In a groundbreaking trial in a country where sexual violence is rampant and perpetrators often go unpunished, a military court in eastern Congo has sentenced 12 militia members to life in prison for the gang- rapes of dozens of children as young as 11 months old, and for murder. The court yesterday convicted provincial deputy Frederic Batumike for organising the violence that began in 2013 and continued for years in the village of Kavumu, about 25 kilometres north of Bukavu city.

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