Legal Commentary

"A Mark Of Shame, Anywhere, In Any Country"

By Big Tent Democrat

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday was demanding an end to rampant sexual violence that has engulfed war-ravaged eastern Congo. The United Nations has recorded at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence against women and girls in the region since conflict erupted in 1996, something Clinton deplored as "one of mankind's greatest atrocities" before she arrived. "The entire society needs to be speaking out against this," she said. "It should be a mark of shame anywhere, in any country. . . ." Clinton came to Goma aboard a U.N. plane over the objections of some top aides who were concerned about security and logistics for the visit.

In Goma, Clinton was meeting with Congolese President Joseph Kabila in a tent at a compound on the shore of Lake Kivu. She also plans to meet with victims of the sexual violence and officers in the U.N. peacekeeping force that is deployed in the Congo. . . . "We have to speak out against the impunity of those in positions of authority who either commit these crimes or condone it," Clinton said.

(Emphasis supplied.)

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 11, 2009 (boomark / email).