Systematic rapes of displaced Congolese women and girls by men in uniform continue unabated in a region along the Angola-Democratic Republic of Congo border, a UN envoy said in a statement received yesterday.

Margot Wallstrom, the special representative for sexual violence in conflicts, said 182 rapes were reported in seven border villages in January alone, and a UN mission had confirmed 1,357 rapes in a single village during a six to eight month period.

Ms Wallstrom said she met with 70 women during a visit to the area on February 6, and all of them said they had been raped, including a woman who had been tied to a tree after being gang raped.

“This has been going on silently for too long. They are carried out by police, coast guards and various forces of Angola but rapes are committed from both sides of the border,” she said.

Ms Wallstrom appealed to the Angolan and Congolese authorities to urgently investigate the rapes, and cooperate in finding “a solution to this grave violations of human rights.”