Widespread rape and a culture of impunity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are undermining the country’s progress, Jan Egeland, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has told the UN Security Council. “Sexual abuse has become a cancer in Congolese society that seems to be out of control,” Egeland said as he recounted his recent trip to the DRC, where, he said, nearly all women he spoke to had been raped.

On July 30, 2006, the Congolese people demonstrated their desire for a peaceful and democratic process in the Congo by exercising a basic human right denied to them for the last 40 years: they voted. The long overdue presidential election received praise from all corners of the globe. Unfortunately, when the Independent Electoral Commission announced a run-off election would be necessary, supporters of both leading candidates in Kinshasa responded with violence.

The forest people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), marginalised at the best of times, were easy targets for the marauding soldiers and militiamen that reduced the eastern provinces to one of the world's bloodiest war zones. Rape was a weapon of war in the decade-long conflict, with the local civilian population the overwhelming victims of the fighting and chaos that sucked in combatants from throughout the region.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has officially charged former militia leader Thomas Lubanga for forcefully recruiting children as soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo's civil war. Although the war began in 1998, the ICC can only indict Lubanga for crimes committed after the Court's inception in 2002.

As the Democratic Republic of the Congo prepares for the run-off presidential election, political and ethnic tensions look set to "hit an all time high." This East African article warns of "major ramifications for the stability of countries in East and Central Africa" should the election spark a return to militia based violence.

Many thanks for raising these issues in your well-argued paper (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/36471). Our brothers and sisters in the DRC deserve a better future. And Africa's future lies in the political stability of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The United Nations has conducted more investigations into sexual exploitation and abuse by its peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) than in any other country, according to figures recently released by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Out of a total of 313 investigations of civilian and military staff since the beginning of 2004, 202 have been carried out in the DRC, UN News said on Friday (August 25).

The leader of a Democratic Republic of Congo militia has become the first war crimes suspect to be charged at the International Criminal Court. Thomas Lubanga, who led the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia group based in eastern DR Congo, is accused of recruiting child soldiers. International human rights groups argue that charges of murder, torture and rape should be brought against him.

As the elected leaders of a post-conflict state, the DRC government's top priorities must be to heal the wounds that have been inflicted on many Congolese by colonialism and civil wars in that country. Yav Katshung Joseph writes that: "Victims of serious human rights violations in the DRC are begging for justice and reparations. The new government should place this issue on its agenda in order to grant them reparations. It is true that reparation takes time. However, a step must be taken."

Introduction

Some outbursts of violence between soldiers of the presidential guards "DSSP" and the guards and private army of presidential contender Jean-Pierre Bemba marred the announcement of the election results in the DRC on 20 August. Two hours before the announcement by electoral officials that a runoff is to take place, soldiers from both rival contenders have been involved in a number of attacks. Since none of the 32 presidential candidates who contested in the 30 July elections won 50% plus of the vote, the DRC will hold a runoff election between Joseph Kabila (44.81% of the vote) and Bemba (20.03% of the vote). The fighting left at least 16 victims dead, with many more wounded, but the overall toll is not known and the two sides denied responsibility for the escalation in violence.

The need for unity must take account of the duty to remember and the right to justice necessary to all credible, lasting processes of reconciliation. Accountability for human rights violations is an important instrument in breaking the cycle of impunity, and is an indispensable component of the process of healing the wounds of grave violations committed in the DRC, reconciliation, reconstruction, and peace. It is also the foundation for post-conflict reconstruction based on the rule of law and respect for human rights.

As the focus on a national and international level is towards the post-election period in the DRC, we should also not forget the nightmare in which Congolese citizens have been living from the colonial period till today. The elected government must address the question of reparations for victims of human rights violations in the DRC.

To put this into perspective, over the last decade there have been intense debates internationally and locally about reparation for victims of gross and systematic human rights violations. Discussions arise in post-conflict situations regarding serious violations of human rights, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other forms of injustices of the past. In the DRC, millions of people have been severely affected by the conflicts and violence of the past.

