Press Release: Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
PRESS RELEASES HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Human Rights Council Discusses the Situation of Human Rights and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under its Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Agenda Item
Reports
The Council has before it the report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (A/HRC/51/61), and a report by the Team of International Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (A/HRC/51/60).Key-note Statements
CHRISTIAN SALAZAR VOLKMANN, Director of the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said there had been some improvements in the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the submission of the previous report in October 2021. There was a decrease in the number of human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law documented by the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office. However, the situation continued to be affected by an extremely fragile security context that bred violations and abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Between 1 June 2021 and 31 May 2022, at least 6,782 human rights violations and abuses were documented; a decrease of 3 per cent compared to the previous period. The majority of the violations and abuses were attributed to armed groups, whilst 44 per cent were committed by State agents, mainly by members of the armed forces and the Congolese National Police. Since the beginning of 2022, the Joint Human Rights Office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had also documented a resurgence of restrictions on civic and political space. Mr. Salazar Volkmann called on the authorities to ensure that these restrictions ceased and to increase the judicial oversight on the intelligence services.
The security situation in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo remained worrying. About 2,413 people were killed by members of armed groups during the first 12 months of the state of siege, while nearly 5.5 million people had been forced to leave their homes due to the violence. The attacks of the M23 armed group in the province of North Kivu against the defence and security forces, civilians, and the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had plunged the province into a new cycle of violence, resulting in dozens of deaths and the displacement of thousands of people. Mr. Salazar Volkmann strongly condemned the human rights abuses by members of armed groups, including the M23, the ADF and CODECO, calling on them to stop such violence. The Government should accelerate the operationalisation of the National Programme for Demobilisation, Disarmament and Community Reintegration and Stabilisation, and authorities should ensure that military measures taken in the context of the fight against insecurity were implemented in strict compliance with human rights and international humanitarian law.
Mr. Salazar Volkmann said the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were fuelled by impunity, and the development of a national prosecution strategy was welcomed. Between 1 June 2021 and 31 May 2022, the Office documented 442 convictions related to serious human rights violations and abuses, with 156 involving the defence and security forces and 118 involving members of armed groups. Concern was expressed at the slow pace of judicial processing.
Mr. Salazar Volkmann welcomed the progress made in the area of transitional justice, including the continuation of the national consultations on transitional justice in seven provinces. While the United Nations and the Congolese authorities were engaged in the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s transition process, a precipitous and uncoordinated withdrawal could have serious consequences on the human rights situation in the east of the country. This was even more important as recent violent demonstrations had negatively impacted the human rights and protection of civilians’ mandate. It was crucial that early warning and response mechanisms on electoral violence be developed and supported as general elections approached.
ALBERT FABRICE PUELA, Minister of Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said efforts were being made in all areas to protect and promote human rights throughout the national territory. Progress had been made by the Government, in particular with the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms whose implementation was to be carried out through national consultations in every province, with support from the Office of the High Commissioner. These national consultations, the first in the country, were an unprecedented referendum to receive from the victims, who were at the heart of the process, their perceptions, expectations and needs with regard to truth, justice, and non-recurrence, in order to ensure a true policy of national progress, and in order to prevent any new conflicts and restore peace.
Since the adoption of the Universal Periodic Review outcome of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sectoral implementations of certain recommendations had been made, despite certain issues impeding the implementation of all recommendations. An interim report was thus being drawn up, to show the Government’s commitment to ensuring that all Congolese enjoyed their human rights to the greatest extent possible. The Government was committed to ensuring the protection and promotion of human rights holistically, and thus laws were being drawn up, including ones on access to information, human rights defenders, and public demonstrations, and other important laws affecting the administration of transitional justice, in particular in terms of reparations.
Mr. Puela said the victims of the armed conflicts, as well as the search for truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-repetition, were all at the centre of the concerns and objectives of the Head of State and of his entire Government, because they constituted the only way to fight against the impunity of the warlords and to reduce all tensions between the communities.
BINTOU KEITA, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the Democratic Republic of the Congo had continued to strengthen its legislation and improve its practice in the field of human rights. The President had enacted two important laws: one on the protection of persons living with disabilities, and one on the rights of indigenous peoples, and these were significant steps forward in efforts to combat discrimination and ensure integration, giving them more political inclusion. On transitional justice, the United Nations had continued to support national authorities put into place a process throughout the country. Rapid implementation of transitional justice, de-arming and stabilisation: these would allow the country to move towards the achievement of economic, social and cultural rights for all the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nevertheless, the situation remained concerning, due to ongoing insecurity in the east of the country. The re-emergence of M23 was concerning, leading to thousands of Congolese having to leave their homes.
