Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to rise in this House to talk about a subject as important as the use of rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The victims of armed conflict these days are civilians, much more often than soldiers. Unfortunately, they are mainly women and children. Atrocities of this kind are committed for a number of reasons, such as to terrorize a population, break up families and destroy communities. It is extremely difficult for me to talk about this subject, because nothing can justify the actions being committed at this time in many countries and many conflict zones, but more particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rape can be used as a weapon of war to transmit HIV to women in a community. These direct attacks on the fundamental rights of women are being used systematically for military or political purposes.
I would like to quote a few figures taken from a United Nations report on the prevention of genocide. In Rwanda in 1994, for example, from 100,000 to 250,000 women were raped during the three months of the genocide. Moreover, United Nations agencies estimate that over 60,000 women were raped during the civil war in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002; over 40,000 in Liberia from 1989 to 2003; up to 60,000 in the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1995; and at least 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998. That shows us the scale and extent of the problem since 1990.
Rape is now recognized as a crime against humanity under international law. In 1992, because of the numerous rapes of women in the former Yugoslavia, the matter came to the attention of the United Nations Security Council. On December 18, 1992, the council declared that the organized and systematic mass detention and rape of women, particularly Muslim women in Bosnia-Herzegovina, constituted an international crime that could not be ignored.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia subsequently included rape among crimes against humanity, on the same basis as other crimes such as torture and extermination. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda also declared that rape constituted a war crime and a crime against humanity. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in force since July 2002, includes rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity among crimes against humanity, when committed in a broad or systematic way.
The United Nations Security Council has addressed the question of sexual violence a number of times, specifically in ten or so of its resolutions. For example, Resolution 1325 of 2000 calls upon all parties to armed conflict to fully respect international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls, as civilians, and to incorporate in their legislation policies and procedures to protect women from gender-based crimes, such as rape and sexual assault. Other resolutions include Resolution 1820, adopted in 2008; resolutions 1888 and 1889 of 2009; Resolution 1960 of 2010; and resolutions 2106 and 2122 of 2013. The Security Council has ruled on the use of rape as a weapon of war on many occasions, and prohibits this kind of crime.
More recently, for example, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network provided a horrifying picture of the situation in Syria and the use of rape as a weapon of war in its report entitled “Violence against Women, Bleeding Wound in the Syrian Conflict”:
In 2013, the SNHR estimates that the number of rapes of women approximately reaches 6000...
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, over 200,000 women and children have been raped since 1998. The actual number is probably much higher because many of these women do not return to their communities for fear of being marginalized or excluded.
Many of these rapes and crimes against women and children are never reported because the victims are socially excluded.
In November and December of 2012, during their occupation of Goma, M23 fighters raped at least 36 women and children. All of these numbers represent only the cases that were reported to the authorities.
For example, during the most recent attack on the village of Karete on the night of July 2 to 3, 2013, fighters raped at least 25 women. The attacks continue, and the number of women who have been raped grows every time.
The DRC is still plagued by grievous problems, such as impunity. I asked my colleagues a number of questions about this. In a June 2014 report, Human Rights Watch said that despite the number of arrests and trials, the vast majority of the people who commit these crimes are never punished. Impunity is rampant. It is a systematic problem in the justice system because the fact is that senior officers are untouchable in military tribunals, where most of these cases are tried.
The same report states:
Widespread sexual violence in eastern Congo will not end until the perpetrators, including leaders bearing command responsibility, are brought to justice.
It goes on to say:
The justice system in Congo is beset by corruption, limited capacity, and political interference. Magistrates often lack proper training and basic equipment to conduct thorough investigations.
Human Rights Watch says that the Democratic Republic of Congo needs a new justice system to put an end to impunity.
I would like to emphasize recommendation 5 in the report, which deals with the importance of this aspect. It says that Canada must play a strong role in the reform of the justice system that is needed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and that training should be an integral part of the help provided by Canada.
The consequences of rape and sexual violence against women are another problem. The consequences are countless because each victim reacts differently. These women are in need of not only drugs, but also psychological, medical and legal help.
These four aspects have to be the main pillars of the help that Canada provides to women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government keeps refusing to fund initiatives to help women make a reproductive choice. I do not believe that the government has ever indicated that it would go back on this position when it comes to medical and psychological services.
The Conservatives voted against the bill introduced by my colleague, the international development critic, which sought to help developing countries access drugs as quickly as possible to treat HIV, another problem I raised at the beginning of my speech.
Unfortunately, they also voted against the bill on conflict minerals introduced by my colleague from Ottawa Centre. He explained the situation quite well: those who commit these systematic rapes are funded directly by natural resource development.
A number of major, glaring problems remain, and they should be the focus of Canada's measures, if Canada truly wants to put an end to sexual violence against women not only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also in all conflict zones.