The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has established a new advisory council comprising leading war crimes lawyers from the United States and Europe to strengthen its campaign for accountability over atrocities committed in the conflict-ridden eastern part of the country.
The council, known as the Council for the Examination of Atrocities in the DRC, will advise two Congolese state institutions on efforts to secure international recognition of crimes committed during the conflict and pursue reparations for victims.
The move comes as the Congolese government intensifies its campaign for international justice over a conflict that has lasted for decades, involving dozens of armed groups competing for control of the country’s vast mineral resources. Millions of people are estimated to have died in the violence.
The conflict Is rooted in the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, when many perpetrators fled into eastern Congo, fuelling recurring cycles of violence that have persisted for decades.
Last month, Kinshasa filed a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Rwanda of violating international conventions on genocide, racial discrimination and torture.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly last year, President Felix Tshisekedi called for international recognition of what he described as a “silent genocide” in the DRC and urged the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to end what he termed a cycle of impunity.
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Fighting in eastern Congo escalated last year after the AFC/M23 rebel group seized large areas of territory. The United Nations and several Western governments have accused Rwanda of backing the rebels, an allegation Kigali has consistently denied.
The advisory council is co-chaired by Congolese human rights activist Julienne Lusenge and British lawyer Howard Morrison, a former judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Other members include Stephen Rapp, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues and former lead prosecutor in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, as well as Pascal Turlan, a former senior ICC official who worked on cases involving the DRC.
Reuters