If we are to get over the past and build national unity and reconciliation, we must make sure that people who suffered gross human rights abuses are acknowledged by providing them with reparation. These measures cannot bring back the dead, nor can they adequately compensate for pain and suffering suffered, but they can improve the quality of life for victims of gross human rights violations and/or their dependants. However, one important question is posed: how does a nation like the DRC seek to repair harm, restore rights, and build trust when the number of victims runs to millions over the period from colonial times to the Mobutu regime, and the 1996-1997 Kabila-led war, and the 1998-2003 war and the continuing conflict in some parts of the country? [1]

The question of reparation in the DRC

The Congolese have had to deal with violence and conflict since the DRC's independence from Belgium in 1960 and even before independence. It is for this reason that the questions on when and how to repair the harm inflicted to victims should be put on the agenda. However, this has not been the case in this country and there appears little discussion on the possible processes available and appropriate to secure justice for the victims of the gross and systematic human rights violations.

To ensure that justice translates into accountability and punishment for perpetrators, and, on the other hand, reparation or redress for victims, is not simply a moral imperative. It is a political necessity to combat a culture of impunity stretching unbroken from colonial times through the Mobutu regime, till today. The elected government of the DRC should be pushed to break away from this culture of impunity.

Mechanisms of reparation in the DRC

In principle, at the national level, victims have two mechanisms through which to seek reparation: the judicial and non-judicial mechanisms.

Judicial mechanisms
The judicial reparation mechanism in the DRC is mostly based on reparation proceedings associated with the criminal prosecution of individual perpetrators, with victims participating and seeking reparation as civil claimants. The challenge here is that many victims of violence and atrocity may not have access to the courts or the resources needed to undertake lengthy and costly prosecutions that are not guaranteed to culminate in the payment of reparation.
The judicial reparation mechanism should be strengthened by the International Criminal Court (ICC). If not, the victims' prospects for achieving judicial remedy and reparation will remain minimal. The case of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo [2] proves this point. Dyilo, a founder and leader of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC), was arrested and transferred on the 17 March 2006 to the International Criminal Court. He is accused of committing war crimes as set out in article 8 of the Statute. However, so far, no one else has been brought to justice for serious human rights abuses and war crimes perpetrated in DRC - a situation compounded by a shattered justice system.
We hope that the Court under article 75 of the Statute will provide reparation to the victims, if Dyilo is found guilty. [3]

Non-judicial mechanisms

There are a wide variety of non-judicial mechanisms and the Congolese Truth Commission is one of them. The work of a truth commission, when properly carried out, should automatically lead to some form of reparation. However, in the DRC, despite the fact that the truth and reconciliation commission was established in July 2004, it is unable to conduct investigations into human rights abuses. The Congolese TRC was not created and is not operated transparently in order to sustain democratic legitimacy and therefore, to work for reparation. There is a clear lack of citizen involvement in the creation and functioning of the TRC, and a lack of openness to ensure domestic legitimacy. Moreover, there are many criticisms because commissioners come from different factions previously or currently involved in the conflict and were not chosen by means of a transparent process which espoused a democratic spirit,practice.

Therefore, it seems that the purpose of such a commission, is to become a Truth Omission instead of a Truth Commission. As such it cannot satisfy the quest for reparation in the DRC.[4] There is also the question of source of funds, given the vast number of victims who may claim reparations.

Trends towards reparation in the DRC

The question arises: how should reparation be done? The whole process can become a difficult task especially when emerging from a protracted conflict, with ethnic divisions. It should be noted that not all perpetrators can be brought to book if such prosecutions both outstrip available resources and risk a dangerous frailty, further divisions, possible balkanisation and instability.

Also, one delicate question relates to contributions from foreign governments and individuals. How possible is it for foreign countries and individuals being held accountable for their roles in the civil war to pay reparation? For instance, in the recent judgement by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Uganda was found liable to compensate the DRC for violations of public international law, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. The amount of money to be paid in reparation is still to be determined through bilateral negotiations between Uganda and the DRC. It is unlikely that victims will benefit from it.

