UN to send experts to probe DR Congo violence
Friday June 23 2017
The UN Human Rights Council on Friday send a group of experts to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help investigate an explosion of deadly violence in the central region Kasai.
A council resolution called on the UN rights office to dispatch a team of international experts to help Kinshasa investigate gross rights violations in the region, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and the use of child soldiers.
According to UN figures, more than 3,000 people have been killed in eight months of spiralling unrest in the central Kasai region with 1.3 million people fleeing their homes.
READ: More than 3,000 killed in Congo's Kasai -Catholic church
The resolution adopted by the 47-member council fell short of a call from the UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein for a fully-fledged "independent, international investigation" following "horrific attacks" in the region.
The European Union, supported by the United States and others faced harsh opposition from Kinshasa on a draft it had initially presented urging for an international probe. Nonetheless, the western countries opted for a compromise by withdrawing their resolution and joining one presented by Tunisia on behalf of a group of African countries.
READ: UN urges probe of DR Congo violence
Crucial compromise
Experts must forward their conclusions to the DRC authorities, the resolution says, stressing that "the perpetrators of deplorable crimes are all accountable to the judicial authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo".
Zeid is expected to present a comprehensive report on the team's findings in the council's main annual session in March next year.
Tunisian representative Walid Doudech told the council the final text had been subject to "intense negotiations" and thanked the EU for enabling the "crucial compromise".
The negotiations "were not easy. But it was better to find a balanced solution with the participation of the country," said a Western diplomat close to the negotiations told AFP on condition of anonymity.
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DRC ambassador Zenon Mukongo Ngay told the council that DRC's government would "accommodate the investigative team on its soil," emphasizing the experts would only provide "technical and logistic support" and that "the Congolese judiciary will maintain the leadership in the investigation".
The violence in the Kasai provinces erupted in September when security forces moved in against followers of a tribal chieftain Kamwina Nsapu — who had been killed a month earlier — rebelling against the increasing authority of the central government.
Earlier, Zeid accused Congolese authorities of creating and arming a militia that has carried out "horrific attacks" on civilians, including mutilating babies and toddlers and slicing open pregnant women.