Congo's Troops Accused of Raping, Murdering Citizens

Congolese government troops have raped and murdered their own country's civilians, says a UN envoy to the region. Ironically, the alleged abuses were committed by troops deployed in response to the mass rape of 300 civilians and more than 50 children by rebel forces in the Walikale region this summer, according to the BBC.

Locals told Margot Wallstrom that the government troops had been just as brutal, raping, killing, and looting the area. “A dead rat is worth more than the body of a woman,” one victim said. UN peacekeepers in the area told similar tales. “The possibility that the same communities that were brutalized in July and August are now also suffering ... at the hands of the FARDC troops is unimaginable and unacceptable,” Wallstrom wrote, urging the government to investigate the attacks. (More Margot Wallstrom stories.)