Justice under threat in the DRC: TRIAL International calls for urgent protection of victims and human rights defenders

For more than ten years, we have been accompanying victims of international crimes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, supporting their access to justice and their participation in legal proceedings. Today, we are once again sounding the alarm. Since the mass escapes from prisons in North and South Kivu last February, victims and human rights defenders have been facing a wave of reprisals.

Several escapees, convicted or prosecuted for international crimes, quickly joined armed groups, notably the M23 and Wazalendo militias, and are actively participating in the clashes. We denounce the murders, death threats, torture, rapes and extortion committed against those who contributed to their indictment or conviction.

Alongside our Congolese partners, we have already assisted over 150 people. But the needs remain immense. The protection mechanisms that existed before the crisis are no longer operational.

The United Nations and its member states have made significant efforts to support the fight against impunity in the DRC, by facilitating victims’ access to justice. However, warns the NGO, this justice cannot exist without real and lasting protection for those who contribute to it.

“MONUSCO, the Fact-Finding Mission, and the UN Human Rights Council must urgently step up targeted protection measures for victims and defenders who have contributed to judicial proceedings, in close coordination with actors on the ground”, stresses Daniele Perissi, TRIAL International’s Head of DRC Program.

We urge the Congolese authorities and international partners to identify, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of these threats and violence.