Demokratische Republik Kongo

Zaida Catalan, a Swede, and Michael Sharp, an American, were killed as they investigated violence in the Kasai region nearly five years ago.

After a moment of relative calm, fifteen people were reported to have been killed on Sunday in two separate attacks in Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On December 20, the United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of its mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for one more year. But the resolution adopted makes no mention of any task actively involving it in the implementation of transitional justice. In this opinion piece, the author argues that the UN and the military courts have swept the 2010 Mapping Report under the carpet, while abuses against the population continues.

[…] For the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), UPDC-FARDC operations raise critical legal, operational, and reputational challenges. 

The Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), alongside its Force Intervention Brigade, until 20 December 2022, also welcoming President Felix Tshisekedi’s efforts in the political and human rights arenas and demanding that all armed groups immediately cease all forms of violence and other destabilizing activities.

Suspected fighters of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have killed 16 people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in attacks that took place as a joint operation by Congolese and Ugandan forces against the armed group is currently under way.

UN peacekeepers in DR Congo have signed an agreement with the country’s armed forces to facilitate joint operations against armed groups troubling the east of the vast nation.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo told the Security Council on Monday that “a lasting solution” to the violence “requires a broader political commitment to address the root causes of conflict.” 

The UN Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the world body’s peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo during discussions later this month in New York. But as the mission – known by its French acronym MONUSCO – makes plans to draw down and eventually exit the country, discussions on its future must be informed by the needs of Congolese civilians and civil society groups on the ground.

[…] The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UPDF) have announced joint ground operations in DRC to hunt down ADF rebels, in addition to the joint aerial operation launched on Tuesday morning.