Military violence caused by the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo is ongoing. In a joint statement with EAFORD and GICJ, Rasika Gopalakrishnan delivered an oral statement on the 4th of October 2022. 

During the Enhanced ID on the report of the High Commissioner and experts on the DRC, Rasika strongly condemned the violence that is affecting the civilians, as well as upon the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO. She noted that the report of the independent experts chronicled the failure of the country’s judicial system to address the human rights abuses that were taking place in plain sight. 

Rasika recognised and appreciated the government’s diplomatic and humanitarian efforts that were taken to resolve this issue, but believed that these weren’t enough to quell the danger that civilians were being exposed to. Finally, she advocated for a strong need to cooperate with other political and diplomatic stakeholders in order to establish systems of transitional justice as a potential solution to this violence.

The two organisations, EAFORD and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) strongly urge the international community to support the mission of the Democratic Republic of Congo in establishing systems of transitional justice.

HRC51, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, M23 rebels, Impunity, Justice, Human Rights, Geneva, Geneva4Justice, GICJ, Geneva International Centre for Justice