerals, but also its good quality of soil and availability of water.
"The people have seen a lot of change, which really is a small change for me," he says. What he's done in the province "maybe is 7% of my expectation, not even 10%."
He says he doesn't plan to be in power much longer but he hopes his successor can continue and even outdo the work he has started.
If Katumbi does step down, he'll have more time to indulge his other great passion -- football.
He says the potential for social change that football brings is one of the elements that have inspired his devotion to the sport.
"Soccer is something very good for the kids to do...to stay out of doing bad things," Katumbi says. "I like doing social programs for the people, that's why I'm in soccer. Soccer is social. I don't like anyone to suffer."
From Tom Hayes, CNN
"I can't live without my soccer team," says Katumbi. If he had to choose between the governorship and being chairman of the team, "I think I'll go to my team," he says.
A self-made businessman, Katumbi worked his way up from selling fish as a teenager from the back of his brother's truck to becoming one of the DRC's most successful entrepreneurs.
His business acumen led to calls for him in 2007 to enter politics. That's something Katumbi says initially he was reluctant to do.
"After a lot of talking on the end they convinced me to try," he said. "I promised the president, if I'm not doing well I'm going to resign because I don't know politics."
Four years later, his success in regulating Katanga's previously chaotic natural mineral extraction, coupled with his efforts to accelerate the area's rebuilding process, have made him an increasingly important figure in a country still facing massive problems after years of conflict.
Determined to make a difference as a governor, Katumbi has launched a school improvement program to make sure all of the province's children have access to a decent education.
He estimates that presently only 30% of Katanga's children go to school. His goal is to take that figure as close to 100% as possible by 2015.
"Education is even more important than mining," Katumbi says. "If you don't have minerals at least the children will be educated. They are going to run this country properly because the future is these children."
But it's not just the education infrastructure that Katumbi wants to improve -- the governor's priorities include an ambitious road building program.
"There were no roads before -- you had to choose which roads to go on with journalists," he says. "Today you can go on any road. We have more than 1,000 kilometers of tar road. In Katanga you need 12,000 kilometers."
Despite the progress in Katanga, Katumbi says much still needs to be done to improve living conditions in an area with vast untapped deposits of raw materials.
He describes Congo as a "geological scandal," pointing out not only the country's abundance of minerals, but also its good quality of soil and availability of water.
"The people have seen a lot of change, which really is a small change for me," he says. What he's done in the province "maybe is 7% of my expectation, not even 10%."
He says he doesn't plan to be in power much longer but he hopes his successor can continue and even outdo the work he has started.
If Katumbi does step down, he'll have more time to indulge his other great passion -- football.
He says the potential for social change that football brings is one of the elements that have inspired his devotion to the sport.
"Soccer is something very good for the kids to do...to stay out of doing bad things," Katumbi says. "I like doing social programs for the people, that's why I'm in soccer. Soccer is social. I don't like anyone to suffer."
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