On a positive note, on 12 April 2006, the Military Garnison Court in Songo Mboyo [5] in the DRC sentenced seven military officers of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) to life imprisonment. This after the FARDC battalion based in Songo Mboyo(troops of the ex-Liberation Movement of Congo), rebelled against its commanders who they accused of withholding their army salaries, robbed almost all the houses in the villages of Songo-Mboyo and Bongandanga and then committed collective rape of at least 119 women and girls on 21 December 2003. Many of the women were less than 18 years old.
As a form of reparation, each victim's family will be paid compensation of 10,000 US dollars. The other victims who were raped will each receive 5,000 US dollars Compensations ranging between 500 to 200 US dollars are to be set aside for businessmen and villagers who were victims of robbery. This is the first sentence against military personnel of the FARDC for crimes against humanity. The same verdict stipulates that the Congolese state must ensure that the victims are compensated. This court's decision is a significant step that will help advance the fight against impunity and provide reparation. However, more still needs to be done.

Conclusion

Victims of serious human rights violations in the DRC are begging for justice and reparation. It is true that reparation takes time. However, the new government must take a step in the right direction by placing this issue on its agenda.

Erik Doxtader says that “in the face of a history that will not 'end', reparation requires close attention to the question of how to craft a present for the future. Much more than an ideal to be achieved in some vague time yet to come, its hope for transformation is a call to act right now. The fact that reparation can neither erase history's pain nor fully compensate for its losses is not a reason to conclude that what is past is past or that legacies imply an inevitability which defies correction. But, this is not to say that there are ready-made solutions. Much more that just a set of policy decisions or court judgements, the power of the reparative may reside in an attitude, a willingness to see historical deprivation and inequality as a common problem that demands the struggle for a future in which things can be made otherwise.” [6]

* Yav Katshung Joesph is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo and an Advocate at the LubumbashiBar Association. He is the Executive Director of CERDH, and Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Peace, Conflict Resolution and Good governance. He has published numerous articles on human rights, law and transitional justice in scholarly journals. For contact: [email][email protected] or [email][email protected]

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

References:

[1] There is a debate in the DRC on the responsibility of Belgium for the barbarity and humiliation associated with the past oppression during the colonial period. Congolese civil society are demanding compensation from the Belgian government. As it is true in the world, there has been an increase in the incidence of claims for reparations related to injustice committed long time ago, including those related in colonialism.

[2] Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a Congolese national, has been the president of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) since its inception in 2000. In September 2002, he established and led the Forces Patriotique du Congo (FPLC), a military group affiliated with the UPC and dedicated to carrying out its goals using violence. He is alleged to have enlisted and conscripted children to serve as soldiers in this organisation. The UPC/FPLC is based in the Ituri district of the DRC, one of the most violent regions in the country. During the war in 2000, Lubanga's organisation is alleged to have been responsible in part for many of the massacres and other abuses that took place in the Ituri region. More recently, his group has been involved in disputes to gain control over the mineral wealth of the region.

[3] The benefits of victims from reparations under the ICC may not be linked to finding a perpetrator guilty. The Court is yet to pronounce itself on this.

[4] "The relationship between the International Criminal Court and Truth Commissions: Some thoughts on how to build a bridge retributive and restorative justice", by Josephy Yav Katchung. Available at: http://www.iccnow.org

[5] In the northwestern province of Equateur, precisely at 600km northeast of the provincial capital Mbandaka.

[6] Erik Doxtader, "Reparation" in Charles Villa-vicencio and Erik Doxtader, Pieces of the Puzzle, 2004, p 32

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Environment Minister Anselme Enerunga has allegedly being illegally trading exotic birds for weapons to arm renegades in the volatile east of the country, according to allegations passed onto Business Day by intelligence sources.

The silent storm of HIV/AIDS is ravaging communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where over 2.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. Some one hundred thousand people have died of AIDS and more than 700,000 children have lost one or both parents to this preventable disease that, if not tackled directly by government policy, has the potential of evolving into a raging pandemic.

The top United Nations envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has expressed concern about hate messages in the local media, which are inciting Congolese to target and take revenge on “white people and foreigners,” a spokesman for the world body said.

At least 10 people are dying every day in displacement camps in Gety, in the northeastern district of Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Modibo Traore, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Bunia, capital of Ituri. According to OCHA-Bunia's recent statistics, two-thirds of the deaths are children younger than five years, whose immune systems have been weakened by malnutrition.

