In his column published on August 4, Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege reiterated his plea for holistic justice for victims of mass atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, holistic justice, which encompasses justice, truth, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition, is essential to achieve reconciliation and complete the transition from dictatorship to democracy and from war to peace.
Mukwege highlights that the culture of impunity is a major factor fueling the recurrence of the most serious conflicts and crimes, including those of a sexual and gender-based nature. He affirms that this culture of impunity represents a major obstacle to the establishment of the rule of law and the restoration of lasting peace in the DRC. Decades of dictatorship and conflict have seriously weakened the rule of law and undermined citizens’ trust in the institutions responsible for delivering justice.
The Congolese justice system, according to Mukwege, is poorly equipped and dysfunctional, unable to end the culture of impunity for mass crimes of the past and present. It therefore calls for the mobilization of all transitional justice mechanisms in the DRC, taking into account the international dimension of conflicts, to meet the expectations of victims and survivors.
Despite the hopes raised by President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi’s political commitment to place transitional justice on the government’s agenda, nothing concrete has yet been done. Mukwege emphasizes the need to adopt and implement a national transitional justice strategy, in line with the recommendations of numerous reports.
It is essential to break the cycle of impunity and offer victims of atrocities in the DRC a path to justice, truth, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition. This will not only help ensure accountability for the perpetrators of these crimes, but also enable true and lasting reconciliation in the country. The DRC needs holistic justice to heal the wounds of the past and build a future of peace and justice for all its citizens.