( CNN ) -- Rape has turned into a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo , with the number of attacks on women having grown threefold over the past few years , human rights activists said in October . Anneke van Woudenberg , senior researcher with Human Rights Watch , told Christiane Amanpour that 200,000 women and girls have been raped in Eastern Congo since 1998 , and the condition of women has become more dire as the Congolese army has pressed a military campaign against armed groups in the countryside . `` Rape is being used as a weapon of war in eastern Congo . So we notice and we have documented that when armed groups walk into town , they will rape the women and girls , sometimes publicly , sometimes privately , in order to punish the local population , '' she said . `` It 's the easiest way to terrorize a community . '' Congo has witnessed one of the worst humanitarian crises since World War II , with a death toll estimated at more than 5 million . Most of the dead have come not from direct violence , but the consequences of the fighting : disease and starvation . While the war formally ended six years ago , fighting persists in eastern Congo , and women are paying a high price . `` One of the other sad realities is that the majority of those who are raped are adolescent girls , 12-year-olds , 13-year-olds , 14-year-olds . Their lives are often ruined by this . And I think we 've got to take more seriously -- protection of civilians is not just protecting them from death . It 's protecting them from rape , '' van Woudenberg said . There have also been reports of members of the Congolese army , particularly high ranking officers , attacking women . In May , the United Nations handed over the names of five top military officers accused of rape . Two of the senior officers are being detained in the capital of Kinshasa and the three others must report to authorities under close observation . They are awaiting trial . Still more must be done , aid groups say , starting with the establishment of a special court made up of Congolese and international judges and prosecutors to investigate rape allegations . `` I think they 've got to start holding to account the generals and colonels who are either themselves responsible or who allow their troops to rape . And so far , those are the guys that have been untouchable , '' said van Woudenberg . `` No general has yet been held to account in Congo for rape , and it 's high time that that changes . '' Congo has taken some measures to try to curb the sexual violence . In 2006 , its parliament passed a law criminalizing rape , with penalties ranging from five to 20 years . Penalties are doubled under certain circumstances , including gang-rape and if the perpetrator is a public official . Kabila 's wife , Olive Lemba Kabila , has launched a public campaign speaking out against rapes of the nation 's women and girls . The army has also started a zero-tolerance campaign in which commanders have emphasized to troops that they must respect human rights and protect civilians from harm , according to the U.N . The United Nations maintains in Congo its largest peacekeeping force anywhere in the world . But the forces have been ineffective at stopping rape . Jean-Marie Guehenno , the former head of U.N. peacekeeping , told Amanpour that the international forces face a serious problem : Too few troops assigned to the vast inaccessible reaches of eastern Congo . `` In the Kivu provinces , there are 10 million people , '' Guehenno said . `` If one applied the counterinsurgency ratios that the U.S. Army thinks of -- say , 20 per 1,000 -- that would mean 200,000 troops in Congo -- 200,000 accountable troops . '' `` The U.N. is in a tough spot , to be frank , because if it did not give any support to the Congolese army , probably the Congolese army might prey even more on the population , '' Guehenno said . Part of the problem stems from the tactic applied by the Congolese government to quell previous armed rebellions against Kinshasa by incorporating insurgents into the ranks of the national army , leading to a military that paid scant attention to human rights , and the rights of women in particular . Watch how one community is coping . `` What needs to be done is to have a state in Congo that can control its territory and that has the confidence of the people , '' Guehenno said . `` The violence in the Kivu , the violence in Ituri , it is the result of a vacuum , the fact that there is no administration , there is no credible state , there is no justice . And so that vacuum is being occupied by various militias . `` And , unfortunately , when the Congolese army integrates a militia without sorting between the killers and those who could be integrated , it just adds to the problem . '' Van Woudenberg called for international pressure to force the Congolese army to bring abusers to justice . `` My worst fear is that we 're going to continue to see those individuals responsible for rape being promoted . My hope is that the women and girls of -- of eastern Congo in particular -- will continue to speak out . I think we 've seen immense courage from those women and girls to say , 'No , we 've had enough . ' ''
Human Rights Watch : 200,000 women , girls raped in Eastern Congo since 1998 . Condition of women more dire as the army fights armed groups in the country . More than 5 million die in Congo from disease , hunger resulting from fighting . Comment: The UN has a report on this that is pretty good