'Plane down' at DR Congo airport

8 July 2011 Last updated at 15:37 GMT A passenger plane with 112 people on board has crashed at Kisangani airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say.

Up to 40 people have been found alive, but more than 50 others are known to have died, reports say.

It is not known where the plane had flown from or the type of aircraft involved.

The plane had tried to land in bad weather, an official from Congolese airline Hewa Bora told Reuters.

"The pilot tried to land but apparently they didn't touch the runway," chief executive Stavros Papaioannou told the news agency.

Hewa Bora is a private Congolese airline that runs scheduled flights from the capital, Kinshasa, to the central city of Kisangani and other destinations.

The firm is on a European Union airline blacklist over safety concerns.

According to Hewa Bora's website, the airline has eight planes in its fleet: five MD-82s, two Boeing 727s and one Boeing 727-266 ER.

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Congo 'rape' colonel surrenders

8 July 2011 Last updated at 13:14 GMT The DR Congo conflict has become notorious for the sexual abuse of women and girls An army colonel accused of mass rape in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has surrendered to the military.

A military spokesman said Col Nyiragire "Kifaru" Kulimushi gave himself up with more than 150 of his fighters, who are also accused of mass rape.

Last month, about 100 women accused former rebels who had been integrated into the army of sexually abusing them in DR Congo's South Kivu province.

A UN envoy last year called DR Congo the "rape capital of the world".

The 16 years of unrest in eastern DR Congo have become notorious for the widespread sexual abuse of women and young girls.

Army spokesman Lt Col Vianney Kazarama told the BBC that Col Kifaru had surrendered after coming out of the bush in his eastern stronghold.

"There were 150 of them, with their weapons - including heavy weapons," he said.

'Men raped'

Lt Col Kazarama said Col Kifaru and his men would stay at an army base, until the military and the UN officials in DR Congo conclude a joint investigations into the mass rape allegations.

The soldiers are accused of raping women and looting villages near the South Kivu town of Fizi between 10 and 12 June.

Col Kifaru had earlier deserted from a military training centre to protest against the reorganisation of the local military command.

The UN said the rapes highlighted poor discipline in the army, and the failure to properly vet rebels integrated into the army following a peace deal to end years of unrest.

Troops from Col Kifaru's group were recently convicted of raping at least 50 women in Fizi on New Year's Day.

Nine of those men, including Col Kifaru's deputy Lt Col Kibibi Mutware, were later found guilty of crimes against humanity and jailed.

Earlier this week, the UN released its findings into the mass rapes that took place last July and August when militiamen attacked villages in the Walikale area of North Kivu province within miles of a UN base.

It said the rapes of 387 people, including 44 children and 23 men, could constitute crimes against humanity.

Only one person has been indicted in connection with the case and the UN said the government needed to do more to bring the perpetrators to justice and to provide protection for victims and witnesses.

DR Congo's justice minister said he had given orders for criminal proceedings into the rapes.

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DR Congo ex-rebels 'in mass rape'

23 June 2011 Last updated at 09:32 GMT The DR Congo conflict has become notorious for the sexual abuse of women and girls Aid workers are investigating reports that at least 60 women have been raped near the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Fizi.

The mass rapes were allegedly committed by a group of ex-rebels who recently deserted the army, which they had joined under a peace deal.

Troops from the same group were recently convicted of raping at least 50 women in Fizi on New Year's Day.

A UN envoy last year called DR Congo the "rape capital of the world".

The 16 years of unrest in eastern DR Congo have become notorious for the widespread sexual abuse of women and young girls.

More than 300 women, men and children were raped by a coalition of rebel groups in the town of Luvungi and neighbouring villages in North Kivu province within miles of a UN base in August 2010.

The latest incident occurred in villages near the South Kivu town of Fizi between 10 and 12 June but it only now being reported.

Jean-Marie Ngoma, a member of the provincial parliament, told the UN-backed Radio Okapi that more than 60 women had been raped in the village of Nyakiele alone.

The attackers plundered the local health centre, stole the population's belongings and farm animals and forced the locals to carry the loot for them, he added.

Megan Hunter, from medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, said that a team deployed in the area's health centres in the past two days had so far treated more than 100 people who said they had suffered rape or other forms of trauma.

UN peacekeepers and several aid agencies will fly to the area on Friday to verify the number of victims, said an UN official in the provincial capital Bukavu.

Mr Ngoma told Radio Okapi that the rapes had been blamed on a group of former Pareco rebels led by Col Kifaru Niragiye, who had deserted from a military training centre near Fizi on 9 June to protest against the reorganisation of the local military command.

They then headed in the direction of the villages where the violence happened, and local administrative and civil society sources have since reported widespread looting and abuse by Col Kifaru's group, which is estimated to number between 150 and 200 men.

Col Kifaru was the military sector commander on New Year's Day, when his troops were accused of raping more than 60 women in Fizi town in his absence.

Nine of those men, including Col Kifaru's deputy Lt Col Kibibi Mutware, were later found guilty of crimes against humanity and jailed.

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