The Daily Blog

Congo Rapes: At Least 121 Women Assaulted By Troops Last Month, Says U.N.

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights investigators have confirmed that at least 121 women were raped by Congolese troops who attacked and looted villages in the lawless east last month, a United Nations spokesman said on Friday.

The mass rapes were reported to the team in interviews with victims, police and medical personnel, he said.

“(U.N. human rights staff) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has confirmed that large-scale rape, pillaging, and cruel and degrading treatment were committed in Nakiele, in South Kivu province between the 11th and 13th of June by troops of the armed forces,” spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.

Referring to the interviews, he added: “According to their statements, the troops raped 121 women, stole 157 goats and looted other goods including some $90,000 in cash and gold.”

A spokesman for Congo’s government has said that Colonel Kifaru Niragiye may have been behind the rapes after he and around 100 men deserted from a training camp where they were due to be integrated into the army.

The U.N. refugee agency said on June 24 that up to 170 women had been raped — the largest reported mass rape in the turbulent central African country in nearly a year.

Colville noted that the number of rapes are often underestimated. “Because of course with rape you always have the issue of how many women are prepared to come forward and say it happened. The fact that they are giving a number means they are fairly sure this is a minimum number,” he said.

“More in-depth investigations will be undertaken to further verify these allegations and details and facts and to identify the perpetrators,” he said.

A second mission is planned to Nakiele in the coming days.

5 U.S. Soldiers Killed In Iraq, Officials Say.

BAGHDAD — Five American troops serving as advisers to Iraqi security police in eastern Baghdad were killed Monday when rockets slammed into the compound where they lived. The deaths were the largest single-day loss of life for American forces in two years.

The U.S. military announced the deaths in a brief statement, excluding details. Two Iraqi security officials later said the troops died when three rockets hit near the U.S. forces’ living quarters at a joint U.S.-Iraqi base in the Baladiyat neighborhood where American troops were partnering with Ministry of Interior police. The Iraqi officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

American forces said the incident is under investigation. Names of the dead were withheld pending notification of family. The deaths raised to 4,459 the number of American service members who have died in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count.

With the 46,000 U.S. forces still in Iraq scheduled to depart by year’s end, American troops and their bases in Baghdad and southern Iraq have increasingly come under attack and threats from Shiite Muslim militias, hoping to construct a narrative that they were responsible for driving out the Americans.

At the height of the surge of U.S. forces four years ago to combat sectarian violence that nearly tore Iraq apart, there were about 170,000 American troops in the country. The number then was gradually drawn down to below 50,000 when Washington announced it had ended its combat operations ten months ago.

U.S. troops still in the country focus on training and assisting Iraqi security personnel, but are to shun combat. Nevertheless, the American forces still come under almost daily attack by rockets and mortars in their bases and gunfire and roadside bombs when moving around the country.

The Baladiyat neighborhood where the five Americans were killed is a predominantly Shiite district near Sadr City, a Shiite slum that was the heart of Muslim sect’s opposition to U.S. forces in Iraq.

Less than two weeks ago, tens of thousands of supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr marched through the streets of Sadr City, demanding an end to the American military presence in Iraq.

The show of force was accompanied by a threat from al-Sadr himself. During an interview with the BBC he said he would unleash his militia, called the Mahdi Army, on American forces if they do not withdraw. He said his supporters were already targeting U.S. bases and vehicles in Iraq.

U.S. officials have been pushing Iraq to decide whether it wants some American forces to remain beyond December 31, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said he’ll discuss it with the country’s main political blocs. But so far there has been no request from the Iraqi side on the extremely sensitive topic.

The five fatalities Monday were the largest on a single day since May 11, 2009, when five forces died in a noncombat incident. On April 10, 2009, six U.S. troops died – five in combat in the northern city of Mosul and one north of Baghdad in a noncombat related incident.

Elsewhere, a total of 11 people were killed in the northern city of Tikrit, the capital and near the western city of Ramadi Monday.

Four of them died when a bomb exploded at a checkpoint outside a government compound in Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein. It was the second attack in four days against the compound and the government employees who live and work there.

The deaths were announced by a media adviser to the provincial governor, Mohammed al-Asi. A military official in the Salahuddin Operations Command, which oversees security operations in the province, said a suicide car bomber blew himself up near the entrance to the compound. It had been a palace and support buildings constructed by Saddam, but now serves as a hub for government offices in the city.

