More than 150 prisoners were violated and burned to death during a prisoner escape last week, when prisoners fled and burned down a gum prison in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC), the 11th country in the world in Area, said a United Nations spokesman.
UN Human Rights Office spokesman Seif Magango told CNN that most of the 165 prisoners who were violated by the fugitive prisoners died in the fire.
Between nine and 13 prisoners, “all of them also violated,” survived the fire, added Magango, citing a judicial source from the DRC.
“We did not independently verify the report of the judicial employee, but we consider that their report is credible,” Magango told CNN on Thursday.
The prisoners, some of whom were killed by prison guards, planned a mass escape on January 27, when the rebel m23 alliance fought with the Congolese forces in gum for the city’s control, Radio Okapi, sponsored by Radio, said on Monday UN.
More than 4,000 detainees fled the Muzenze prison that day, he added, stating that the facilities were now “completely empty” and in ruins.
RDC Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya confirmed the violation of 165 women, telling CNN on Wednesday that “the government condemns this barbaric crime with the greatest energy.”
Killer and mass violations mirror recurring scenes of sexual violence related to conflicts that have plagued the DRC for decades.
Last Friday, the UN Human Rights Office said it had received reports from other cases of sexual violence involving the DRC army and its allied forces.
“We are verifying reports that 52 women were violated by Congolese troops in the southern Kivu, including alleged reports of group breach,” said Jeremy Laurence, a United Nations High Commissioner spokesman, in a statement on Friday -fair.
CNN contacted the Congolese army to comment on the allegation.
This week, the Rebelde M23 group, which claims to have captured the city of Gum, called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, after the confrontations with the government forces caused the death of about six thousand people.
