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N. was raped at her home in 2014 by a Colonel of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). He was her husband’s colleague. Like countless victims of rape, N. was place in the dock by her community, leaving her isolated and stigmatized for a crime of which she was a victim. Despite the pressure put on her, N. had the courage to file a compla...

Fred Bauma is one of the most prominent figures of the LUCHA (standing for Lutte pour le Changement, the Fight for Change), a well-known NGO demanding democratic change in DRC. In March 2015, Fred was arrested by State agents during a peaceful demonstration in Kinshasa. Accused of inciting violence and rebellion, he was immediately placed in detention. TRIAL I...

Torture, a common practice in East DRC In Eastern DRC, torture is used as a widespread practice by the armed forces and particularly by agents of the National Intervention Legion (LENI), a specialist intervention unit of the Congolese National Police. From 2014 to 2015, local NGOs gathered numerous personal accounts from the population about cases of abuse, arbitrary...

For 10 days in 2012, the small village of Minova was the scene of a wave of violence: the villagers were victims of acts of mass rape, murder and pillage. The perpetrators of these atrocities were all members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the Congolese National Police (PNC). This case provoked a national outcry and 39 Stat...

In August 2015, TRIAL International submitted a report on progress and obstacles in the fight against impunity for sexual violence in the Eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu to the United Nations. Written in partnership with 11 local NGOs, the report describes the insufficient measures taken by the Congolese state and puts forward specific recommendations t...

The Ruzizi Plain is situated in South Kivu Province and borders on Burundi. A conflict has raged for many years between the two ethnic groups that populate the plain, the Bafuliro and the Barundi, due to land-holding, economic and political rivalries. The local civilian populations endure regular waves of attacks and serious crimes, while the State authorities have n...

The case of seven women whose rapists were convicted in 2011 epitomizes the gap between a guilty verdict and truly satisfying, restorative justice. In the summer of 2009, the Congolese army launched “Operation Kimia II” in South Kivu, aiming to track down members of the non-state armed group FDLR. An army battalion was deployed in the town of Mulenge and by mid- A...