4 February, 2025
Excellencies,
We, the undersigned 75 Congolese, regional, and international human rights organisations, write to appeal to you to urgently work to establish, in the context of a special session of the UN Human Rights Council, an independent mandate to investigate and report on grave rights violations and abuses being committed by all parties to the conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and to support efforts to hold perpetrators to account.
The conflict between Rwandan forces and the M23 armed group, on one side, and the Congolese army and the armed groups it has allied itself with on the other has escalated since the M23’s offensive on Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in January 2025. The resurgence of the M23, with the support of Rwanda and Uganda, in late 2021 and the ensuing conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has had a devastating impact on the lives of civilians, who for decades have faced degradation and abuse. During the recent fighting, in which the M23 took control of Goma, human rights groups and the media have reported killings, rapes, looting, forced labor, and forced recruitment.
Rwandan forces and the M23 and the Congolese military and its allies long committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, including indiscriminate shelling, attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, killings, torture, rape, and looting. Both the Congolese authorities and the M23, which announced on January 30 the creation of a civilian-led authority to govern occupied territories, have a track record of human rights violations and abuses, including restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and association, arbitrary arrest and detention, and the repression of human rights defenders.
Accountability for serious crimes in eastern Congo has long been inadequate to address the widespread abuses committed by all sides. This impunity for past abuses has been a key driver of grave violations during the current conflict. It is more important than ever for concerned governments to signal their commitment to accountability.
The current humanitarian situation in Goma is especially dire. The city’s residents, along with hundreds of thousands of displaced people, have inadequate access to food, water, and electricity. The M23 and Rwandan forces have obligations to civilians under international humanitarian law, including protecting and facilitating access to humanitarian assistance, and permitting freedom of movement.
The current crisis demands the utmost attention and complementary action by all parts of the international and regional human rights systems. In a January 31 statement, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that "it is crucial that there are investigationsinto the commission of violations, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice and ensuring comprehensive accountability". The Human Rights Council, in line with its mandate to prevent violations and to respond promptly to human rights emergencies, has a vital role to play in ensuring much-needed reporting on the current crisis, evidence collection, and to support efforts to hold perpetrators to account, such as the ongoing International Criminal Court investigation in Congo.
In this context, we the undersigned human rights organisations, respectfully call upon all states at the Human Rights Council to act as a matter of urgency to address the current crisis, and send a signal to all parties to the conflict that they will be held accountable for serious crimes they commit. The Council should urgently establish an independent mandate to:
– undertake a thorough investigation into all violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the current conflict, including those constituting crimes under international law, since the resurgence of the M23 in late 2021;
– establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of current violations and abuses;
– collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of such violations and abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence, and systematically record and preserve all information, documentation and evidence, including interviews, witness testimony and forensic material, consistent with international standards and best practices, in view of any future legal proceedings;
– identify, where possible, those individuals and entities allegedly responsible for serious violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law, including those constituting crimes under international law, with a view to ensuring that they are appropriately held to account; and
– make recommendations to end violations and abuses and hold perpetrators to account, with a view to ending impunity and ensuring the right to an effective remedy and to justice, truth and reparations for victims, survivors and their families.
The independent mandate should be asked to:
– report regularly, including with regard to the findings of its investigations and recommendations for advancing accountability, to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (given the urgency of the situation, a first written update should be provided no later than the Council’s 59 th Session), and to the UN General Assembly;
– integrate a gender perspective, a child rights perspective, and a survivor-centered approach throughout its work; and
– ensure the complementarity and coordination of its work with other efforts of the United Nations, the African Union, and other appropriate regional and international entities, including the Human Rights Council’sInternational Team of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Human Rights Council should urgently provide the necessary administrative, technical, and logistical support and personnel necessary to enable this mandate to be carried out without delay, in particular in the areas of fact-finding, legal analysis, translation and interpretation, and evidence-collection and preservation, including regarding sexual and gender-based violence and specialized ballistic and forensic expertise. The creation of such a mandate would send an important message of deterrence to all commanders of warring parties at this critical juncture: that their abuses will be documented and exposed, and they will ultimately be held to account. It could also support the work of the International Criminal Court, which is currently focusing renewed investigative efforts into crimes committed by all parties in North Kivu since January 2022, or any other justice mechanism.
We appeal to you to work towards the establishment of the above mandate, and we standready to provide any more information as necessary.