A development that the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) hailed as a step forward in reining in impunity for sexual violence and other serious violations of fundamental human rights.

In its verdict reached on Wednesday in Oriental Province’s locality of Lieke Lesole, the military court found the five defendants guilt guilty of assault and battery, unlawful possession of weapons ammunition of war, and rape.
The court condemned four of them to life imprisonment, one to a 30-year prison term, and all five to paying 10,000 US dollars compensation for each of the rape victims and another 2,500 dollars for each of the victims of assault and battery. They had five days to lodge an appeal.

These people were part of the May May militia group which, between July and August 2007, took over the locality of Lieke Lesole and surrounding villages, where serious incidents involving mass rape, torture and cruelty occurred during that period, according to preliminary investigations in February 2008 by the Human Rights Division of MONUC. At least 135 women and girls, 8 of them minors, were alleged to have been raped.

MONUC welcomes the trial’s outcome as a positive step

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the DRC and head of MONUC, Alan Doss, welcomed the conclusion of the trial, noting that “the trial of the perpetrators of the mass rape in Lieke Lesole is a step forward in the fight against sexual violence. MONUC and its Joint Human Rights Office have sought justice in this case from the first investigation. We are dedicated to helping the Congolese judiciary to end impunity by bringing to justice perpetrators of grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law”.

The trial, which opened on May 24, 2009 in Lieke Lesole, was made possible largely thanks to MONUC’s support.

This support included providing helicopter transport for judicial personnel to move from from Kisangani to Lieke Lesole located some 365 kilometres to the south-west.

Not only bailiffs, judges, magistrates, the public prosecution officer, defending counsels and counsels for the plaintiffs benefited from MONUC’s transport assistance, but also witnesses and victims so they could testify in court.

Additionally, MONUC provided support to a multidisciplinary mission of Kisangani-based magistrates in collecting complaints from victims as part of pre-trial investigations. The mission included forensic doctors to examine the victims and assist the military prosecutor’s office with evidence consolidation.

Other support for the trial was from Belgium and UNICEF ensuring that the victims were defended by lawyers from the Legal Clinic of Kisangani and Lawyers Without Borders. Lawyers Without Borders provided counsel for the defendants as well.