More than 260 women sexually abused during prison break in Congo, UN report shows

At least 129 people were killed when prison guards opened fire on inmates attempting to escape from Kinshasa prison. The prison officially has a capacity of 1,500 inmates, but in reality it housed more than 15,000 people.

After the attempted escape in the early hours of September 2, the government said there had been sexual assaults against women, but did not provide any figures.

But an internal UN report on the incident, seen by Reuters, said 268 of 348 women detained at Makala were subjected to sexual violence, including rape, during the chaos. Of these, 17 were younger than 19 years old.

The report included detailed information about the victims, as each of them required emergency kits and emergency contraception within 72 hours.

A government spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

A victim, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told Reuters by telephone that at least a dozen inmates had raped her.

“I saw the male prisoners attacking the female prisoners. It was terrible,” said another prisoner who witnessed the events, adding that even older women were attacked.

For security reasons, she also asked to remain anonymous.

They said inmates attacked the block where most of the women were housed, one of seven of the 11 prison blocks that were devastated in the escape attempt.

“In terms of the number of rapes during an outbreak, this is the worst case we have ever seen,” said Congolese human rights activist Emmanuel Cole, who has been monitoring prisons since 1997.

He said the UN's figures were likely underestimated because some victims may have been too afraid of the consequences to speak out.

President Felix Tshisekedi has ordered an investigation into the Makala prison break and a review of major prisons to reduce overcrowding. Ultimately, no breakouts were reported in the incident.