Congo Jailbreak: Over 150 Women Were Raped & Burned To Death, Says UN

Hundreds of women were raped and burned alive during the chaos after a Rwandan-backed rebel group entered the Congolese city of Goma last week. The Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group clashed with the Congolese forces in Goma and attacked the city, causing chaos within the Munzenze prison. The female inmates were attacked in their wing inside Goma’s Munzenze prison during a mass jailbreak, according to a senior UN official.

According to a UN Report, a mass jailbreak in the Congolese city of Goma resulted in the rape and subsequent burning alive of over 100 female inmates. It has been reported that between 165 and 167 women were sexually assaulted by male inmates before being killed in a fire set by the prisoners.

The Human Toll of the Ongoing Violence 

The ordeal took place in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a city of more than one million people. At least 2,900 people were killed in the conflict, according to the UN Report, with 2,000 of their bodies buried and another 900 remaining in the morgues. 

The deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force in Goma, Vivian van de Perre confirmed that around 4,000 prisoners escaped from the facility, including a few hundred women who were trapped in the fire.

"They were all raped and then they set fire to the women’s wing. They all died afterwards,” Van de Perre told The Guardian.

This footage shared by NBC News shows inmates escaping from a prison, as smoke billows in the background, with heavy gunfire ringing out, and Rwandan-backed rebels enter the city of Goma.

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Van de Perre said that between 9 and 13 female inmates survived the fire, but they had also been assaulted by the male inmates. Some of the fleeing inmates were killed by prison guards during the escape.

Rising Humanitarian Crisis

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has issued a warning, stating that rival armed groups in Goma are using sexual violence as a weapon of war. The mass sexual abuse was confirmed by DRC's communications minister, Patrick Muyaya, who also stated that "the government condemns with the greatest energy this barbaric crime."

A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said they were looking into allegations that 52 women were raped, including cases of gang rape, by Congolese troops in South Kivu.

Nearly 3,000 people are said to have died in the most recent clashes between the group and government forces.