The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently started a mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), more precisely in Bunia in the province of Ituri. The purpose of this mission is to document crimes against humanity committed by armed groups in this region since the 2000s. ICC Attorney General Karim Khan, accompanied by Minister of Justice Rose Mutombo and Minister of Human Rights human beings, met with the military governor of the province and examined the evidence of the crimes committed. This mission lasted less than six hours and resulted in the promise of an investigation and collaboration between the government, the ICC and MONUSCO to put an end to this violence.
This mission is not the first in the DRC by the ICC. Indeed, the Attorney General has been invited by the DRC government to investigate crimes committed in the east of the country for more than two decades. Mr. Khan also met victims who witnessed the abuses of Germain Katanga before traveling to Goma, in the province of North Kivu.
This ICC mission is encouraging for the victims of these crimes against humanity in Ituri and the rest of eastern DRC. It also shows the commitment of the Congolese government to work with the ICC to end the violence in this region. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to guarantee the safety of the population in eastern DRC.