Govt to pay raped IDPs
Apr 09, 2006
THE High Court in Arua has directed the government to pay sh82m to two displaced women who were raped by soldiers in Awere IDP Camp in Gulu district two years ago.
By Frank Mugabi
THE High Court in Arua has directed the government to pay sh82m to two displaced women who were raped by soldiers in Awere IDP Camp in Gulu district two years ago.
Justice Augustus Kania on wednesday heard that one of the underage girls was infected with HIV and the other got pregnant.
The two Acholi girls told court that two armed soldiers deployed to guard the camp waylaid them along a bushy path and raped them.
Kania heard that the girls were raped in their mother’s presence.
The soldiers had threatened to shoot the victims had they not succumbed to the demands.
The girl who conceived will be paid sh32m, while the one infected with HIV would get sh50m.
However officials of the Gulu-based Human Rights Focus criticised the awards as paltry compared to the gravity of the case and its impact on the victims.
THE High Court in Arua has directed the government to pay sh82m to two displaced women who were raped by soldiers in Awere IDP Camp in Gulu district two years ago.
Justice Augustus Kania on wednesday heard that one of the underage girls was infected with HIV and the other got pregnant.
The two Acholi girls told court that two armed soldiers deployed to guard the camp waylaid them along a bushy path and raped them.
Kania heard that the girls were raped in their mother’s presence.
The soldiers had threatened to shoot the victims had they not succumbed to the demands.
The girl who conceived will be paid sh32m, while the one infected with HIV would get sh50m.
However officials of the Gulu-based Human Rights Focus criticised the awards as paltry compared to the gravity of the case and its impact on the victims.