Congo-Kinshasa: 30 Years of War, 30 Years of Impunity in DR Congo

What the report says

Human Rights Watch is using the 30th anniversary of the attack on Lemera hospital in what was then eastern Zaire to call for stronger action against impunity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The group says Rwanda-backed rebel forces killed patients and medical staff at the hospital in 1996, an event it describes as one of the early atrocities of the First Congo War. The organization links that attack to a wider pattern of abuses that has continued through decades of conflict, including massacres, sexual violence, child recruitment, abductions, torture and displacement.

The article says the Lemera assault is among the incidents documented in the UN Mapping Report on violations in Congo between 1993 and 2003. It argues that, despite work by the International Criminal Court and Congolese military courts, most alleged perpetrators have not been punished, including some senior figures from Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. HRW says this lack of accountability has helped sustain later violence, including abuses by the M23 armed group in North and South Kivu and by other armed actors, Congolese forces and their allies.

Human Rights Watch urges international pressure on the Congolese and Rwandan governments to stop backing abusive groups and to remove people implicated in serious abuses from security and government posts. It also calls for a broader justice response, including support for the ICC, universal jurisdiction cases abroad, stronger military justice in Congo, an internationalized mechanism and reparations for victims. The piece was tied to a campaign launched in Brussels and Strasbourg with Dr. Denis Mukwege, who said justice for victims should be central to peace efforts.