Congo: 12 army officers to be charged with rapes

GOMA, Congo (AP) — A dozen senior officers in the Congolese army have been arrested for responsibility for mass rapes committed by several army units in eastern Congo in November 2012, Congolese Justice Minister Wivine Mumba told The Associated Press Saturday.

The arrests come more than two weeks after the United Nations pressed the Congolese government to take action in the case. The U.N. said that if the Congolese government refused to prosecute the suspects, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as Monusco, would suspend its collaboration with the army units suspected of committing the rapes.