Congo (Kinshasa)

A French envoy on Saturday described the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a "shipwreck" after a week-long visit to the country.

"I saw in Goma (eastern DR Congo) a prison with space for 140 people where 1,046 people were living in appalling conditions of overcrowding and hygiene," said Francois Zimeray, French ambassador for human rights.

Two female radio journalists working for a Goma-based station have significantly improved their skills and gained in confidence as a result of IWPR training in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the director of the station.

Three alleged rape attempts were stopped by the border police in the northern Zaire province between the border of Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

According to a press release which reached Angop on Monday in Mbanza Kongo city, about 25 citizens from DRC were detained.

The offences happened at border check-points of the districts of Soyo, Kuimba and Mpala, district and Nóqui.

The international emergency medical humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has provided specialised care to 33 women raped on New Year's Day in Fizi, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

More than 30 women were raped in a coordinated attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo on New Year's Day, the aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières has reported.

MSF said 33 women were raped in Fizi, South Kivu, in the eastern part of the war-torn country.

Over the next five years, more than a quarter of a million Congolese will benefit from assistance aimed at preventing sexual and gender-based violence and assisting survivors thanks to three programs funded by the United States through the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Congolese leaders should be prepared for attacks by the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army during the upcoming holiday season, the United Nations warned.

The United Nations estimates that the LRA may have killed more than 1,800 people and abducted another 2,400 more since 2007. Many of the women targeted by the rebel group were raped or forced into sexual slavery.

Women from the Great Lakes region on Wednesday held a peaceful walk in the Democratic Republic of Congo condemning the increase in mass rapes in the country.

The women drawn from Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Sierra Leone joined their female counterparts in Congo to urge the government to criminalise the culture of impunity and end the sexual violence.

The tragedy in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues, while the international community assists helplessly, indifferently, passively, or even knowingly,” said the newsletter edited by the “Peace Network for the Congo”, promoted by missionaries.