A UN envoy¹ says government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) might have committed rape² and murder.

一位联合国特使称刚果民主共和国的政府军队可能犯下了强奸、谋杀罪。

testimony³ from witnesses and victims of abuses" src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/allimg/101015/4_101015055417_1.jpg" width="464" height="261" />
Margot Wallstrom visited the Democratic Republic of Congo last week to hear first hand testimony from witnesses and victims of abuses

The special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Margot Wallstrom, said UN peacekeepers there had information suggesting soldiers had committed such abuses（虐待，暴行） .

The alleged⁴ attacks are said to have occurred in the same place where rebels carried out mass rapes⁵ just weeks ago.

Ms Wallstrom urged the government to investigate the allegations.

She was briefing the Security Council on her visit to North Kivu province.

After the mass rapes in July and August came to light（曝光，泄露） , UN peacekeepers based just 20 miles (32km) away were criticised for not responding quickly enough.

About 300 civilians⁶ and more than 50 children in the Walikale region were raped⁷ by the rebels - many of them in front of their families and neighbours.

Ms Wallstrom blamed the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Mai-Mai militia⁸（自卫队，义勇军） .

The attacks had focused international attention on the endemic（地方性的） sexual violence in Congo and UN failures to deal with it.

Since then, Ms Wallstrom said government troops (FARDC) had been deployed⁹ to the territory to reassert control and to implement¹⁰（实施，落实） the president's moratorium¹¹（暂停，中止） on mining in the area, which is rich in minerals.

The UN special representative heard directly from locals on her visit last week and said UN peacekeepers in the area had also told her of rapes, killings¹² and lootings（抢劫，洗劫） perpetrated recently by government soldiers.

She urged the DRC government to investigate the new attacks and "swiftly hold any perpetrators（犯罪者，作恶者） to account".

"The possibility that the same communities that were brutalised in July and August are now also suffering exactions（强求，勒索） at the hands of the FARDC troops is unimaginable and unacceptable," she said.

The BBC's United Nations correspondent, Barbara Plett, says Ms Wallstrom's warning underlines the enormous difficulty of protecting civilians in a region overrun by rebel groups, with an army made up of former militias¹³.

The UN Security Council also heard a call for sanctions（制裁，处罚） against a Rwandan Hutu commander known as "Colonel Serafim" who the special representative says is among those responsible for the July and August attacks.

Ms Wallstrom welcomed the recent arrests of two rebel leaders, saying this should serve as a warning that sexual violence would not be tolerated.