Op-eds

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi must be held accountable for human rights violations

Structures used for processing raw cobalt at the Etoile mine in Katanga province near Lubumbashi, DRC, in 2021. (Photo: Lucien Kahozi / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

By Jean Mobert Senga

29 Sep 2024

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi ignored the continuing deterioration of human rights under his own government when he spoke at the UN General Assembly on 25 September. The international community must push him to change course.

At the start of his first term in 2019, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, promised to protect human rights – but his government appears to have embarked on a crusade against his own pledges.

The DRC authorities’ response to the armed conflict and inter-communal violence that has ravaged the country for decades has failed to improve the security situation. In some cases, it has made it worse.

While the international community must address serious human rights abuses by armed groups in eastern DRC, including Rwanda’s and other countries’ alleged support to some armed groups, it must also increase pressure on President Tshisekedi’s government to uphold human rights, tackle impunity and address deep-rooted socioeconomic injustices.

The DRC is enduring one of the most protracted humanitarian crises in the world. From east to west, north to south, the civilian population faces daily threats of violence from a myriad armed groups. Congolese soldiers and affiliated militia groups also continue to target civilians and commit horrendous crimes, often with impunity.

A profound failure

DRC under Felix Tshisekedi Internally displaced people find shelter at the Shabindu camp in North Kivu, DRC, in April 2024. (Photo: Arlette Bashizi / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

DRC under Felix Tshisekedi Structures used for processing raw cobalt at the Etoile mine in Katanga province near Lubumbashi, DRC, in 2021. (Photo: Lucien Kahozi / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Internally displaced persons (IDPs), particularly women and girls, disproportionately bear the brunt of this conflict. IDP camps are rife with sexual violence, exacerbated by poor security conditions and insufficient humanitarian aid. The continued failure of the Tshisekedi administration to protect populations made vulnerable by these living conditions is unacceptable.

The international community must hold the DRC government accountabl,e not only for its failure to prevent and punish sexual violence and attacks against civilians, but also for its inaction in addressing the humanitarian catastrophe.

Both the Congolese government and the international community must increase funding for the chronically underfunded humanitarian response to meet the urgent needs of affected populations, including shelter, food, healthcare and education.

A key contributing factor to the deteriorating human rights situation in the eastern DRC is the ongoing State of Siege imposed in North Kivu and Ituri since May 2021. This exceptional measure, which is akin to a state of emergency, has effectively militarised everyday life, concentrating all powers in the hands of military and police officials, including powers which should be those of civilian authorities.

President Tshisekedi’s government must urgently end the State of Siege and work towards a human rights-centred approach to restoring security.

Meanwhile, a crackdown on dissent has swept the nation under the pretext of defending the country against enemies. Journalists, civil society activists and political opponents have faced threats, arbitrary detention and judicial harassment.

By weaponising the judiciary, the Tshisekedi administration has betrayed the hopes and aspirations of those who resisted the repression of their rights under the Kabila regime.

Equally alarming is the government’s decision in March this year to reinstate the death penalty after more than two decades of hiatus. Military courts have since handed down more than 100 death penalty sentences, heightening the risk of politically motivated executions.

The recent tragedy at Makala Prison in Kinshasa, where more than 120 people died, hundreds were injured and 200-plus women and girls were subjected to sexual violence, including gang rape, underscores the dire state of prison conditions in the DRC.

President Tshisekedi must ensure that the courts conduct a transparent and prompt investigation and prosecute all responsible, including political and security officials who may have failed to prevent these horrific events.

The international community must push for and assist in urgent criminal and penitentiary reforms to ensure such tragedies are never repeated.

Despite repeated calls for justice, the government has so far largely failed to bring both Congolese and foreign perpetrators of crimes under international law to justice. Powerful actors continue to operate with impunity, deepening the cycle of violence.

Efforts towards other forms of justice, including compensations and reparations, remain dismally inadequate. Victims and survivors are frustrated by the lack of transparency and the slow pace of these efforts, which often feel more symbolic than substantive.

It is not only armed conflict that poses an existential threat to thousands of people in the country. The DRC is a critical supplier of copper and cobalt, minerals that are essential to the global transition to renewable energy.

However, as highlighted in Amnesty International’s 2023 report Business as Usual?, increased investments in the industrial mining sector have led to human rights abuses, including mass forced evictions and environmental pollution, leaving frontline communities in limbo.

Toxic pollution and dangerous working conditions continue to plague artisanal miners, particularly in the cobalt-rich southern provinces.

The international community cannot afford to ignore the grave human rights situation in the DRC any longer.

President Tshisekedi’s allies – especially the United States, South Africa, Angola, Belgium, and France – must use their influence to demand accountability for human rights violations. DM

Jean Mobert Senga is Amnesty International’s DRC researcher

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