Goma, 6 September 2013 – "Political option could help bring the war and atrocities in the North Kivu to an end and find a lasting solution to the crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo" according to a joint press statement in Goma on Friday, 6 September by the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Mary Robinson, the Special Representative of the African Union, Boubacar Diarra, the senior Coordinator of the European Union…
7 September 2013 – A top United Nations official focusing on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has stressed the need to address impunity in the country, which has seen massive displacement over the past year along with pervasive violence and rights abuses. "We will not repeat the past mistakes, we believe that there should not be amnesty for those accused of having committed serious crimes, nor should they be integrated in the armed…
This report covering the period from November 2011 to May 2013 assesses the progress made by the authorities in the implementation of recommendations made by UN human rights mechanisms. It commends important developments, including the promulgation of a law on the establishment of a national human rights commission. It also notes the improvements in holding State agents accountable for human rights violations, including sexual violence. However…
On 20 and 22 November 2012, and until the beginning of their withdrawal on 1 December 2012, combatants of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebellion seized Goma and Sake, North Kivu, while troops of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) retreated towards Minova, South Kivu province. The present report outlines gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including killings and arbitrary executions, mass rape…
The phenomenon of deaths in detention centres in the DRC is a priority theme for the UNJHRO due to its seriousness and scale. Between 2004 and 2005, the The phenomenon of deaths in detention centres in the DRC is a priority theme for the UNJHRO due to its seriousness and scale. Between 2004 and 2005, the Human Rights Division of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) published three reports on conditions of detention in the prisons and holding cells…
This report focuses on grave violations of human rights, including arbitrary executions and forced displacement on a large scale, perpetrated against civilians in Masisi territory, North Kivu province, between April and September 2012. The UNJHRO confirms the arbitrary executions of at least 264 people, of whom 246 were killed by combatants from Raïa Mutomboki and Mayi Mayi Kifuafua and 18 were killed by combatants of the Democratic Forces for…
Mbuji-Mayi, 27 August 2013 – An awareness and information campaign conducted in five municipalities of Mbuji-Mayi, the administrative capital of the Eastern Kasaï province on the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) concluded on 27 August 2013. Backed by the United Nations, the campaign was aimed at sensitizing the population in anticipation to the upcoming local elections. It was…
5 September 2013 – Top United Nations officials focusing on the Democratic Republic of the Congo are today in the Ugandan capital of Kampala attending talks with regional leaders meant to reenergize peace efforts between the Congolese Government and M23 rebels. Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson, and Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in the DRC, are participating in the so…
Kananga, 3 September 2013 – A team of the Civil Affairs section of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) visited the territory of Mweka, Western Kasai, from 16 to 21 August 2013 on a mission aimed to advance the reconciliation and peace process between three local communities in a decades-long conflict. The process was launched last year. The population in the villages Bungamba, Bakatombi and…
Goma, 2 September 2013 – The Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, Mary Robinson, arrived in Goma, North-Kivu province, on Monday, 2 September 2013. Mrs. Robinson is on a joint regional mission, which she will conduct with other Special Envoys from the African Union, European Union and the United States to back diplomatic peace efforts in eastern D.R. Congo and the Great Lakes region. Mary Robinson…