War, poverty and Aids

According to the UN the war in the Congo has cost around 3,000,000 lives. In my opinion, these figures do not reflect the reality because we register huge numbers of deaths as a result of the war every day.
Recent statistics on the rates of prevalence of HIV/Aids in Sud Kivu show that 7.2%, 7 people out of every 100 between the ages of 15 and 24 have been infected during this pandemic.

Those most at risk are young girls, as a result of the socio-economic conditions (poverty, marginalization… ). Looking at these figures, it appears that our province, Sud Kivu, has the highest rate of infected people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
What has caused this accelerating spread of HIV/Aids in Sud Kivu?

Although here are very many reasons, war and poverty are the fundamental causes.
The war: during the war we witnessed the massive arrival of various troops from neighbouring countries (Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi) in Sud Kivu. These countries, according to UNAIDS, The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/Aids, are registering a much increased rate of prevalence and according to some of our sources, the majority of these troops were HIV positive. As soon as they arrived on Congolese soil these troops committed all forms of sexual violence.

Belinda, a young girl who lives in a village in Makobola (in the Fizi Territory) was raped in front of her parents and her brother in 1999 when she was 12 years old by 6 soldiers from the Rwandan army. Here is her account of what happened: “I remember, it was the 30th of December 1999 at around 9 in the morning, in the middle of our preparations for the end of the year festivities, we heard gunfire a few metres away from the village, as we were getting ready to run away we were surrounded by the Rwandan soldiers and they forced us all to sleep on the ground. I was with my parents and my 4 brothers. A soldier made his way towards me and forcibly undressed me and suddenly he was on top of me and began to rape me, when he had finished he called to his friends to come and do the same, it was very painful and my parents were crying because they didn’t know what to do. Afterwards, they left me bleeding on the ground and went towards my mother to rape her, luckily their superior arrived and stopped these bad soldiers from hurting my mother. My shocked parents took me into the bush where we stayed for 2 weeks. We were afraid to return to the village and nearly all our houses had been burnt down by the Rwandan soldiers. Until then I didn’t feel good, I was very weak, sometimes I lost consciousness. When we got back to the village I was evacuated to a hospital in Uvira where they tried to look after me and after I’d been screened they told me I had HIV/Aids. It was like being struck by thunder for me and for my parents. I didn’t want to live, I begged to die immediately. I never stop asking myself why my executioners spared my life. I’m sure they wanted me to suffer and I am suffering, that’s why I will never forgive them.”

Weakened by illness, Belinda continues to lead a difficult life, full of grief and trauma. The regular armies of our neighbouring countries are not the only ones to have committed acts of sexual violence in Sud Kivu. The armed groups which operate in our province are not the remnants of the main army. These armed groups, consisting mainly of Mayi Mayi and the FDLR (the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) commit all kinds of sexual violence every day without a care. Toyi, a young girl of 13 living in Kitundu, a village situated 20 kms in the mountains overhanging the town of Uvira was raped by 2 armed men on her way back to the fields, at the beginning of April.

What is so bad is that the Mayi Mayi are now training in order to be integrated in the the Congolese armed forces (FARDC). FARDC who are supposed to protect the population, are also involved in sexual violence.

Toyi’s case shows how often acts of sexual violence still take place today in Sud Kivu. What is sad is that the majority of perpetrators of rape are not brought before a court of justice and those who are, are not tried because of the corruption which undermines the judicial system.

Another factor which is at the root of the of the spread of HIV/Aids is the indescribable poverty in which countless families in Sud Kivu live. As a result of this poverty some parents force their daughters into prostitution in order to earn something for the family. The war has produced and continues to produce many orphans and this means that some young girls find themselves responsible for their younger brothers, and not knowing what else to do to meet their needs they decide to turn to prostitution. Other girls have several sexual partners and by doing do they think they will be able to earn a lot of money, which increases the risk of being infected by HIV/Aids.

In short, I would like to say quite simply that war is not a good thing because it is the source of all evil. The young girl is used as a weapon of war because she is a victim of violence and other degrading acts which affect her physical integrity.
Let us all say “No” to war and “Yes” to peace.