New York - The Democratic Republic of the Congo launched an investigation into the 126 counts of rape allegedly committed by Congolese soldiers and suspended several army officers, a UN spokesperson said Friday.
The investigation comes after the UN issued an ultimatum at the end of March threatening to terminate its support of 17,000
peacekeeping troops in the war-torn Congo unless the country brings the soldiers involved in the crime to justice.
The commanding officers of the two main battalions involved in the charges were suspended and several soldiers were arrested in the investigation, according to the notification by the Congolese to the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
Prosecutors had 400 testimonies from victims and witnesses, according to the government.
“MOBUSCO knows that the suspension of the commanding officers is an important signal of the commitment of the Congolese authorities to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable,” said Eduardo Del Buey, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general.
The rapes were committed near Minova in eastern Congo in November 2012, when soldiers of the Congolese army fled to the area from advancing rebel troops of the M23 movement.
The ultimatum threatening to pull out entirely from the Congo coincided with the Security Council's decision to in fact expand the UN mission to the country and add for the first time in UN peacekeeping history offensive forces to its peacekeeping troops.
Launching the investigation allows the UN to go ahead with its plan to deploy up to 2,815 more troops. - Sapa-dpa