From Aljazeera

The biggest rape trial in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo has delivered just two guilty verdicts against government soldiers.

The trial relates to the alleged mass rape of 130 women by 39 soldiers. A military court in DR Congo on Monday cleared almost all of 39 soldiers accused of rape and murder in the country’s eastern South Kivu province.

Of those convicted, only two were found guilty of rape, with a further 24 being convicted for other crimes such as looting.

Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from outside the courtroom, said convictions for rape were rare, and the fact that the trial had taken place at all was a step forward.

“It remains to be seen whether those convicted serve their full sentence,” he said.

The court in North Kivu imposed sentences of 10 and 20 years in jail for a number of soldiers who “violated instructions, looting and distributing ammunition,” according to an AFP news agency journalist present at Monday’s hearing.