(CNN) -- A U.N. report slams security forces for failing prevent a wave of mass rapes over several days this summer in Congo.
The preliminary report confirms the rape of at least 303 civilians between July 30 and August 2 in the Walikale region of North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The report points to serious shortcomings in the preparedness and response of the local detachments of the Congolese army and the police stationed in the area.
It also notes that their failure to prevent or stop the attacks was compounded by subsequent failings on the part of U.N. stabilization mission forces in Congo.
The report said the force had not received any specific training in the protection of civilians, and suffered from a number of operational constraints, including their limited capacity to gather information, as well as the lack of a telecommunications system in the area.
"The scale and viciousness of these mass rapes defy belief," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
"Even in the eastern part of DRC where rape has been a perennial and massive problem for the past 15 years, this incident stands out because of the extraordinarily cold-blooded and systematic way in which it appears to have been planned and executed".
The known victims include 235 women, 52 girls, 13 men, and 3 boys, and many more are believed to have been assaulted. At least 923 houses and 42 shops were looted and 116 people were abducted in order to carry out forced labor. The report said armed groups carried out the attacks.
CNN
