SECRETARY-GENERAL OUTRAGED BY LARGE-SCALE RAPES
IN EASTERN CONGO

• The Secretary-General is
  
  outraged by the rape and assault of at least 154 Congolese
  civilians, during an attack by armed elements of the Mai-Mai and
  the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), in
  eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  This is another
  grave example of both the level of sexual violence and the
  insecurity that continue to plague the DRC.
   

• The Secretary-General
  reiterates his call on all armed groups in the DRC to lay down
  their weapons and join the peace process. The Secretary-General
  further calls on the authorities of the Democratic Republic of
  the Congo to investigate this incident and bring to justice the
  perpetrators of these crimes and renew efforts to bring an end
  to insecurity in the eastern part of the country.
   

• The United Nations
  supports the efforts of the Government of the Democratic
  Republic of the Congo to fight impunity and ensure the
  protection of civilians from violations of international human
  rights and humanitarian law, including all forms of sexual and
  gender-based violence.
   

• Given the seriousness of
  the incident, the Secretary-General has decided to dispatch
  immediately Assistant Secretary-General Atul Khare,
  Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Department of
  Peacekeeping Operations, to the DRC. He has also instructed his
  Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict,
  
  Margot Wallström, to take charge of the UN’s response and
  follow-up to this incident.
   

• Wallström said in a
  statement that she was shocked to learn of the horrific rapes in
  North Kivu. She condemned the rapes in the strongest possible
  terms and added: “It should be noted that this incident
  represents a very extreme case in terms of its scale and the
  level of organization of the attacks.  This terrible incident
  confirms my general findings during my recent visit to the DRC
  of the widespread and systematic nature of rape and other human
  rights violations. She said similar information is also being
  confirmed on a regular basis by UN, NGO, and civil society
  sources, stressing the fact that Congo remains one of the grave
  situations of concern that requires priority attention and
  response of the international community.”
   

• She added that the UN is
  trying to ensure a more rigorous monitoring of sexual violence
  and other human rights violations as a way to identify
  perpetrators and ensure that action is taken against them by the
  Government of the DRC, the Security Council, and others. Those
  who committed these terrible rapes, Wallström said, must be
  brought to justice.
   

• Asked about problems in learning
  about the rapes, the Spokesperson noted that there is only one
  main road in the area. The attackers prevented any villagers
  from reaching that road and thus from coming into contact with
  traffic along the road, which was also used by commercial
  vehicles.
   

• Nesirky provided a chronology of
  events by which the United Nations learned of and responded to
  the reported attacks. The response began on 12 August, when
  
  MONUSCO’s North Kivu office received reports from an
  international medical NGO that 68 victims had been identified
  and assisted. This information was relayed to the Provincial
  Ministry of Health.  In response, the UN Mission took immediate
  action.
   

• On 13 August, MONUSCO’s North Kivu
  office deployed a Joint Protection Team (JPT) to the area which
  stayed from 13 to 17 August. Also on 13 August, the MONUSCO
  North Kivu office shared the information it had received with
  the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC),
  requesting their deployment to the area.
   

• On 14 August, the North Kivu Brigade
  launched a fact finding mission to the area.
   

• On 18 August, the preliminary
  findings of the Joint Protection Team were reported within
  MONUSCO and a decision was taken to send a full fledged human
  rights investigation mission. On 21 August, a strategy to
  coordinate the response to sexual violence was established
  jointly by MONUSCO, UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and
  the medical organizations already present on the ground.
   

• On 24 August, Nesirky said, the North
  Kivu office finalized preparation for the deployment of a human
  rights investigation mission. Support staff was sent from UN
  Joint Human Rights Office in Kinshasa on 23 August and an
  investigation mission is planned to be deployed on 25 August.
   

• Asked about the lack of reporting
  immediately following the attacks, the Spokesperson said that it
  is not uncommon for incidents to go unreported given the fear of
  brutal reprisals.
   

• Nesirky noted that the Operating Base
  was never informed of the attack by either the population or the
  local authorities.  Peacekeepers routinely patrol the area. 
  Since the Base covers a vast area, patrols and escorts are often
  made on request, he added.
   

• The Spokesperson
  said that what happened was an unprovoked attack on civilians in
  a remote location. It was outrageous that this happened, he
  said, and the Secretary-General was now responding, including by
  dispatching the senior peacekeeping official at UN Headquarters
  to the country.

U.N. ENVOY FOR SOMALIA CONDEMNS ATTACK ON
MOGADISHU HOTEL

• Augustine Mahiga, the
  Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
  
  Somalia, condemned in the strongest possible terms the
  attack on a Mogadishu hotel today, in which several civilians,
  including Members of Parliament, were killed.
   

• Mahiga said, “These
  callous, brutal acts, which were clearly aimed at causing
  maximum bloodshed to innocent people, defy rational
  comprehension. Those who are responsible for these murders are
  only interested in causing destruction and misery to the Somali
  people.”
   

• He said that the peace
  process will continue in Somalia, despite the attempts by a
  violent minority to disrupt it. Such violence will only serve to
  increase the determination of all friends of Somalia to help
  bring a quick end to the conflict and to provide Somalis with
  hope for the future, he said.
   

• The
  
  Security Council, in a press statement issued today, also
  condemned the attack in Mogadishu.
   

• Asked about
  action against Somali pirates and al-Shabab fighters, the
  Spokesperson said that the United Nations has made clear that
  those responsible for crimes should be brought to justice.

MORE HELICOPTERS ARE NEEDED, WITH 17.2 MILLION
PEOPLE AFFECTED BY PAKISTAN FLOODS

• The Office for the
  Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
  says that monsoon floods are continuing to displace millions of
  people in southern Pakistan, with some 800,000 people only
  accessible by air. More helicopters are urgently required. The
  Office adds that the floods have now affected an estimated 17.2
  million people, with at least eight million people needing
  life-saving assistance.
   

• The World Health
  Organization (WHO) reports that medical supplies covering the
  needs of 2.2 million persons have been delivered, including
  medicines to treat 90,500 cases of diarrhoea.
   

• The World Food Programme
  (WFP)
  says that it has delivered food to 1.75 million people as of
  this morning, with 150,000 people being reached daily if
  conditions permit.  The World Food Programme has commitments now
  for about 30 helicopters, including the ones it is already
  using.
   

• The $460 million
  emergency response plan is now 59 per cent funded; that amount
  does not count an additional $62 million in pledges.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES LEBANON, D.P.R.K.
SANCTIONS

• The
  
  Security Council held consultations this morning to receive
  an update on the work of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
  Council members are considering an extension of the mission’s
  mandate. Atul Khare, the Assistant Secretary-General for
  Peacekeeping Operations, briefed the Council on recent
  developments in Lebanon.
   

• The Security Council
  also heard a briefing in its consultations on the work of its
  
  Sanctions Committee dealing with Resolution 1718, which
  concerns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. That
  committee is chaired by Ambassador Erugrul Apakan of Turkey.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SECRETARY-GENERAL
APPOINTS BABACAR GAYE OF SENEGAL AS MILITARY ADVISER FOR
PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS: The
Secretary-General has appointed Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye of
Senegal as Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations. He replaces
Nigeria’s Lieutenant General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor, whose tour of
duty ends on 2 September.

U.N. AGENCIES
HAVE CALLED FOR MORE FUNDING FOR NIGER CRISIS:
Asked about hunger in Niger, the Spokesperson said that the head of
the World Food Programme (WFP),
Josette Sheeran, and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs, John Holmes, have repeatedly raised the issue of Niger as
an under-funded humanitarian emergency.