Monday morning’s attack is the second in Tikrit in recent days. On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque inside the government compound, killing 16 people. Hours later, another suicide bomber walked into the Tikrit hospital and blew himself up near the emergency room, where family members had gathered. Five people were killed and 16 were injured in that incident.

Four others died in Baghdad, where officials said gunmen in speeding cars opened fire on two security checkpoints. The early morning attack took place in the Azamiyah district, a Sunni Muslim enclave, according to military and medical officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Attackers bombed the house of a police colonel near Ramadi, the capital of the mostly Sunni Anbar province. The colonel survived the attack and was taken to the hospital. His wife, mother and son were all killed, Iraqi police said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Veteran Afghan Pilot Fires on NATO Troops, Killing Several.

KABUL, Afghanistan - A veteran Afghan military officer opened fire on foreign forces Wednesday after a dispute at the Kabul airport, killing several NATO troops, Afghan and coalition officials said.

It was the latest in a spate of deadly incidents that have occurred inside government or military installations, a favorite target of Taliban insurgents.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the gunman was an Afghan military pilot who “opened fire on foreigners after an argument.”

The pilot was killed in the shooting, which occurred inside a facility used by the Afghan Air Force, Azimi said.

NATO did not disclose the number or nationalities of the casualties pending notification of their families. The airport is home to the NATO Air Training Command.

Lt. Col. David Simons, a spokesman for the NATO training mission, said small arms fire was reported at the airport at about 10:25 a.m. local time.

“A quick-reaction force responded to the incident,” he said. “At this time there are reports of NATO casualties.”

Azimi said the shooter was a military pilot of 20 years. “An argument happened between him and the foreigners and we have to investigate that.”

An Afghan pilot who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gunman was Ahmad Gul, a 50-year-old pilot from Tarakhail district of Kabul province.

In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed the gunman was impersonating an army officer and that others at the facility helped him gain access. The gunman killed nine foreigners and five Afghan soldiers, he said. The Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties caused by their attacks.

Since March 2009, the coalition has recorded 20 incidents where a member of the Afghan security forces or someone wearing a uniform used by them attacked coalition forces, killing a total of 36.

According to information compiled by NATO, half of the 20 incidents involved the impersonation of an Afghan policeman or soldier. The cause of the other 10 incidents were attributed to combat stress or unknown reasons. The officers insisted that so far, there is no solid information that an insurgent was directed to join the army for the purpose of conducting attacks.

NATO officials said that in recent incidents:

-An Afghan man wearing a border police uniform who shot and killed two American military personnel April 4 in northwest Faryab province was upset over the burning of the Quran at a Florida church.

-An Afghan soldier who shot and killed three German soldiers and wounded six others Feb. 18 in northern Baghlan province felt he had been personally offended by his German partners.

-An Afghan border policeman who gunned down six American soldiers Nov. 29, 2010 in eastern Nangarhar province was suffering from personal stress because his father was forcing him into an arranged marriage.

It is not known how many of the 282,000 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed in these type of incidents.

A man in an Afghan army uniform penetrated to the heart of the Afghan Defense Ministry compound on April 18 and gunned down two Afghan soldiers.

Libyan Woman Claims Rape By Soldiers, Is Dragged Away.

TRIPOLI, Libya — A distraught Libyan woman stormed into a Tripoli hotel Saturday to tell foreign reporters that government troops raped her, setting off a brawl when hotel staff and government minders tried to detain her.

Iman al-Obeidi was tackled by waitresses and government minders as she sat telling her story to journalists after she rushed into the restaurant at the Rixos hotel where a number of foreign journalists were eating breakfast.

She claimed loudly that troops had detained her a checkpoint, tied her up, abused her, then led her away to be gang raped.

Her story could not be independently verified, but the dramatic scene provided a rare firsthand glimpse of the brutal crackdown on public dissent by Moammar Gadhafi’s regime as the Libyan leader fights a rebellion against his rule that began last month.

The regime has been keeping up a drumbeat of propaganda in the Tripoli-centered west of the country under its control even as it faces a weeklong international air campaign against the Libyan military.

At a hastily arranged press conference after the incident, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said investigators had told him the woman was drunk and possibly mentally challenged.

Before she was dragged out of the hotel, al-Obeidi managed to tell journalists that she was detained by a number of troops at a Tripoli checkpoint on Wednesday. She said they were drinking whiskey and handcuffed her. She said 15 men later raped her.

