Photo: Jean-Michel Lybhula/ MONUSCO

Mbandaka, 19 September 2011 – A two-week training program for 150 officers and inspectors of the Congolese Judicial Police started in Mbandaka on 14 September. Initiated by the Congolese Government and supported by the Rule of Law Division of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), this training is designed to provide the police officers with up-to-date knowledge in legal matters, and to reinforce their investigative skills.

The training program, supported financially by MONUSCO, comprises over a dozen learning modules. After their training, the police agents are expected to play a decisive role in fighting impunity.

The provincial Minister of Interior, Justice and Human Rights, Fidele Likinda, who presided over the ceremony, said he hoped the training will contribute to combating and significantly reducing human rights violations in the main towns and in all 24 territories of Equateur province.

At the completion of their training on 1st October, the participants will pledge before the public prosecutor, to apply the law in its entire rigor.

Similar training programs were completed earlier this year for police officers in other provinces, including Bandundu, Maniema, Bas-Congo, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Katanga.