UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Sanctions imposed on a Congolese military leader for sexual violence and recruiting child soldiers is a step toward accountability, a U.N. envoy said Thursday.
The U.N. Security Council froze the assets and banned travel for Congolese Col. Innocent Zimurinda for allegedly recruiting child soldiers, orchestrating mass rapes, summary executions of child soldiers and general human-rights abuses.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the U.N. special envoy for children and armed conflict, said the sanctions were a step toward ending impunity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"The sanctions imposed today by the Security Council against an unrepentant violator of children is a welcome step forward," she said in a statement.
A U.N. human-rights team determined that more than 300 civilians were raped in the Congo by militants July 30-Aug. 2. The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the area deflected criticism that it ignored warnings that surfaced days before the rapes occurred some 20 miles from their base.
Human Rights Watch called on the leaders of the European Union, the United States and African Union to consider a mixed tribunal to bring justice to the victims of Congolese violence.
The Security Council extended an arms embargo and other sanctions on the DRC earlier this week.
