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STORY: UN / WALLSTROM
TRT: 5:00
SOURCE: UNTV / MONUSCO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 1 DECEMBER 2010, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – MONUSCO - 2 OCTOBER 2010, KAMPALA VILLAGE, WALIKALE TERRITORY, NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
1. Various shots, Wallström arriving at Walikale
1 DECEMBER 2010, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Margot Wallström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict:
“I think it has to do with the attitudes that this is very much seen as collateral damage of war, that this is inevitable as one of the weapons or tactics of war or even as a kind of reward for soldiers, successful soldiers, and you can go back in history and find that it has existed as a phenomenon in almost every war in every part of the world.”
FILE – MONUSCO - 13 SEPTEMBER 2006, KINSHASA, DR CONGO
3. Various shots, President Joseph Kabila, Ruberwa, Bemba and Ngoma meeting
1 DECEMBER 2010, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Margot Wallström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict:
“Jean Pierre Bemba through his army not preventing sexual violence and also in these cases we have seen that number of rapes outnumbered killings and other forms of war crimes and atrocities. And it is indeed very, very important especially the command responsibility because it will send a message that there is such a thing as command responsibility also in preventing these crimes. It seems easier to maybe go after sort of the foot soldiers if you allow me that expression but in this case it is sort of at the highest level.”
FILE – MONUSCO - 2 OCTOBER 2010, KAMPALA VILLAGE, WALIKALE TERRITORY, NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
5. Various shots, Wallström meeting women in village
1 DECEMBER 2010, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Margot Wallström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict:
“From a humanitarian point of view, I think there has been assistance given. I actually think that also the healthcare has been provided but I think from security point of view, there’s still more to wish for and when we were there, people were still living in the jungle during the night because they didn’t dare to go back to their houses so it’s a volatile situation.”
FILE – MONUSCO - 1 SEPTEMBER 2010, KIBUA, LUVUNGI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
7. Various shots, civilians in Luvungi
1 DECEMBER 2010, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Margot Wallström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict:
“Our troops on the ground were not able to see the early warning signals and assume rapes. Also in this case actually, the number of rapes outnumbered, there were no killings; there were only rapes and looting and pillaging. So we have to train our peacekeepers on the ground how to respond to these early warning signals and that most of these cases, we can assume rape. Then we have to make sure that we can try to prevent that.”
FILE – UNTV – RECENT, SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
9. Wide shot, city view
1 DECEMBER 2010, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Margot Wallström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict:
“They are trying to deal with the trauma on a daily basis and in very practical ways but it was also disappointing to see that the whole legal process is painfully slow and has not produced the result that you wish for. If we have by now 12 prosecutions and we think that in the national courts, we think that there might be as much as 50,000 victims, we don’t know the exact numbers and I would say that 15 years after Dayton, there’s still no peace for women in Bosnia Herzegovina. We also saw that it definitely spilled over and brutalized the society, so much of violence against women and children still.”
FILE – MONUSCO - 2 OCTOBER 2010, KAMPALA VILLAGE, WALIKALE TERRITORY, NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
11. Various shots, Wallström listening to rape victims in Walikale
In an exclusive interview with UNifeed, United Nations (UN) Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallström talked the war crimes trial of the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba, and her recent trips to the DRC and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
One of Wallström’s latest trips took her to The Hague where she addressed the International Criminal Court during the prosecution of Bemba who has been accused of two crimes against humanity and three war crimes charges including murder, rape and pillage.
During her address in The Hague, she talked about the importance of the trial in addressing sexual violence as a form of war crime. Although sexual violence was for the first time recognized as a war crime and included in charges raised at the UN war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia, Wallström said that it is still seen “as collateral damage of war, that this is inevitable as one of the weapons or tactics of war or even as a kind of reward for soldiers.”
Wallström sees that Bemba trial as an important development in addressing the issue and said that “it will send a message that there is such a thing as command responsibility also in preventing these crimes.”
She added that “it seems easier to maybe go after sort of the foot soldiers, if you allow me that expression, but in this case it is sort of at the highest level.”
Wallström, who was appointed by UN Secretary-General earlier this year, visited the DRC in October this year. Earlier in the year, more than 300 civilians were raped by members of armed groups in the Congo’s Walikale territory.
When asked about what is being done for the victims including 235 women, 52 girls, 13 men, and 3 boys, some of whom were raped multiple times, Wallström said that “healthcare has been provided” but in terms of security, “there’s still more to wish for.”
She added that during her visit, “people were still living in the jungle during the night because they didn’t dare to go back to their houses so it’s a volatile situation.”
According to a UN human rights report, in addition to the rapes, at least 923 houses and 42 shops were looted and 116 people were abducted in order to carry out forced labour.
On concerns about UN peacekeepers’ ability to provide security for the civilians, Wallström said that “our troops on the ground were not able to see the early warning signals and assume rapes.”
She added that “so we have to train our peacekeepers on the ground how to respond to these early warning signals and that most of these cases, we can assume rape.”
During her recent visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wallström visited expressed concerns about the slow pace of prosecuting rape cases from the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict. She talked about the fact that out of 50,000 estimated cases of sexual violence only 12 have been prosecuted.
She added that “15 years after Dayton, there’s still no peace for women in Bosnia Herzegovina. We also saw that it definitely spilled over and brutalized the society, so much of violence against women and children still.”
During her visits to both the DRC and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wallström met with victims of sexual violence.
