The United Nations, citing officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo said that at least 165 women were raped after male inmates massive prison break.
The U.N. reported that after fighters of the M23 rebel group advanced towards the eastern city of Goma, inmates of the Muzenze Prison took advantage of the chaos and began to escape on January 27.
In a video uploaded to X, you can see hundreds of people escaping the prison while plumes of black smoke billow nearby and what sounds like gunshots ring out.
In a report released four days later, the United Nations stated that “DRC officials reported that at least 161 women were raped during the mass jailbreak by male prisoners.”
Vivian Van de Perre was the United Nations representative for the DRC. She said that in an interview from Goma, a city with around 2,000,000 people, the situation is “still very volatile”.
She said that many residents fled the city due to “the dire conditions” and because they were afraid of a health outbreak in their camps.
The situation in Goma meant that, due to her statement, the U.N. was “unable to verify all the numbers or exactly what happened” at the prison.
Her remarks came at the same time that M23 rebels, backed by Rwanda, moved southward into the mining town of Nyabibwe in apparent violation of a unilateral ceasefire announced by M23 on Monday.
The capture of Nyabibwe takes the rebels a step closer to the provincial capital, Bukavu, some 40 miles south, a city the rebels said last week they had no intention of capturing.
Congo accuses Rwanda of using the M23 to pillage mineral deposits. Rwanda claims it is protecting ethnic Tutsis and acting in self-defense.
The capture of Goma by M23 last week caused hundreds of thousands to flee and raised fears of a regional war.
The U.N. Human Rights Office (OHCHR), warned on Friday that escalation may lead to an increase in the use of sexual violence by rival armed groups as a war weapon, which has been fueling the conflict in east Congo for years.
The OHCHR confirmed on Friday that reports of 52 women being raped in South Kivu by Congolese soldiers, including allegations of gang rape.
In 2014, the DRC government announced an action plan against sexual violence committed by military personnel. However, a U.N. report five years later revealed that sexual violence perpetrators could continue to act without consequence.
Doctors Without Borders (also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres) reported last year that they had treated more than 25,000 survivors in the DRC of sexual violence in 2023, which was the highest number ever.
