Democratic Republic of Congo: human rights violations cases.

In a report published on human rights violations, the United Nations Joint Office for Human Rights (UNJHRO) reported 650 cases of human rights violations across the country. An increase of 5% compared to December 2019 (619 violations).

“The proportion of violations perpetrated throughout the DRC is 39% (251 violations) for state agents; including extrajudicial execution of at least 28 persons, including four women and three children, and 61% (399 attacks) for armed groups, including summary execution of at least 208 persons, including 51 women and 23 children “, the press release of the UNJHRO reported.

According to the report, the majority of violations were committed in the provinces affected by the conflicts for which the fighters of the armed groups are mainly responsible.

    “Almost 94% of the violations documented in January 2020 were committed in the conflict affected provinces (614 violations) and resulted in the deaths of at least 233 civilians, including 55 women and 26 children. As in the previous month, fighters from armed groups are the main culprits for the violations committed in these provinces (64%). The majority of violations and attacks were again recorded in the province of North Kivu (373 violations, or 61% of the violations committed in these provinces), followed in particular by South Kivu and Kasai (57 violations). ”

Concerning cases of conflict-related sexual violence, the UNJHRO recorded a decrease compared to the previous month. “In January 2020, the cases of conflict-related sexual violence that have been documented correspond to 83 adult victims, a significant decrease compared to the previous month (163 victims). This decrease is explained in particular by a decrease in the number of documented cases in the provinces of Ituri, Maniema and South Kivu in January 2020 compared to December 2019. The decrease in these provinces is more significant than the increase in number of cases documented in North Kivu province, where the number of adult victims increased from 48 in December 2019 to 74 in January 2020. Of the total cases, fighters from armed groups remain the main perpetrators of sexual violence ( 67 adult victims, lower than 108 victims in December 2019), “concludes the UN human rights office.

In January 2020, the UNJHRO said that it had organized or taken part in 13 capacity-building activities for civil society organizations and state and non-state actors, notably on the basic concepts of human rights, combating sexual violence and civil protection mechanisms.