A woman has been abducted twice by guerrillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, repeatedly raped and beaten and forced to cook and eat human flesh, a United Nations human rights NGO told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Julien Lussenge, chairwoman of Solidarity for Integrated Peace and Development (SOFEPADI), told the story of the woman to the 15 ambassadors of the Security Council during a meeting on the conflict.
The SA held its regular briefing on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo yesterday, where hostilities between guerrillas and government troops have been raging since late May.
Ms Lusenge, an award-winning activist – formerly a radio journalist – explained that the woman was initially abducted by members of the self-proclaimed Coopérative pour le développement du Congo (CODECO) when she returned to of her hostage.
The woman told Ms Lusenge’s NGO that she had been repeatedly raped, beaten and ill-treated. In one case, it was reported, the guerrillas cut a man’s neck.
“They took out his entrails and gave me an order to cook them. They brought me two containers of water to prepare the rest of the meal. “Then they forced all the prisoners to eat human flesh,” she said, according to SOFEPADI.
The woman was released a few days later, but as she tried to return home, she was abducted by another rebel group, members of which also raped her repeatedly.
“And they forced me to cook and eat human flesh,” the woman told the NGO.
Finally, he managed to escape.
Ms Lusenge did not specify what the second organization was in her position on the Security Council.
A CODECO representative was not available for comment. This organization is one of the many fighting to seize land and resources in the eastern part of the DRC, a region with rich subsoil.
The armed conflict in the vast country of Africa has claimed thousands of lives and uprooted millions over the past decade.
The army of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been involved since the end of March in fierce battles with guerrillas of the M23 organization (“March 23 Movement”). The government of Rwanda accuses Rwanda of supporting and equipping the organization. The guerrillas launched their largest-scale offensive since 2012-2013 in May.
Kigali denies the allegations from Kinshasa.
In the DRC Congo has been a developed UN peacekeeping force for over 20 years.
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