“They tied me up … they even defecated and urinated on me,” she said, her face streaming with tears. “The Gadhafi militiamen violated my honor.”

The woman, who appeared in her 30’s, wore a black robe and a floral scarf around her neck and identified herself. She had scratches on her face and she pulled up her black robe to reveal a bloodied thigh. She said neighbors in the area where she was detained helped her escape.

The Associated Press only identifies rape victims who volunteer their names.

As al-Obeidi spoke, a hotel waitress brandished a butter knife, a government minder reached for his handgun and another waitress pulled a jacket tightly over her head.

Al-Obeidi said she was targeted by the troops because she’s from the eastern city of Benghazi, a rebel stronghold.

The waiters called her a traitor and told her to shut up. She retorted: “Easterners – we’re all Libyan brothers, we are supposed to be treated the same, but this is what the Gadhafi militiamen did to me, they violated my honor.”

It soon turned into a scene of chaos with journalists attempting to protect the woman from government minders who physically attacked and intimidated her.

Journalists who tried to intervene were pushed out of the way by the minders. A British television reporter was punched, and CNN’s camera was smashed on the ground and ripped to pieces by the government minders.

Eventually the minders overpowered the woman and led her outside, shoving her into a car that sped away. Al-Obeidi kept crying that she was certain she would be thrown in jail. She begged photographers to take her picture, raising her robe to show them her bruised body. A minder tried to cover her mouth with his hand to keep her from talking.

“Look at what happens – Gadhafi’s militiamen kidnap women at gunpoint, and rape them … they rape them,” al-Obeidi screamed.

She said she wanted to be taken to see the leader himself.

“I want to see Moammar Gadhafi. Didn’t he say that every victim will have justice? I want my rights,” she said.

The government spokesman said the woman was under investigation.

“The investigators did phone me and told me the lady is drunk and that she seems to be suffering mentally,” Ibrahim said. “They are checking on her health condition, her mental condition, whether she was really abused or if these were fantasies.”

Gadhafi’s crackdown has been the region’s most violent against the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East. Tensions have been rising between foreign reporters in the Libyan capital and the government minders who have sought to tightly control what they see and whom they talk to. Most of the international press corps is being housed at the Rixos hotel.

Pentagon Discharged Hundreds Of Service Members Under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ In Fiscal 2010: Report.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon discharged some 250 service members under the soon-to-be-defunct “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in fiscal year 2010, according to numbers released Thursday by a group of gay troops and veterans, even though top brass ordered commanders to effectively stop enforcing the ban on openly gay troops during that time.

A total of 261 service members, including 11 in the Coast Guard — which falls under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security — were tossed out in fiscal 2010, a tally by Servicemembers United found. The group said it based its numbers on internal Defense Department statistics that are not routinely released publicly.

The discharges last year represented an all-time annual low since the policy began in 1994. More than 14,000 troops — or 14,316 including National Guard, according to the group’s unofficial count — have been discharged under the policy.

President Barack Obama signed DADT’s repeal into law in December, but the policy remains in effect until he, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, certify that that the Defense Department is ready to implement the change without hurting military readiness or effectiveness. That won’t happen until all the troops have undergone training that is already underway.

But halfway through the fiscal year, long before DADT got the official thumbs-down from Congress, Gates changed the way the policy was implemented. The idea was to make it harder to toss out gay service members who were otherwise doing their job, in part by leaving decisions about discharges to generals or admirals high up in the chain of command.

Yet despite the loosening of restrictions, the equivalent of two Army companies were given their walking papers.

“While this latest official discharge number represents an all-time annual low, it is still unusually high,” Servicemembers United’s executive director, Alexander Nicholson, said. “Despite this law clearly being on its death bed at the time, 261 more careers were terminated and 261 more lives were abruptly turned upside down because of this policy.”

As Haiti Waits for Calm, US Senator Urges Freezing Aid.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Dec. 10) — Reporting on chaos is often about the wait, as much as the action. In Haiti, waiting for things to be set on fire, waiting for United Nations troops to react, waiting for the police to pass by with their guns. Waiting for statements from officials.

This afternoon, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, who chairs a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee on foreign aid, urged President Barack Obama to freeze funds to Haiti’s central government, as well as suspend all U.S. travel visas for senior government officials.

