PRESS RELEASE
The Collective of Victims of Mass Crimes Committed in the African Great Lakes Region, in acronym “COVIGLA”, a.s.b.l. ( Non-Profit Organisation), condemns in the strongest terms possible the crimes that are committed against the population in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC ) and expresses its deepest sympathy to the affected population.
While His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, former President of Kenya and mediator between the DRC and Rwanda, has just met the so-called M23 leaders to agree on the withdrawal of its forces from the occupied territories, in accordance with the Nairobi ( Kenya) and Luanda (Angola) processes within the framework of the EAC and the ICGLR, the implementation of this withdrawal is being carried, a deadly attack took place against a Protestant church in Kasindi in North Kivu, which has left dozens dead and several injured. This crime is despicable and calls on everyone to take action to safeguard the peace and do whatever it takes to identify the criminals to face the full force of the law.
COVIGLA welcomes the efforts made by the Heads of State of the Region in their attempt to resolve the conflict but deplores the complacent attitude of the international community with regard to the situation of insecurity in the DRC. It is quite baffling that on the one hand, the UN wants to be compassionate with the Congolese people and, on the other hand, gives the impression of supporting impunity for crimes committed in the African Great Lakes Region for almost three decades since the Mapping report came out on October 1, 2010. No prosecution has taken place of those responsible for crimes committed in the DRC since that time. On the contrary since the publication of this report, violence and crimes have continued daily on the population of Eastern DRC.
Furthermore, COVIGLA fears that the massacres of Kishishe and Bambo perpetrated on November 29, 2022, in eastern DRC, for which the latest UN report points a finger at those responsible, will fall into oblivion like in the case of the crimes described in the Mapping report.
COVIGLA makes an urgent appeal to the Secretary General of the United Nations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to propose to the United Nations Security Council concrete and dissuasive measures for the protection and the safeguard of human rights and more particularly with regard to the population of the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Done in Rouen, January 16, 2023
On behalf of COVIGLA
Joseph Mushyandi, Chairman
