Rwandan rebel forces, government army soldiers, and their allies have raped at least 90 women and girls since late January 2009 in the volatile North and South Kivu provinces of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. The Rwandan rebel forces have also been implicated in the deaths of most of the 180 civilians killed during this period.

The United Nations Security Council will discuss on April 9 the latest report by the UN secretary-general on the peacekeeping force in Congo. Human Rights Watch called on the UN Security Council to press the Congolese government to remove human rights abusers from its armed forces and end rights violations, including attacks against women and girls.

Ben Affleck “Gimme Shelter” video launches UNHCR campaign for displaced Congolese:

Renewed violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has triggered a humanitarian crisis, forcing more than 250,000 people to flee for their lives. The fighting brings a forgotten tragedy back to the world's attention.

The “Gimme Shelter” film made to support the campaign was directed by American actor-director Ben Affleck and filmed by John Toll. Both are US Academy Award winners. It includes footage shot in DRC’s strife-torn North Kivu province during Affleck's fourth visit to the region in November 2008. The film is set to the classic Rolling Stones song, Gimme Shelter, which the group donated to the campaign.

UNHCR hopes the Gimme Shelter campaign will help raise US$23 million in 2009 to pay for clean water supplies and emergency humanitarian assistance kits for tens of thousands of internally displaced Congolese.

Although a peace agreement was signed months ago, Amnesty International has found substantial evidence that armed groups in North Kivu are still committing crimes under international law, including unlawful killings, rape, torture, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers, even after the armed groups promised to immediately end these abuses in a 23 January 2008 “Act of Engagement”.

Government security forces have also unlawfully detained and in some cases tortured and ill-treated captured children, and continue to rape and otherwise sexually abuse women and girls.

The political background of this conflict is very complex, involving many armed groups like the FDLR, the CNDP, the PARECO or rhe Mayi Mayi milicia as well as different ethnic groups, including Rwandan Hutus and Tutsis.