GENEVA (1 March 2011) – A High-level Panel convened by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to study the needs of victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will present and discuss its findings and recommendations on Thursday 3 March at the UN headquarters in Geneva.

An estimated 200,000 women have been raped in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the past 12 years of war. Yet little is heard about what happens to the victims of sexual violence afterwards.

Last September, High Commissioner Navi Pillay assembled a panel of top human rights and protection experts which spent two weeks in DRC hearing directly from survivors of sexual violence and others about their experience, their needs and remedies available to them. The panel also consulted with the government and local authorities in DRC.

The session will be open to the media, and the Panel will be available for questions and interviews.

Participants:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay
Minister of Justice and Human Rights of DRC, H.E. Mr. Bambi Lessa Luzolo

High-level Panelists:
Denis Mukwege, Medical Director of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu (DRC)
Elizabeth Rehn, former Minister of Defence of Finland
Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Chair
Jessica Neuwirth, former Special Advisor to the High Commissioner on Sexual Violence.

Date/Time: Thursday 3 March, 13h15 – 15h00

Place: Room XVIII, Palais des Nations, Geneva

The full report of the Panel will be available from www.ohchr.org from 3 March at 13:00

OHCHR Country Page – DRC: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/ZRIndex.aspx