DRC probes human rights violations

CLEAN RECORD :No foreign forces involvedJust a week after Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga became the first suspect to be convicted by the International Criminal Court, Kinshasa finds itself facing charges of serious human rights violations, including killings, disappearances and arbitrary detentions committed by security forces during last year’s presidential and legislative elections.An observer report on the 2011 elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), released on Tuesday, documents the killing of at least 33 people by security forces in Kinshasa, the capital, between 26 November and 25 December, as well as the wounding of 83 others, most of them by bullets. In addition, 16 people remain unaccounted for and 265 people were arrested, many of them saying they were arbitrarily detained and tortured while in confinement. The report states that the investigations indicated that no foreign forces were involved in the violence, contrary to speculation in the international media.The 28 November election was only the country’s second multi-party vote since independence from Belgium in 1960. The vote returned President Joseph Kabila to power, but the elections were criticised both within the DRC and by the international community, especially for lost ballots and vote tallies.The government is said to have seen the report and made its own comments, but have disagreed with the numbers cited. It, however, conceded that there was need for a thorough investigation into what had taken place, which is one of the key recommendations of the report.The report, which is based on investigations conducted by the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC, found that most of the reported violations involved Republican Guards, Congolese National Police or the National Intelligence Agency. Soldiers of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) were also involved to a lesser extent, it says. “We have heard multiple accounts of Republican Guards shooting live ammunition into crowds and of the torture of arbitrarily detained individuals,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay. “The authorities must ensure that such grave violations of human rights are investigated, perpetrators brought to justice and that those who remain illegally detained are released without delay.” The investigation also found that many of the victims of violations were targeted because of their affiliation to the political opposition party of Etienne Tshisekedi, the main opponent of President Joseph Kabila in the presidential elections. The UN Joint Human Rights Office noted that despite initial difficulties accessing detention facilities, victims and witnesses, the Government showed engagement by opening a judicial investigation in December. The head of the peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUSCO), Roger Meece, expressed appreciation for the Government’s commitment to pursue a judicial investigation and fight impunity to prevent the recurrence of such violations. “MONUSCO looks forward to the outcome of the judicial investigation and stands ready to continue to assist and support the DRC justice authorities to identify and bring perpetrators to justice,” Mr. Meece said. “Recent prosecutions and trials undertaken with MONUSCO’s support throughout the country have led to the arrest of a significant number of perpetrators of human rights violations. I welcome these recent developments and the positive cooperation between MONUSCO and the DRC military and civilian justice authorities”.