“Those in power there are trying to subvert the will of the people,” Leahy said in a statement. “The United States must come down squarely in support of the Haitian people’s right to choose their leaders freely and fairly.”

A spokesperson told AOL News that the senator based his request on the stark discrepancies between the election results announced by the government and information from other sources, including the U.S. Embassy.The U.S. Embassy, as well as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, are also concerned about the post-election situation here.

So is Haiti.

Today, the streets quieted for the first time since the controversial results were announced Tuesday night, and some stores began to re-open.

Thursday, fires continued to rage in the streets of Port-au-Prince, and Haitian news sources reported at least three deaths. In this neighborhood, singing, stomping protests of hundreds were accompanied, at the edges, by roving gangs of vandals and arsonists.

By 4 p.m. Thursday, most exposed windows in this neighborhood were shattered. On Wednesday, crowds set fire to the local Inite office, the political party of Jude Celestin, current President Rene Preval’s choice to replace him.

Preliminary election results showed Celestin with 22 percent of the vote, which makes him eligible for a January run-off with first-place finisher Mirlande Manigat. She received 32 percent.

Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly, a crowd favorite, particularly in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville, received 21 percent of the vote, about 6,000 votes fewer than Celestin. The narrow margin set tempers and fires flaring in this city, where many oppose the Preval administration and see Martelly’s exclusion as a ploy to control the outcome in the president’s favor.

This morning, hundreds gathered outside supermarkets in Petionville, waiting for them to open. Waiting, after three days of unrest, for normalcy to return.

“It’s just not prudent,” one store owner told AOL News. He came to the store to survey the situation; when he saw people already gathered at the door, he became fearful of a rush. Other owners repeated the sentiment.

“We’ve been closed for three days; it’s not fair,” he said.

“Even if they do open,” a neighbor said, “what do they do with the money? The banks are closed.”

By noon, a few stores decided things were calm enough to brave the risk.

The protests here on Tuesday quickly turned into riots, then vandalism, then outright violence. Gangsters, followed behind by young boys, descended on motorcycle taxi drivers and demanded gasoline to start their fires.

This week, every motorcycle in the city is decorated with Martelly campaign posters, mostly to secure their own safety. People walking through the streets keep wallet-sized pictures in their pockets and yell, “Tet Kale!” his campaign slogan, on demand.

For some part of every day, gangs have been in a cat-and-mouse chase scene with local police in Petionville. The town itself is laid out like a small checkerboard, with a church and town square at one end, and roads into the valley at the other.

Police would charge the groups, around corners, with guns pointed and shoot a half-dozen times in the air. The kids would run, laugh, throw rocks, pick a new building to destroy. The police do not seem inclined to arrest people. Thursday, a U.N. helicopter circled the town, surveying the scene.

Protests in Haiti have also been co-opted by supporters of Celestin, who waged war on their opponents Thursday in Cite Soleil, a vast urban slum.

Away from the streets, the war of words continues on the radio airwaves. Local power brokers of every caliber are now issuing statements. All three major candidates have stated, some through representatives, that they believe they received more votes than were tallied. The broadcast statements of Preval, Martelly and Celestin were all pocked with static and echoes, and sounded like they were recorded in a cave.

Boys on the street listened to Martelly’s 15-second statement on Thursday with amusement, when the recording seemed to cut-off abruptly in a mysterious static haze.

Though the electoral council has suggested a recount, it is unclear what the parameters of that would be. People didn’t like the first count. Insiders agree the fraud — ballot box stuffing and intimidation of voters — occurred at the polling stations, so any new review would likely reveal the same or similar numbers.

Martelly’s campaign has been, at least initially, opposed to the idea, because a “recount” creates a legal gray area from which it might be more difficult to oppose the numbers at a later date.
Meanwhile, some stores in Petionville today shut almost as soon as they opened. The honking of cars and taxies was followed, at times, by an eerie silence, then noisy upset, as groups of young men debated each other in the streets.

One police official said he expected violence to subside this weekend, followed by more unrest on Monday. American Airlines has canceled flights here through Monday. Aid workers on security lockdown and millions of cautious citizens, stay home, just waiting.

So, as usual, the future is unpredictable here. Haiti waits for news, and the news waits for Haiti. There have been no fires yet today in Petionville. Shoe sellers have laid out their wares and watch them quietly. Cars move quickly between intersections, watching.