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Lawyers for the ABA office in Congo suggested that the number of victims in Minova could be as high as 1,000. In Congo, speaking about rape is considered shameful, so many women choose to suffer in silence. ItвЂ™s impossible to know precisely how many women were raped in Minova. After pressure from the international community, the Congolese government organized a military court to determine exactly what happened and who was responsible. When they arrived, villagers allege, they raped the local women and pillaged whatever they could get their hands on. Thousands of Congolese soldiers, known as the FARDC - a French acronym for Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo - fled south to the town of Minova. In November of 2012, the M23 rebel movement took the provincial capital of Goma in North Kivu, located in the eastern region of the DRC. While a ruling is expected on May 5, difficulties with collecting evidence and getting some of the accused to appear before the court has complicated the trial, according to advocates from the ABA. Since 2008, the ABA has been involved, to varying degrees, in most of the sexual violence courts that have occurred in the country. The current proceedings, supported by the American Bar Association (ABA) Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI), aim to establish what happened in 2012, when Congolese soldiers allegedly committed mass rapes against the women of Minova. Despite unprecedented political attention, impunity remains common. Another estimate claims that as many as 46 women are raped every hour in the DRC. A report released last month by the United Nations human rightвЂ™s office in Congo estimated that, in the last four years, 3,600 people had become victims of sexual violence.

In 2008 the United Nations security council passed resolution 1820, declaring that вЂњrape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide,вЂќ in part as a response to the ongoing conflict in the DRC.Д«ut rape in the DRC is more than just a problem of war. Since 1998, when war first erupted in the east, rape has been used as a weapon of war against Congolese women.

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The case is the largest rape trial in the countryвЂ™s history. There are 39 defendants on trial before the military court, including 28 low-ranking infantry and 11 senior military officers and commanders. It is the first time the Congolese government has taken financial responsibility for running the judiciary process in war-related rape cases such as these. The ongoing trial about the events in Minova is the first of its kind for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But I know that I saw the military uniform.вЂќ Even at night, in the dark, she explained, the uniform of the Congolese army is unmistakable. вЂњI canвЂ™t tell you which soldier raped me.

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All of the women who testify before the court are given a code name, and wear veils to protect their identities. вЂњI know itвЂ™s a soldier who raped me,вЂќ disclosed вЂF64,вЂ™ a code name used in court that is meant to conceal her identity. In the corner, the woman referred to only as вЂF64,вЂ™ could see all 39 of the accused soldiers through a black veil draped over her face.

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The prosecutors sat on one side, the defense on the other - both facing a row of judges dressed in full military uniform.

Visitors were not permitted inside, as the testimony was considered sensitive. MINOVA, Congo - When she entered the courtroom, it was mostly empty. The alleged victim and GlobalPost have considered the ramifications of showing her face on camera, and we have been careful to protect her identity to whatever extent possible. The woman featured in this video, who in the courtroom is referred to only as вЂF64,вЂ™ has bravely decided to share her story.

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EditorвЂ™s note: This story is the first in a Special Report titled вЂњLaws of Men: Legal systems that fail women.вЂќ This year-long series looks at the breakdown in legal systems created to protect womenвЂ™s rights around the world, and begins in the Congo at an unprecedented rape trial.

Real war rape video