Domestic workers face a wide range of grave abuses and labor exploitation, including physical and sexual abuse, forced confinement, non-payment of wages, denial of food and health care and excessive working hours with no rest days, Human Rights Watch has said in a new report.

Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo go to the polls on July 30 for the first time in 40 years and after a four-year transitional period that followed a brutal war. Theodore Kasongo Kamwimbi points to the failure of the DRC to achieve justice for victims of human rights abuses as a significant threat to the elections, future peace and stability. “Many younger people argue that they won’t let the perpetrators walk free forever. They guarantee that sooner or later they will honour the memory of the loved ones innocently massacred, raped, abused, abducted by those who are running the country and want to run it indefinitely.”

After five years of war and terror which left more than three million dead and thousands displaced, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is struggling to make way for the establishment of a new society. The process is on track so far, as the first democratic elections, initially scheduled for April and June 2006, are finally confirmed to take place on 30 July 2006. The elections are the result of various rounds of negotiations and peace accords between the DRC government, Mai-Mai militia, rebel groups, non-armed political opposition parties and representatives of civil society.

During the negotiation process, the government of the Republic was represented by the former government led by President Joseph Kabila. Rebel groups were represented by the Rwanda-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie, RCD-Goma), the Uganda-backed Movement for the Liberation of Congo (Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo, MLC), the Congolese Rally for Democracy-National (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-National (RCD-N), the Congolese Rally for Democracy/Kisangani- Liberation Movement (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie/Kisangani- Mouvement de Libération, RCD/K-ML). Non-armed political opposition parties were represented by the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social, UDPS), Unified Lumumbist Party (Parti Lumumbiste Unifié, PALU), National Congolese Movement-Lumumba (Mouvement National Congolais- Lumumba, M.N.C./L), Popular Movement for the Revolution- Fait Privé (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution- Fait Privé (MPR- Fait Privé), Innovative Forces for Union and Solidarity (Forces Novatrices pour l’Union et la Solidarité, FONUS) and Democratic and Social Christian Party (Parti Social et Démocrate Chrétien, PDSC).

The first positive achievement of the process was the global and all-inclusive agreement on transition in the DRC signed by all parties in Pretoria, South Africa on 16 December 2002. Despite the difficulties and misunderstandings which characterised the political negotiations, under the guidance and supervision of the international community all the parties managed to reach a final agreement in Sun City, on 2 April 2003. In order to sign the agreement and end the conflict, all the parties were asked to make a power-sharing concession in the form of a government of national unity. A transitional government of national unity was formed. However the rebel groups, including RCD-Goma, MNC, RCD-N submitted to participation in the government on the non-negotiable condition of being granted amnesty for all offences committed during the conflict. As a result no condition was imposed on the belligerent groups to apologise, tell the truth or ask for forgiveness for their wrongdoings.

The majority of Congolese people as well as the principal non-armed opposition parties, including UDPS, PALU, FONUS and PDSC were unanimous in their criticism of the amnesty offered as impunity in the name of reconciliation. The former perpetrators could not, during the transition, be prosecuted and punished, in order to preserve peace and prevent a relapse into conflict. But, in the opinion of many Congolese, reconciliation through justice and truth is extremely crucial in the DRC context considering the degree of violence and terror that occurred during the years of conflict. Therefore, the key question is whether reconciliation has really started in the DRC if as Alex Boraine argues:

“Reconciliation can begin when perpetrators are held accountable, when truth is sought openly and fearlessly, when institutional reform commences and when the need for reparation is acknowledged and acted upon.” [1]

In other words, it can be argued that a given society can be considered as reconciled only if a number of conditions are fulfilled:

- Accountability of perpetrators

Reconciliation can indeed begin when perpetrators are held accountable for their wrongdoings. But in the DRC context that is not the case as former perpetrators have not been prosecuted and have not acknowledged or disclosed their wrongdoings. Therefore, they have not shown any remorse to the victims and the community as a whole. It is obvious that the decision to grant amnesty to them for political reasons is unlikely to promote national reconciliation and meet the population’s demands for justice.

In the Congolese public opinion, the best way of holding someone accountable for his act or omission is through the judiciary system as established by the law. If a presumed perpetrator does not appear in a court of law for his alleged criminal actions or omissions, that is considered to breed impunity. This absence of justice has created frustration among the Congolese and caused private vengeance and cycles of violence between communities.

