Human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by armed groups are at the heart of the news. In a statement, Alison Trorpe, the UK’s special envoy for the Great Lakes, urges all stakeholders to uphold their commitments made under the Nairobi and Luanda regional diplomatic peace processes. The UK is concerned about the external support given to armed groups, such as the M23, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Allied Defense Forces (ADF) and the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CONDECO) .
With this in mind, the UK encourages immediate de-escalation and respect for sovereignty, as the conflict has immediate, severe consequences and results in mass population displacement and humanitarian suffering. All Congolese must see their rights respected because there is only one viable way out of this conflict: the violence must end to give dialogue and peace a chance to succeed and for those who have endured significant suffering can rebuild their lives.
Alison Trorpe also made a point of emphasizing that the human rights of all Congolese must be respected and that all those responsible for violations of these rights must be held accountable. The United Kingdom is therefore supporting the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo for its final report on the situation in the DRC and calls on all Member States to cooperate fully with this group of experts.
In parallel with this news, we can note that many other subjects are agitating the DRC at the moment. Events such as the launch of erosion control works in Kananga, the resignation of Jean-Claude Vuemba Luzamba from his presidency of the Kongo Central Provincial Assembly, but also the “red card” campaign against human trafficking and sexual violence in sports has also been discussed in recent days on our blog