
Even the youngest children are not spared from violence
An 11-month-old baby girl has died in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo a day after she was raped, the UN says.
The alleged rapist, a man aged 20, has been detained by Congolese police about 140km west of Goma. He faces a life sentence.
Reports of the atrocity came as the Red Cross held a news conference in Geneva to denounce the "systematic violence" against girls and women in DR Congo.
Aid workers blame combatants on all sides for a culture of sexual violence.
ICRC official Dominik Stillhart said that in his recent visit to eastern DR Congo, he found some 370,000 people had been driven from their homes since fighting resumed in December between the army and fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda.
"What really shocked me personally the most, was the systematic violence especially against women and girls which is producing immense suffering," Mr Stillhart said.
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