Clinton Addresses War Crimes in Congo

By SARAH CHILDRESS

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stopped in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, making a two-day visit to highlight sexual violence, a weapon wielded in the long-running conflict by rebel groups as well as the Congolese army.

The conflict has raged for about 15 years in this vast nation. It began when Tutsi forces pursued Hutu perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide over the Congolese border, but has since devolved into clashes among several armed groups over the valuable minerals in the region. The Congolese people are caught in the middle. Tens of thousands of women and girls, and some men, have been raped.

"I will be pressing very hard for not just assistance -- to help those who are being abused and mistreated, in particular the women who are turned into weapons of war through the rape they experience -- but also looking for ways to try to end this conflict," Mrs. Clinton said in remarks after she arrived on the fourth stop of her seven-nation Africa tour.

The Congolese army is the largest force in the region, and the biggest perpetrator of sexual violence, according to Human Rights Watch, an independent watchdog group based in New York, in a July report on rape in the Congo.

The problem is compounded by impunity. No senior military officials have been prosecuted for any such offenses. Last year 27 soldiers were convicted of crimes of sexual violence in eastern Congo, according to Human Rights Watch. The U.N. logged 7,703 new cases, committed by army soldiers and other armed groups, in the same region.

Mrs. Clinton was expected to encourage the government and the U.N. peacekeeping force in the country, known as Monuc, to take a stronger stand on such crimes. In Goma, a major city in eastern Congo, she plans to meet with rape survivors to hear their stories.

Mrs. Clinton said she had spoken earlier in the day with Angolan President Jose Edouardo dos Santos during her visit with him about bringing an end to the mineral trade that fuels the conflict. Mr. dos Santos, she said, believes it will take a coordinated effort from the U.S., Britain, France and Rwanda "to prevent the mining from basically funding a lot of these militias that are keeping the fighting going."

Mrs. Clinton is scheduled to meet with Congolese President Joseph Kabila while in Goma, and she said she would press Mr. Kabila to work on creating "broader political legitimacy and credibility by his government" and to work on professionalizing the military. She also is scheduled to visit a hospital founded by former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo, a native of Congo, while in the capital, Kinshasa, and to hold a town-hall meeting.

The secretary's visit comes as the Congolese government has developed strong ties with China, which last year offered the impoverished country a multimillion-dollar deal to swap resources for infrastructure. The International Monetary Fund has tried to block the deal, threatening to cancel its debt-forgiveness with the Congo. The IMF believes the agreement would plunge the Congo deeper into debt.

On Monday, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the Chinese concerns had agreed to adjust the terms of the deal, and that if they did, the IMF would maintain its debt-forgiveness plan, according to Reuters.