200 Women, Babies Gang-Raped in Congo

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200 women, babies gang-raped in Congo

In one of those stories that will leave you shaking your head in disbelief, aid workers in the Congo reported that 200 women and baby boys were gang raped over a four-day period not far from a United Nation's peacekeepers base near a mining district.

Rwandan and Congolese rebels in the eastern Congo are being blamed for the raping and looting attacks.

Though the U.N. had peacekeepers in a village less than 20 miles away from where the rapes occurred, they were outnumbered by rebels by more than 10 to 1, according to witness reports.

No one was killed in the attacks. Women and four young boys ranging from 1 month to 18 months of age were systematically raped in front of family members or dragged into the woods and attacked there.

Pictured above is Myapezeze Florence and her son Yobo Zamaki, 8, who was kidnapped from his mother and forced to watch rapings and murders for two months. Yobo finally escaped and returned to his mother. Meanwhile, Myapezeze's husband was murdered.

As a weapon, rape is becoming as commonplace as guns in the Congo. The U.N. said 8,300 rapes were reported last year, but the true number is probably significantly higher.

The situation in the Congo seems irrevocably broken.

Both the rebels and troops from the government are accused of raping and pillaging in their war over rich gold and mineral fields.

It costs more than $1 billion to fund the U.N. force of 20,000 soldiers, and still their numbers are far too small to do the job of patrolling people who will do absolutely anything -- including raping infants -- to win.

In a world filled with heartbreaking stories of man's inhumanity toward his fellow man, the fighting in Congo ranks near the top.

 



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