[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 27359]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            RAPE OF A NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 16, 2007

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, Congo is facing a rape epidemic. The sexual 
violence in Congo is the worst in the world. Congolese women are raped, 
butchered by bayonets, and assaulted with chunks of wood. These brutal 
attacks leave their reproductive and digestive systems beyond repair.
  The election last year has not ended the violence and instability in 
Congo. The government is inept. The justice system and military barely 
function. Large parts of Congo remain authority-free, leaving civilians 
at the mercy of armed militiamen, the Rastas. The Rastas are known for 
burning babies, kidnapping and raping women, and butchering anyone 
along their path. Rastas are former Hutus, who escaped into Congo after 
exterminating 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus during Rwanda's 
genocide. Rastas seek to destroy the Congolese women.
  According to the U.N., 27,000 women in the South Kivu Province alone 
reported sexual assaults in 2006. That's only a fraction of the number 
of raped women across Congo. This is especially disturbing because the 
largest U.N. peacekeeping force in the world, over 17,000 troops, is in 
Congo.
  Rape is a common weapon of war, but the sexual assaults in Congo are 
now a social phenomenon. Abuse of women, even by their husbands, is now 
considered ``normal.''
  Congolese women face an extraordinary struggle. Their husbands leave 
them after they are raped for fear of ``disease.'' Congo does not have 
enough resources to treat sexual assault victims. The lack of hospital 
beds forces rape victims to return to their villages before they have 
fully recovered.
  Rape victims are often left with colostomy bags, damaged internal 
organs, pregnant or unable to bear children, and afraid of being 
attacked again.
  I founded the Congressional Victim's Rights Caucus to provide a voice 
for victims and to advocate on their behalf. As the co-chair of the 
caucus, I hope we continue to raise awareness of the devastating 
effects of domestic violence and other crimes on victims across the 
world.
  Congolese women are victims of sadistic sexual assaults, irreversible 
internal damage, and a government that has failed to protect them. And 
that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________