Congo-Kinshasa: UN Review of DR Congo Exposes Lack of Progress On Rights

Address Constraints on Rights, Civilian Protection in Conflict Areas, Accountability

Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council review of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s human rights record revealed that the government had made little progress addressing the country’s widespread rights issues.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a state-to-state rights review held for each country every 4½ years, showed that rights abuses have persisted, if not worsened, under President Félix Tshisekedi’s government.

During Congo’s previous review in 2019, Human Rights Watch and other rights groups submitted numerous recommendations.

During the 2019 process, we called on the government to ensure human rights activists were able to pursue their activities and criticize government policies without intimidation and retaliation. We pressed the government to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; investigate and appropriately prosecute armed group members and security force members responsible for serious human rights abuses; and we urged authorities to increase efforts to prevent and punish extrajudicial executions and other serious violations by establishing a special mixed judicial mechanism.

Unfortunately, these calls remain as relevant today as they were in 2019. Despite our call for the government to abolish the death penalty, the government lifted its moratorium earlier this year. We have continued to document laws of war violations and the deepening humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo, including conflict-related sexual violence and the government’s repeated attacks on activists and restrictions on fundamental freedoms.

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At this year’s review, UN member states made similar recommendations to those of 2019 to address the deteriorating human rights situation, the shrinking of civic space, and the need to ensure Congo’s compliance with international human rights standards.

The Congolese government has until the next Human Rights Council session in early 2025 to signal its intention to implement the recommendations made during the latest review.

In January, Congo will join the Human Rights Council as a new member, creating an additional responsibility for the government to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights,” and to “fully cooperate with the Council.” A first step should be to heed their peers’ calls on the recent review, prioritize civilian protection in conflict areas, strengthen civil and political rights, and address the country’s persistent accountability gap for serious abuses.

Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Deputy Africa Director

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