The Congo army now attacks its own people

David Blair:

On paper, the Democratic Republic of Congo is at peace and recovering from years of civil war. Yet the squalid refugee camps are filled with people who are all too aware of the bitter reality.

For the killing continues unabated and many refugees, long the target of brutal militias, have fled a new threat: the soldiers of a national army supposedly charged with protecting them.

Formed from the wreckage of old rebel groups and the armies of previous regimes, this force was created in 2003 and should deploy 130,000 soldiers. Its main task is to hunt down the vicious militias who plague the rugged bush and forests, especially in the remote eastern district of Ituri.

Instead, one United Nations official described the army as the "biggest liability the country has". Its soldiers are responsible for scores of rapes each month. Of 182 rapes recorded in the town of Kalonge last month, 78 were carried out by the army.

In one chilling case, 16-year-old Marie (not her real name) was walking home from school in Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, when she was stopped at a checkpoint manned by four soldiers. They abducted and gang-raped her.

She was taken to a military camp in Ituri where soldiers held her captive as a sexual plaything for seven months. They freed her only when she gave birth prematurely.

"My baby came from my rape," said the girl, who cannot be photographed for her protection. "At first, I was sick and hopeless and I wanted to commit suicide. But now my baby is with me and I love her."

Marie is among countless victims of Congo's endless war. Almost eight years of anarchy have claimed 3.9 million lives, according to one survey, making it the world's bloodiest conflict since 1945.

Raids on villages and heavy fighting between the army and militias in three eastern provinces have forced 250,000 people to flee their homes since January.

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