French First Lady Demands End of Impunity for DR Congo Rapes

France's first lady Valerie Trierweiler on Thursday urged the international community to help bring to justice those responsible for hundreds of thousands of rapes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two decades. "I want bring an end to the silence surrounding this tragedy, a tragedy that has been going on for more than 20 years. 500,000 women have been raped," she lamented. Speaking at a side event to an ongoing session of the UN human rights council in Geneva, Trierweiler launched an urgent appeal to help the women of DR Congo, often described as "the rape capital of the world."