Countries:
Africa
Central Africa
Congo (Kinshasa)
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes:
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
Reconstruction and Peacebuilding
A Democratic Republic of Congo military court sentenced nine police officers for up to 20 years in jail for raping a dozen women at a farm, a prosecutor said on Monday.
The police officers were called to guard a farm in central Kasai-Occidental province in 2009 during a land dispute, and during the dispute they raped 12 women.
The military court in provincial capital Kananga on Saturday handed 20-year sentences to eight of the police who remain at large and issued search warrants, prosecutor Mpakasa Mumwenge told AFP.
The sole officer who appeared at the hearing received a 10-year sentence, the prosecutor said.
A UN official earlier this year described DR Congo as "the rape capital of the world", with women widely suffering at the hands of rebel groups and also government security forces.
