Torture is “widespread” and underestimated in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the abuse involves armed
groups and State forces, UN investigators said on
Wednesday.
In findings issued in a report by the UN Joint Human Rights
Office in DRC (UNJHRO) and the UN Stabilization Mission in DRC
(MONUSCO), the authors indicated that 93 per cent of the 3,618
registered cases of “torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment” affecting 4,946 victims had happened in areas
experiencing conflict.
Of that total, covering the period between 1 April 2019 and 30
April 2022, there were 492 cases of sexual violence,
affecting 761 victims.
“Torture can never be justified, no matter the circumstances or
the context. The DRC authorities must act with urgency and
determination to put an end to this scourge,” said Acting UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, in a statement.
Responsibility shared
Members of the DRC’s defence and security forces were responsible
for 1,293 cases, according to the report, while 1,833 cases were
attributed to armed groups. “In certain contexts, (they)
subjected victims to torture in collusion with members of
the security forces,” it said.
Victims suffered torture and ill-treatment either during
detention or “while exercising their fundamental rights, such
freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, or during
detention”, the report’s authors continued.
Highlighting the low number of complaints filed against
perpetrators and the “widespread nature of torture” compared with
the “magnitude of the violations”, the report explained
that only two army officers, 12 national police officers and
75 members of armed groups were convicted of torture during
the reporting period.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle
Bachelet, visits Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(January 2020).
‘Hate speech’ surging
The development comes amid concerns that the DRC has been gripped
by a ‘proliferation’ of hate speech, just 12 months ahead of
presidential elections.
In a scheduled debate at the UN Human Rights Council on
Tuesday, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, also expressed deep
concern about the alarming security situation in the east of the
country, where two provinces have been placed under military rule
since May 2021.
Withdrawing UN peacekeepers MONUSCO from the
country “could have serious consequences on the human rights
situation in the east of the country and the sub-region”, said
Christian Jorge Salazar Volkmann, Director of Field Operations
and Technical Cooperation Division at OHCHR.
Member States at the Geneva forum heard that although armed
groups carried out most rights violations and abuses between 1
June 2021 and 31 May 2022, DRC security personnel were
responsible for over four in 10 cases, out of an overall total of
6,782.
The military rule in Ituri and Nord Kivu provinces which came
into effect on 6 May 2021 “do(es) not appear to have deterred
armed groups from attacking civilians, particularly in internally
displaced persons sites”, said Mr. Volkmann.
Some 2,413 people - 1,778 men, 471 women and 164 children –
had been killed by armed groups in the first year of military
rule in the two provinces, he said, compared to 1,581 people
(1,076 men, 365 women and 140 children) during the previous
12-month period.
Nearly 5.5 million people had been forced from their homes by the
violence, amid a resurgence of the M23 armed group in Nord Kivu’s
Rutshuru province, which has attacked DRC “defence and security
forces, civilians and (UN peacekeeping Mission) MONUSCO”, the
OHCHR official added.
Families displaced by conflict and violence in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo receive humanitarian aid from
the UN.
Militia rule
Other attacks by militias the ADF and CODECO against civilians
and humanitarians “may constitute serious crimes under
international law”, Mr. Volkmann said, in an appeal for an end to
the violence and a nationally-led demobilization and
reintegration plan.
While welcoming the life sentence handed down to Mihonya Chance
Kolokolo, leader of militia group Raïa Mutomboki, for crimes
against humanity and war crimes including the recruitment and use
of children, rape, murder and the violation of natural reserves
in South Kivu, the UN human rights official highlighted
the “slow pace” of justice for “almost all” priority
cases committed by Kamuina Nsapu armed group between 2016
and 2018 in the Kasai region.
To tackle hate speech, OHCHR has recommended practical measures
to the authorities in the DRC.
These include implementing a proposed law on racism, tribalism
and xenophobia which is under discussion in Parliament.
“One year before the next presidential elections, it is
important that the alleged perpetrators of these messages be
brought to justice and held accountable, and to prevent the
security situation from further deterioration,” said Mr.
Volkmann.
