GENEVA (AFP) — Rape has become a "weapon of war" in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the army has been fighting insurgents, an International Committee of the Red Cross official said Thursday.
"There are clearly indications that this type of violence is a weapon of war, that this is a weapon of terrorising the population, of intimidating the population," said Dominik Stillhart, the ICRC's deputy operations director.
Stillhart, who spoke with reporters in Geneva, recently visited violence-torn Nord-Kivu province in the central African nation's east.
"What shocked me most is the systematic violence against girls and women. I have never seen such a phenomenon so widespread," he said.
The country's army has massed more than 20,000 troops in the region who have fought some 4,000 insurgent soldiers loyal to ex-general Laurent Nkunda. Heavy clashes have occurred since the end of August.
Villagers have been displaced by fighting not only between the army and Nkunda, who claims to be protecting the minority Congolese Tutsi population, but also between Mai-Mai militia and Hutu rebels from Rwanda, who are hostile to Nkunda.
Some 145,000 people have been displaced over the last three months, the ICRC said.
The ICRC could not provide figures on the number of rape victims, but Stillhart said a counseling centre opened by the organisation has seen more than a 100 people per month, including boys and men.
"We talk to all the groups about the phenomenon and we do, whenever we have concrete practical information, direct interventions with the groups that have perpetrated sexual violence," he said.
He said they attempt to remind the perpetrators of "their obligation under international law to spare the civilian population from that kind of violence".
"They definitely listen," said Stillhart. "Whether these interventions have an impact is of course a different question."
The organisation has decided to double its staff on the ground, which currently includes 10 expatriate employees.
It also wants to raise its DR Congo budget by two million Swiss francs, with the budget at 32 million (19 million euros, 28 million dollars) for 2007. It has received only 20 million Swiss francs from donors so far.
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