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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...

In early January 2011, a simple fight between two men in Fizi (South Kivu Province) degenerated when a group of soldiers belonging to the Congolese army launched an offensive against the civilian population. Several tens of victims reported acts of rape, pillage and murder. Thirteen months later, nine soldiers – of whom Lieutenant Colonel Kibibi Mutware was the ma...

On the fringe of an operation by the Congolese army in the village of Kibungwe (South Kivu Province) in February 2010, Lieutenant Colonel Djela Felix and his men killed two people and raped a woman. Their trial was held in 2013 before the South Kivu Military Court. Djela was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crimes committed, and the Congolese State was consi...

In September 2013, in the village of Mukoloka in Shabunda Territory (South Kivu Province), Army Corporal Bolingo Katutsi forced open the door of the house where W. and E. lived, and raped them using his rifle. One of the two women had given birth just two weeks earlier, and her child was injured at the time the crimes were committed, dying a few months later. The...

In partnership with the NGOs Open Society Justice Initiative and Conflict Awareness Project, TRIAL International, filed a report against Argor-Heraeus SA before the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland in November 2013. That company was accused of refining nearly three tonnes of gold pillaged by rebels in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR...

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAGS) decided not to further prosecute the Swiss precious metals company Argor-Heraeus SA, that handled dirty African gold. While Swiss authorities acknowledged that Argor did refine looted gold and violated its duty of diligence, the case was nonetheless closed, a decision met with disbelief by the three NGOs working...