KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, July 31 (UPI) -- The United Nations said it's been able to document more than 700 cases of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo since January.
More than 7,000 people were forced to flee parts of eastern DRC following renewed fighting between pro-government forces and members of the rebel March 23 Movement.
M23 is suspected of committing atrocities in DRC. Rebel commander Bosco Ntaganda surrendered to The Hague this year to face war crimes charges.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said acts of sexual violence were in the rise in DRC.
"Our protection monitoring teams have registered 705 cases of sexual violence in the region since January, including 619 cases of rape," the agency said in a statement.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in DRC said Tuesday it was giving rebels until Thursday to disarm. After the deadline passes at 4pm local time, "they will be considered an imminent threat of physical violence to civilians and [peacekeepers] will take all necessary measures to disarm them, including by the use of force in accordance with its mandate and rules of engagement," the mission said.
The U.N. Security Council this year gave a brigade within the peacekeeping mission a mandate to use force to ensure security in eastern DRC.
