Joint Declaration on Mixed Chambers and ICC Implementing Legislation
Enough joined a coalition of Congolese and international organizations convened by Human Rights Watch to press the Congolese government to pass critical legislation that will pave a path for high-level accountability for atrocities in Congo. Two laws currently pending in parliament are crucial to the establishment of specialized mixed chambers in Congo, which would prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape and sexual enslavement. The chambers would be located in Congo and trials would be carried out in collaboration by local and international judges, lawyers and investigators. Local access and ownership over justice for atrocities are crucial, and with the help of international funding, oversight and expertise, the mixed chambers hold enormous promise for carrying out fair, balanced, and sophisticated prosecutions, with emphasis on due process rights and victim and witness support and protection. By Enough Team | Apr 1, 2014 Download the full PDF version<http://www.enoughproject.org/files/HumanRightsGroupsLetter_NoMoreDelaysforJustice_Joint%20Declaration.pdf> *Establish Specialized Mixed Chambers and Adopt ICC Implementing Legislation During the Current Parliamentary Session* The 146 undersigned Congolese civil society and international human rights organizations welcome recent commitments by authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to ensure justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. They call on the government to press for adoption of the draft law establishing Specialized Mixed Chambers and the draft law implementing the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) during the current parliamentary session, which began on March 15, 2014. Repeated cycles of violence and impunity over the past two decades, particularly in eastern Congo, have resulted in the deaths of an estimated five million people from violence, hunger and lack of medical care. National armed forces from Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, and numerous non-state armed groups have carried out massacres, summary executions, rape, torture, forced recruitment of children, and pillaging and burning of homes. While there has been some progress with national and international trials, the vast majority of the perpetrators of these crimes remain unpunished. The trials that have taken place in Congo's military courts have faced numerous challenges, including with regards to the quality of investigations, protection of victims and witnesses, respect of the rights of the accused, and ability to prosecute senior level commanders most responsible for the crimes. The creation of a new mechanism within the Congolese judicial system to prosecute these crimes, and adoption of the ICC implementing legislation into Congolese law, could go a long way in finally bringing justice to victims and their families who feel forgotten and abandoned, despite unimaginable suffering. These decisive and concrete steps to fight impunity would also send a strong warning to rebel leaders and military commanders that serious crimes will not go unpunished--and hopefully help bring an end to Congo's history of rampant abuse. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oo28kfCefzfg5Jm43tWr%3DH0JSP38Jui7RpT5UnZ1cuG8w%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