For instance, in the North-eastern DRC the culture of impunity has resulted in a cycle of ethnic violence among the local populations as reported by Human Rights Watch in its briefing paper of January 2004. This kind of attitude is believed to be exacerbated, especially in the case of amnesty granted to former perpetrators in order to reach political agreement. Moreover, as long as the former perpetrators have now become state officials capable of taking executive decisions, the justice option is clearly difficult to achieve. The other reason is that some of them still have military capability and could take up their weapons and destabilise the peace process once again.

- Open and fearless truth-seeking

It is argued that reconciliation can begin when truth is sought openly and fearlessly. But in the DRC, although the appropriate non-judicial mechanism, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is well established, truth-telling is not happening. The TRC resulted from the Inter-Congolese Dialogue to establish the truth and give the perpetrators the opportunity to seek forgiveness and pay compensation to their victims. This has not happened yet, as the TRC hasn’t called and put together victims and perpetrators to facilitate reconciliation.

Congolese people and civil society organisations are pessimistic concerning any success of the truth-telling model and thence, its ability to achieve reconciliation. This seems true given the fact that the TRC has a bounded mandate and has to submit its complete and final report before the end of the transitional period. According to the new calendar released by the Independent Electoral Commission on 12 January 2006 the elections in June 2006 will end the transitional period. Moreover, as its President, Bishop Jean-Luc Kuye told the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in August 2004, the TRC is unable to undertake investigations of human rights violations. Instead, it has focused its work on conflict-mediation activities. [2] As it can be noticed, in this case it is difficult to imagine a face-to-face process between perpetrators and their victims, as the TRC is not even able to identify the crimes committed.

- Effectiveness of Institutional Reform

It is argued that reconciliation can begin when institutional reform commences effectively. In this regard, the DRC is far from achieving its goals in relation to the reform of government sectors. For instance, the government has not managed to reform the public administration, justice system, nor to unify, restructure and reintegrate the security forces, including police and the army. Without institutional reform fair and free general elections, sustained peace and stability, and go forward in the reconstruction process will be impossible.

One of the major obstacles for peace, reconciliation and stability in the DRC remains the army and security forces. Indeed, during the last years of war and violence the DRC had more than five different armed groups fighting against each other for control of different portions of territory. The Ugandan backed MLC was in control of the Northwestern part of the country, while the Northeastern part was under the control of RCD/N, RCD-ML, UPC rebel group and other militia groups. The Kivu and North-Katanga provinces were controlled by the Rwandan backed RCD/ Goma and the Mai-Mai militia. The rest of the territory was under the control of the Congolese national army, FAC and national police.

All these groups were enemies for a long time, but now they need to be part of the new unified, restructured, reintegrated and inclusive security forces under construction. As is evident, this will be an extremely difficult and challenging task, but it is essential for sustainable peace and reconciliation in the DRC as well as in the rest of the Great Lakes region. To date, the unification and integration process of the army is far from being achieved given both the hostility of former belligerent armies to the transitional government and the divisions between them on the basis of ethnicity.

For example, the majority of the former RCD-Goma, Congolese Tutsi known as Banyamulenge, fight regularly against other units composed of other Congolese ethnic groups. It has been reported that a number of former RCD soldiers, mainly Congolese Tutsi, are deserting the new integrated army to join the dissident General Laurent Nkunda. In fact, Laurent Nkunda, a Tutsi Congolese, was a senior military officer in the former rebel group RCD-Goma. In accordance with the Global and All-inclusive Agreement signed in Pretoria by all the warring parties, he was named general in a new integrated Congolese army. But, he declined the offer and withdrew his troops to Masisi in North Kivu province from where he threatened to overthrow the government in Kinshasa on the pretext of rescuing, protecting and defending his community members, "threatened" by the Congolese government. In September 2004, Nkunda was sentenced in absentia by a Congolese military court and an international arrest warrant was issued against him after he briefly seized and occupied Bukavu, the capital city of South Kivu province. But, to date the DRC police and army as well as the UN peacekeeping forces have not been able to arrest him. Human Rights Watch [3] criticized this failure in a statement released on 1 February 2006.

