Watch Full News-Congo colonel gets 20 years after rape trial

BARAKA, Congo — A Congolese court sentenced an army colonel to 20 years in prison Monday, convicting him of crimes against humanity in the highest-profile sexual violence case ever tried in this nation where thousands are brutally raped each year.

Kibibi, who is married with eight children, was convicted of four counts of crimes against humanity but will serve no more than 20 years in prison. He denies all the charges and says the court testimony by his bodyguards was all part of a plot to denigrate him.

"We are very fearful," one woman said as she nursed her baby. "Most of the rapists are still right here in our village. If we go to the river for water, we get raped; if we go to the fields for food, we get raped; if we go to the market to sell our goods, we get raped. Our lives are filled with danger. There is no peace."

The United Nations has called Congo the rape capital of the world; mass rapes are frequent and armed men, often from government units, are seldom held accountable.

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