An army Colonel accused of ordering the mass rape of at least 49 women in eastern Congo has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The United Nations Security Council imposed targeted measures including travel bans and asset freezes on four Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) leaders and a former Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) commander integrated in the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), on Wednesday, at the request of the permanent missions to the United Nations of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

First Lady Olive Lembe Kabila led a march by thousands of women through the streets of Bukavu, in eastern Congo, on Sunday. They were marching against the sexual violence – and violence in general – that has plagued the region, where rape has been used as a weapon of war by armed groups for years. Some of the women marching were victims of the violence.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) is on the defensive since the NGO International Medical Corps revealed early this week that rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and members of a local Mai Mai militia, raped at least 154 women in North Kivu, a few kilometers from a MONUSCO base.

Rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have been reported in the North Kivu region of Walikale, where they are, once again, conducting a terror campaign against the local population.