Congolese Doctor Says UN Witnessed, Contributes to Rape, Lumo Shows Pol Blaming Women
By Matthew Russell Lee 
May 31, 2009
The Inner City Press 
Original Source: http://www.innercitypress.com/drc1lumo060109.html http://www.innercitypress.com/drc1lumo060109.html
UNITED NATIONS, May 31 -- The pandemic of rape of women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has many complex causes but these include the United Nations, according to Doctor Roger Luhiriri of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu in Eastern Congo. 
  At a panel discussion in lower Manhattan on May 31 after the screening of the documentary film Lumo at Tribeca Cinemas, Dr. Luhiriri said that the outrages he has seen in the much-lauded hospital where he works are the shame of the UN Mission, MONUC. Inner City Press asked him for an explanation and for his suggestions for the UN.
   Doctor Luhiriri noted that at first MONUC was an observer mission, then they sent troops. Still, he said, 17,000 troops are incapable of Congo's crimes and sexual violence? He gave an example, saying the rebel General Laurent Nkunda and one of his colonels mutinied in Bukavu and, in presence of the UN, his group engaged in rape. 
   All were present, he said, adding that the UN contributes to rape in Eastern Congo, it has changed from a mission of peace to a mission war, a shame for the UN.
   The film Lumo is now two years ago, but has lost none of its luster. The director told the audience what has happened since. Lumo required another surgery, her sixth. Her village, Masisi, was overrun by rebels and she fell out of touch. Now she works for a halfway house in Masisi, and also runs a sewing business on the side. 
   The UN Security Council visited Goma and HEAL Africa last month during the Council's annual trip to the Continent. On Monday, Inner City Press asked Burkina Faso Ambassador Michel Kafando, who's been the HEAL, about Lumo, the film and woman. He knew of neither, but raised HEAL - Africa's hospital.
   In June 2008, Inner City Press accompanied the Counicil on its trip, thought Djibouti, Sudan, Chad and to the Congo, where a UN security officer shot a hole in the UN plane. There the Council met the officials of the Governor of North Kivu, whose representative in Lumo says that rape happens due to how the women dress. 
   In the audience in New York, people hissed at the comment. In Congo, MONUC apparently does nothing, but rather continues to work with the governor and his officials. And so it goes...