Urgent reform is also needed in the public administration sector which is generally corrupt. As a result, corruption has been strongly institutionalised in all national sectors in the DRC. For reform to happen, political will is needed from officials with the support of the Congolese people.

- Acknowledgment of the need for reparation

It is argued that reconciliation can begin when the need for reparation is acknowledged and acted upon. In the DRC, former perpetrators haven’t acknowledged their wrongdoings and showed their willingness to pay reparations to victims or survivors. This attitude has made the victims feel forgotten and abandoned. Yet, the majority of former perpetrators in power have enough resources to pay compensation to their victims. It’s just a question of political will and personal conscience. Like in South Africa, the issue of individual reparations for victims could be used in the DRC context to appease victims’ anger over the amnesty process. [4] Victims would feel morally rehabilitated if the need for symbolic reparations was acknowledged. Reparation is indeed essential for reconciliation to sustain peace and democracy. In this regard, Charles Villa-Vicencio argues that reconciliation includes reparation because to exclude socio-economic justice from the reconciliation process is to endanger the prospects of democratic consolidation. [5]

As demonstrated, all conditions to begin reconciliation are not fulfilled in the DRC and both the rule of law and truth-telling mechanisms have failed up to now. Therefore, the Congolese believe that the only remaining option would be the international criminal judicial model. This option has also been called for by various local and international human rights organisations given the scale of abuses committed in the last five years. An International Criminal Court process could possibly work if the DRC ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by Decree-Law No 13/2002 of 30 March 2002. This international court would deal with crimes not covered by the amnesty law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. But, cooperation between the Congolese judicial system and the ICC would be necessary. Congolese officials have already shown their willingness in that regard by inviting the ICC prosecuting authority to proceed with investigations on the ground. The ICC has responded to the Congolese request and promised the significant involvement of victims of violence in the north-eastern region of Ituri in the inquiry process, as reported by the Catholic Missionary International Service News Agency (MISNA) on 20 January 2006.

The ICC exercises jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes, aggression and genocide in accordance with article 5 (1) of Rome Statute under which it was established. But in order to prosecute those crimes the ICC has to work with the Congolese government and judicial authorities. This is required by the principle of complementarity provided in Paragraph 10 of the preamble of the Rome Statute of the ICC. In accordance with this principle, priority to exercise jurisdiction over the crimes mentioned in article 5 is reserved to national courts, unless the State in question is unwilling or unable to prosecute, as stated in article 17 (a). The ICC should prosecute those who committed the crimes within its jurisdiction; otherwise the question of impunity will once again be raised, which undermines deterrence and encourages recidivism.

As an international body, the ICC was created to fight impunity and rejects any procedures or institutions that protect perpetrators from accountability. One may wonder about the impact of the ICC proceedings on the reconciliation process in the DRC. In the DRC context, the ICC is indeed in a good position to prosecute the crimes committed because the Congolese judicial system is unable to prosecute given the multidimensional problems it is facing. Among those problems the key ones are: corruption, nepotism, tribalism, lack of professionalism, lack of impartiality and the absence of an independent judiciary. Another major reason why the DRC national judicial system is unable to prosecute has been the political situation on the ground, which gave Congolese authorities no choice other than negotiations.

Paul Van Zyl [6] argues that it would be irresponsible to prosecute those perpetrators who are able to jeopardise peaceful transition to stable democracy and peace. However, alternative transitional justice mechanisms are still feasible and possible in the DRC context. For instance, acknowledgement and apology would be one of the better options for the former perpetrators to reconcile with their victims. This happened once, during the 1991 Sovereign National Conference, when many officials and members of Mobutu’s party came and apologised publicly to the Congolese people. That attitude was well received and appreciated by the whole nation, but unfortunately the perpetrators’ acts were not sincere.

One of the key actors in the Congolese political arena, MLC leader and Vice-president for economic and financial affairs, Jean-Pierre Bemba has publicly apologised for atrocities, crimes and pillages committed by his soldiers during the war. Bemba made his apology in his speech at his party’s congress where he was designated as a candidate for the forthcoming Presidential elections. One may, of course, wonder whether he apologized in order to get sympathy and support from the Congolese people with a view to the elections, or if he sincerely apologised and sought forgiveness. Time will tell.

