Ten years ago to the day, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published its “Mapping” report on the most serious crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 1993 and 2003. This investigation unprecedented was to put an end to more than a decade of impunity and had identified in one year 617 war crimes, crimes against humanity and possible crimes of genocide. But since then, none of these crimes has been tried and its recommendations remain a dead letter, which is being denounced by more and more voices in Congo, like Doctor Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize 2018.
RFI : When we got involved like you, for the recognition of the crimes of the Mapping Report, what do we feel on this rather special anniversary day after ten years ?
Denis Mukwege : For me, today, it’s a mixed feeling. Mixed, since it is incomprehensible that the international community has read this report and that the Security Council has decided to put this report in a drawer. For me, this is incomprehensible and it raises the question: ” What world do we want to build tomorrow?” I think the crimes that are considered war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, the world should not be silent, since we are all concerned. And the day we remain silent about these crimes, we simply know that we are opening the door wide for this type of crime to continue. On the other hand, the fact that the Congolese people stand up, to ask that the Congolese government can take its responsibilities in relation to these crimes, to allow the Congolese to mourn, I believe that this evolution of the Congolese population is very, very encouraging.
But it is a little thanks to you, precisely, this mobilization, in particular international. Is it also because you finally placed your Nobel Peace Prize under the sign of ending impunity for the crimes of the Mapping Report ?
As a Nobel Peace Prize winner, how can I continue to keep this honorary title if I am not working for peace in the region? I believe that today we still have a momentum of having a president who has his hands clean in relation to all these serious violations of human rights. The fact that he asked his government to work on the transitional justice file may allow some people who lived in fear to feel that there is hope, there is a leader who wants to move the lines.
However, Felix Tshisekedi also promised not to delve into the past. And even if he removed from operational command two officers considered ” red ” by the UN, he did not remove them from the army either.
You have to start somewhere. I think it should rather be encouraged. We know that there are obstacles and we must have a population that is committed to also encourage the President of the Republic to move forward.
The government has drawn up two draft decrees which provide for transitional justice, precisely at the request of President Tshisekedi . For the moment, essentially, it is a kind of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but there is no tribunal or mixed chamber intended to try these crimes. Will this be enough ?
It’s not sufficient. I believe that justice is absolutely necessary. Today in our country, it is as if, to pass through the ranks in the army, you have to show that you are capable of killing your compatriots. It can’t work! You don’t become an army general because you have been in the bush, because you have killed, because you have raped!
Precisely, as long as former belligerents are in business within the army, in the assemblies, also in the courts of justice, is it really possible to fight against impunity ? To try them requires political will, but that can be difficult to find on the side of those who committed these crimes …
You know, we are not going to reinvent the wheel in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We know very well to what extent transitional justice has been able to change things in several countries. Twenty-five years is too much. Twenty-five years is too much… We tried to hide, we tried to put all the reports in the drawers, hoping that time will fix things… The result is there, we haven’t fixed anything. On the contrary, the situation is explosive in eastern Congo and we must act quickly.
The DRC of Félix Tshisekedi is doing everything, however, to get closer to its neighbors, even mediate between them. Do you really think that Felix Tshisekedi can today support the creation of a jurisdiction that could put his new allies in difficulty ?
I think that between its allies and its population the choice will be very clear. In my opinion, his allies will remain allies, if they still accept that we can talk, that we can tell the truth about our past. If we want to build good relations with our neighbors, I think we have to tell the truth. Justice must be able to say who did what, and after that, we can move on to the phase of reconciliation with the neighbors and say to ourselves ” never again!” ”
But how to make this understood at the level of the DRC and the international community? Because, if it has been ten years now, since the release of the Mapping report, that these recommendations have not been implemented, what could happen that today, all of a sudden, this The international community is reacting ?
I call on the Congolese people to demand that justice be done. I ask the Congolese people to stand up. No one will do it for us. It is up to the people to demand that the law be said. And there, I see very badly how the international community, or even the government, will continue to escape.
Why do we have to publish the names of the perpetrators of these crimes ?
We published the names of the victims, why are we protecting the executioners? I believe that, for me, it simply allows the executioners to continue to commit their atrocities, since they do so in anonymity. We know very well that in the region it is still these executioners who have the power. It is these executioners who are in charge, it is these executioners who had ordered to commit crimes. How can we subject the population to such torture?
At present, there is a lot of money, there are millions, if not billions, which are invested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular in the United Nations mission in Congo. So do you think that this money, this peacekeeping strategy is finally being pursued to waste ?
You have to assess after twenty years, you have to assess after twenty-five years… I believe that when you adopt a strategy, the goodwill is there. But the result is quite the opposite of what we expected. I think, what’s missing in everything we’re doing all this time is justice. Because, if the criminals are still there, that they are free and that they can continue to commit crimes, even if we try to make peace, I believe that this peace will never be possible!
Source: RFI