The annual report of the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday 26 September in Geneva on the situation of human rights in the DRC calls into question the Congolese security forces and the order-givers, i.e. the political authorities who were « guilty of the waves of murderous repression carried out in the country”.
87 mass graves have been identified in the Kasai, demonstrating the action of the Congolese forces with a use judged « disproportionate » which, according to the OHCHR, led to « one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world »: 5,000 dead and 1.6 million displaced and refugees in one year. But « Little has been done to carry out credible, impartial and independent investigations on the serious human rights violations committed by the Congolese defense and security forces, » regrets the Council.
The violence in North and South Kivu and Tanganyika in the region are also on the list of indicators that underpin the Council’s argument that the Congolese authorities nurture political instability in DRC.
According to the Council, despite the political agreement signed on 31 December 2016, a systematic repression of political opponents, Human Rights defenders and journalists, and the prolonged detention of political prisoners, the number of whom has tripled. The report notes a « lack of political will », reflected in the postponement of the electoral calendar.