The overriding issue, at this stage, is whether the Congolese will be willing to let their perpetrators decide their destiny. The majority of Congolese believe that they are subject to the will of those who committed mass human rights violations against them. Many younger people argue that they won’t let the perpetrators walk free forever. They guarantee that sooner or later they will honour the memory of the loved ones innocently massacred, raped, abused, abducted by those who are running the country and want to run it indefinitely. In consequence reconciliation without truth and justice in the DRC poses a significant risk to the future stability of the country.

* Theodore Kasongo Kamwimbi is a lawyer to the Kinshasa Court of Appeal, currently acting as the Fellows Programme Coordinator at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) in Cape Town, South Africa. He has published and co-published several articles, including “Hat Kongo eine Friedensperspektive?”, a Newspaper article published in Germany in the Der Überblick in July 2006 as well as ‘DRC moves towards first democratic elections: Congo peace prospects precarious’, a Newspaper article published in The Cape Times on 5 July 2006. (contact [email][email protected] or [email][email protected])

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Notes:

[1] Boraine, Alex (2004) ‘Transitional Justice’, in Villa-Vicencio, Charles and Doxtader, Erik (eds.) Pieces of the Puzzle: Keywords on Reconciliation and Transitional Justice, Cape Town: IJR, p. 69-70.
[2] Borello, Federico (2004) ‘A First Few Steps: The Long Road to a Just Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo’, Occasional Paper Series, New-York: ICTJ p.46.
[3] Human Rights Watch (2006) ‘D.R. Congo: Arrest Laurent Nkunda For War Crimes: Military and U.N. Should Act to Protect Civilians’, New York, Available at http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/31/congo12579.htm Accessed on: 2 February 2006
[4] Lyster, Richard (2000) ‘Amnesty: the burden of victims’ in Villa-Vicencio, Charles and Verwoerd, Wilhelm, Looking back Reaching Forward: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, UCT Press: Cape Town, p.189.
[5] Villa-Vicencio, Charles (2004) ‘Reconciliation’, in Villa-Vicencio, Charles and Doxtader, Erik (eds.) Pieces of the Puzzle: Keywords on Reconciliation and Transitional Justice, Cape Town: IJR, p. 8.
[6] Van Zyl, Paul (2000) ‘Justice without Punishment: Guaranteeing Human Rights in Transitional Societies’ in Villa- Vicencio, Charles and Verwoerd, Wilhelm, Looking back Reaching Forward: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, UCT Press: Cape Town, p. 43.

The voluntary disarmament of militia in Ituri District, in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has ended, with 4,000 former fighters surrendering in the past two months, officials in charge of the programme have said.

Thank you for the good editorial work that you are doing. I thank Mr. Yav Katshung Joseph for the informative and educative article. (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/33432). As you remember, DRC was formerly called Zaire. The reason why the name was changed; many of us do not know! Let us pray that someone will not start another war just because of the name. I agree with him in the conclusion, in fact many giant steps have been taken on the way to democracy. The international community should not be commended - these people are everywhere even where wars have failed to stop. Take the example of the Middle East, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. Thank you once again.

The headmaster, wearing a tattered red uniform, points at his worn slippers and says, "Look at me. Do I look like a teacher? We have no desks, no books - not even water." Then Ire Yabongengo complains about parents who are fed up with constantly repairing the school, a collection of shacks made of sticks and mud, with roofs made of leaves.

Since 1990, a lot of noise has been made about the forests of the Congo Basin, both good and bad. Now a new environmental wave is descending on the Democratic Republic of Congo, of a scope very similar to that of the “Zaire boom” in the seventies. However, the question is: are the Central African forestry administrations - generally subject to insidious sociological factors - aligned with the aspirations and needs regarding welfare of the region’s inhabitants?

Congo’s elections on 30 July could become the root of renewed violence unless Kinshasa and donors increase efforts to create a transparent and accountable government. This is the country’s most promising moment since independence, but there are huge dangers as well because the poll will create a significant class of disenfranchised politicians and former warlords tempted to take advantage of state weakness and launch new insurgencies.