Weapon of War
Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen, 59 min, Netherlands.Wherever war breaks out, men with guns rape. Nowhere in the world reached sexual violence a scale and level of brutality as in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the decades of conflict possibly hundreds of thousands of women and girls were systematically raped and the figure still rises.
In Weapon of War military perpetrators unveil what lies behind this brutal behavior and the strategies of rape as a war crime. The film tells the story of a soldier and a former rebel that are both looking at rape in different ways.
The ex-rebel explains how he forced women to have sex with him. The war had changed him into a wild animal. In an attempt to reconcile with his past, he decides to meet one of his victims. But faced with poverty, depression and trauma, starting a normal life again proves a difficult struggle - like it is for thousands of others that participated in Congo's bloody wars.
The soldier is Captain Basima. He works as a priest in Congo's army. He has made it his mission to confront perpetrators of rape with the consequences of their crimes. Despite the resistance he meets from fellow-soldiers and militia, he is determined to change their behavior. Just like he did himself.
