Justice

But the fight against impunity has been a triggering factor in our progress. Since 2015, our office, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, has supported regular annual judicial inspections by senior judges who assess on the ground the recorded cases of sexual violence, including the manner and speed with which they are processed by civil and military courts throughout all of the Democratic Republic of the Congo — namely, our 146 territories.

Mobile courts are regularly scheduled by the Ministry of Justice in rural areas at the scene of the crime, with the support of the Government and at times specialized United Nations agencies. I cannot cite all of them, however the Office of the Special Representative and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights actively participate in mobilizing the rural courts.

As a result of those rounds, in 2016 throughout the national territory the military courts achieved 225 convictions, compared to 111 decisions in 2014, showing an increase of 50 per cent in three years. To note, the Arusha Criminal Court produced 90 decisions in 10 years, at the start of the new policy dealing with war crimes and international crimes.

To clarify any confusion about some of today’s issues, turning to the military justice decisions, it is important to highlight and note that senior and other military commanders have been tried and convicted of rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — for example, the sentencing of General Kakwavu in November 2014 and that of Colonels Engangela, known as the “Terminator”, and Kibibi Mutware in 2015. That demonstrates that justice acts firmly to punish criminals, without regard to rank or position.

Furthermore, with regard to the emblematic cases cited in the Secretary-General’s report, I will mention two: the case in Walikale, which was discussed this morning involving the warlord Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, and the case in Kavumu. The case of Walikale concerns mass rape committed by Sheka and his accomplices, including Captain Serafin Lionso. Captain Lionso was arrested and imprisoned in April 2016. We requested that he be transferred from the high security prison in Angenga, in the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and brought before the military court in Goma, in the eastern part. The distance between the place of detention and the crime site is equal to the distance between the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation. Such are the challenges we face each day.

On the other hand, with respect to the often cited rape cases involving the young children of Kavumu, the accused, a provincial official named Batumike, was arrested and his parliamentary immunity immediately waived in August 2016, in order to charge him. No one should be protected if he is the perpetrator of rape.

Today some Council members recommended that we document our best practices. I believe it is a good idea. Indeed, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has just published a compendium of military judicial decisions from 2010 to 2015, compiled in a document entitled Bulletin of Decisions of the High Military Court. That jurisprudence will provide a realistic and useful overview of the implementation of the fight against impunity on the ground, and of the challenges. While seeking to strengthen those achievements, our country is ready to share its experience with other countries in conflict affected by this scourge.

By way of example, we took part, along with the United Nations, in the appointment of a senior Congolese magistrate, formerly of the general auditor, Colonel Mutanzini, as Special Prosecutor to the Special Court of the Central African Republic. Furthermore, recently the Congolese special police unit for the protection of women and children was approached by the Government of the Central African Republic regarding the training of a special police unit in that area.