High Commissioner Türk on the Democratic Republic of Congo: “Make the space for peace”

Mr. President, 
Excellencies,

The human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to spiral before our eyes.

A volatile mix of escalating violence, regional and international interests, exploitative businesses, and weak rule of law.

At the expense of a people already devastated by decades of conflict. 

This situation deserves the immediate attention of the international community – so the guns can be silenced and the space for peace can emerge.

During my visit to the country in April, I raised several issues which remain relevant today.

First, the imperative of ending the conflict in the East.

The number of victims of human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law, continues to grow.  Between 1 June 2023 and 31 May 2024, 85 per cent of the violations and abuses committed in the country occurred in conflict-affected provinces in the east of the county. Members of armed groups were allegedly responsible for 61 per cent of these, along with deadly attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including school and hospitals.

Despite some efforts to prevent and investigate cases, sexual violence is spreading – with 700 more victims identified during the reporting period alone. Armed groups abduct, hold captive and subject women and girls to sexual slavery. Many of them have been killed after being raped. Cases are most certainly under-reported. This is appalling.

According to humanitarian sources, 940,000 more people have been internally displaced this year, bringing the total number of internally displaced people to more than 6.4 million. A staggering 23.4 million people across the country are food insecure, making it the country most affected by food insecurity in the world. I urge all parties to respect the civilian character of sites hosting displaced people and call on the international community to increase humanitarian funding.

Human rights violations committed by the Congolese defence (FADRC) and security forces, including during their military operations against armed groups, also remain of concern.

Hate speech and other incitement to discrimination and violence are fuelling the conflict and increasing political tensions across the country and must not be tolerated. I welcome the authorities’ public stance and efforts made to tackle this issue and offer my Office’s continued support.

Mr. President,

I urge those countries that have influence over the armed groups to do everything in their power to ensure the fighting stops. Any role played by Rwanda in supporting the M23 in North Kivu – and by any other country supporting armed groups active in the DRC – must end.

The authorities must fully be able assume their roles in the East to provide security as well as essential public services. The State must also tackle impunity and provide effective remedies to victims of violations and abuses, including access to justice through a fair and efficient judicial system.

I encourage a reinvigoration of the Nairobi and Luanda processes. And my office is ready to support for the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC), and its troop-contributing countries, to design and implement a robust and operational international human rights and humanitarian law framework.

MONUSCO’s progressive withdrawal should be undertaken responsibly and in a timely manner, ensuring that the protection of civilians remains the focus. I welcome SRSG Bintou Keita’s leadership in ensuring the centrality of human rights in the work of the Mission and the UN Country Team, including in this transition period.

Second, tackling impunity and restoring social cohesion.

Ethnic and community-based grievances and divisions at the root of conflict and instability have remained unaddressed for far too long.

And they will persist unless there are efforts to rebuild social cohesion.

To do this, accountability is key.

I welcome initial efforts made by the authorities. Between 1 June 2023 and 31 May 2024, 79 FADRC soldiers, 23 PNC officers, 315 armed group members and 105 civilians were convicted of offences.

But more is needed. Efficient conflict resolution mechanisms, formal and informal, must be put in place.

Adopting and implementing a holistic, victim-centred, and inclusive transitional justice policy also would help the country come to terms with its troubled past. My Office, as well as the Group of Experts, continue to support the authorities to this end.

Mr. President,

Detention conditions across the DRC are deteriorating, including in facilities run by the intelligence services. Detainees are subject to torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, and held in dire conditions without access to their families and lawyers.

I note recent efforts to reduce prison overcrowding and urge the authorities to ensure full and transparent investigations into the 2 September killings and rapes of detainees at Makala central prison in Kinshasa.

My Office’s independence in undertaking investigations is a means of supporting the protection of human rights in DRC.

I am concerned by the lifting in March of the de facto moratorium on the death penalty – this is a major step backwards, running counter to the trend in Africa and across the world towards abolition.  128 men have since been sentenced to death by military courts. I urge the authorities to ensure that these sentences are not carried out, and to finalize the legislative process already under way to abolish the death penalty.

Third, the proceeds of natural resources must benefit the people.

The DRC is endowed with exceptional natural resources, including minerals such as cobalt, coltan, copper and gold, significant hydroelectric potential, vast arable land, immense biodiversity and the second largest rainforest in the world.

And yet, resource grabs from the illegal exploitation of – and illicit trade in – DRC’s natural resources, with the complicity of companies inside and outside the country, and the proliferation and trafficking of arms, are among the main drivers of the ongoing violence.

This is also plunging the population further into poverty. The DRC is one of the five poorest nations in the world. Around one in six people living in extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa live in the DRC. This is unacceptable.

What is striking to me is the extent to which the situation in the East is linked to our everyday life, as in our mobile phones which are made possible, largely, thanks to the DRC’s resources.

I urge the authorities, as well as regional and international actors, to address these issues, and for the private sector actors active in this area to fully assume their human rights responsibilities.

In this context, I wish to highlight the work of the Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals - it would be very important to reflect on and use the recommendations provided in the final report.

Mr. President,

People in the DRC are exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors of their daily life.

They need to have and, as importantly, to see a future.

Human rights defenders who relentlessly defend dignity and peace must have our full support.

Ensuring peace, development and strengthening social cohesion in the DRC must be our shared goal.

The onus is on us all not to look away, and to work – steadfastly - towards that future.

Thank you.