The 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council opened in Geneva on Monday, providing a platform for the international body to review the state of human rights across the globe.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, human rights violations continue unabated, particularly in the eastern part of the country, where civilians are subjected to numerous abuses, including drone strikes. In the west, several human rights organizations are denouncing arbitrary arrests and detentions in clandestine locations.
Documented abuses, but perpetrators often escape justice
Human rights groups describe the situation in the DR Congo as deeply worrying, both in the east, which is partially under the control of the AFC/M23, and in the west, which is administered by the Congolese authorities.
“The United Nations continues to document these human rights violations, as do international and local organizations. On government-controlled territory, individuals are being held in official prisons or secret cells without knowing the charges against them. Those within state institutions responsible for these violations are rarely prosecuted,” explains Jean-Claude Katende, president of the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO). The organization has repeatedly denounced this impunity.
CNDH demands sanctions against AFC/M23
For the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), the most extreme violations are primarily attributable to the AFC/M23. The CNDH recalls its call for the international community to mobilize and impose sanctions on the rebels.
“We deplore the extreme human rights violations and attacks on the right to life in areas under M23 rebel occupation. These are violations that strike at the very core of human rights. And of course, across the national territory, we will demonstrate in Geneva that there are also human rights violations, but of a more traditional kind that require conditions such as a strong economy,” insists Paul Nsapu, president of the CNDH.
Beyond the debates in Geneva, human rights defenders in the DR Congo are demanding concrete action. For them, the key issue remains justice: documenting violations, identifying perpetrators, and ending impunity.