The efforts of the Heads of State in East Africa and the Great Lakes region in seeking to overcome these challenges were applauded. Stabilising relationships between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda was a goal that was being sought. There was a need for a mechanism that would guarantee respect for human rights and international humanitarian law during military operations that took place on Congolese soil, and this was also being worked towards. A clear analysis of what had been done should show the way forward, but the fact remained that the violent demonstrations in July, resulting in the deaths of civilians and of personnel of the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were due to hate speech, and were incompatible with the freedoms of expression and of assembly. In order to meet the security challenges posed by armed groups, there was a need for cohesion and support from the population. The more able the Mission was to fulfil its mandate, the more quickly it would be able to achieve sustainable results. There was a need for capacity building in all areas, including those where the Mission had closed its offices. There was a need for cooperation from all sides in all joint action taken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Work was being done to continue to combat rising incidents of violence and conflict: a crisis must at all costs be avoided.
MARIE THÉRÈSE KEITA-BOCOUM, Member of the Team of international experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo, said the fight in the Democratic Republic of the Congo against impunity, and the implementation of transitional justice in the province of Kasai Central were a key focus. The four visits undertaken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the dialogue with the authorities, communities and civil society enabled two key points to be formed. First, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had the potential to build a national judicial system; and secondly, the will for peace and reconciliation in justice and national solidarity existed everywhere in the country, even when violence and looting continued. The Democratic Republic of the Congo could break the cycle of socio-political tensions and violent armed conflicts. To do this, the State needed to strengthen peace, disarmament and reconciliation, as well as the community fabric and solidarity with the victims; repress supporters of murderous discrimination; and put an end to impunity in all forms. Only a transitional justice system, created by and for the Congolese, would make it possible to achieve this.
Ms. Keita-Bocoum said the lack of human, financial and material resources remained the main challenge for the effective and efficient functioning of the administration of justice. She noted the ongoing project to recruit 2,000 new magistrates by the Government, and welcomed that the President of the Republic had authorised the waiver of the immunity of certain general officers implicated in the pending priority cases, and that other court decisions had been issued by the High Military Court for high profile cases. Several initiatives had been taken at the national level by the Government, including the creation of a Joint Reflection and Guidance Commission on Transitional Justice; the establishment of the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Community Recovery and Stabilisation Programme; and the launch of national popular consultations in provinces, which would allow communities to express their needs and wishes in terms of truth, reparation, justice and guarantees of non-repetition.
However, Ms. Keita-Bocoum said, the national process faced major challenges. To address them, the Government needed national funding for the transitional justice process to ensure its credibility. She encouraged massive financial support from the international community. The process of establishing a national reparations fund and the development of a system to enable victims to benefit from adequate reparations needed to be accelerated. A pragmatic approach to transitional justice which took into account the needs of the population, including in the context of insecurity and inter-communal conflicts, needed to be adopted.
DISMAS KITENGE SENGA, President and Co-founder of the Lotus Group, said the efforts of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to encourage and support human rights should be applauded. The gross violations of international humanitarian law and the shrinkage of democratic space should be regretted and condemned. The situation required a varied approach for thorough and lasting effectiveness. Despite progress on the military level, there were struggles to stop the massacre of civilians and protect them from violations of international humanitarian law. The efforts to combat impunity and corruption were welcome, and should be properly defined and considered as a structured and long-term policy to meet all international standards. Although there were some positive prosecutions, the society believed that light had not been shed, nor responsibilities at the highest levels addressed. The justice system still faced difficulties with regard to finances and independence.
Mr. Senga said that in a society marked by ongoing armed conflict, the transitional justice mechanism should be led by the victims and civil society organizations in a participatory approach, without minimising the reparations for victims. There should be a national policy based on the needs of the truth process and applied by victims and civil society organizations. It was urgent to complete the legislative process to protect human rights defenders and journalists. National human rights institutions needed to demonstrate their independence and openness to fully play their role in the context of political tensions. There was an urgent need to update laws on such topics as the freedom of expression. Human rights were at the heart of peace and consolidation of international law, and it was vital that the international community consolidate the role of the Joint Human Rights Office so that it could oversee the situation across the country.
Discussion
In the discussion, some speakers said impunity for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, the re-emergence of M23, and the Nairobi Process had all shown that it was essential to take due account of the transboundary nature of conflicts and transitional justice. Hate speech calling for violence and discrimination against local populations must be fought by the Congolese authorities as resolutely as possible. Some speakers said that over the past year, there appeared to be an improvement of the situation. Other speakers said the increase in ethnic tensions, attacks on civilians and other human rights violations were of serious concern. The security situation and the challenges to good governance were serious impediments to judicial systems. Accountability must be ensured, taking all evidence into consideration to shed full light on the heinous crimes that had occurred.
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