Statement from Dr. Mukwege following the indictment of Roger Lumbala

Bukavu, January 5, 2021 — Statement from Dr. Mukwege following the indictment of Roger Lumbala

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We salute the commitment of the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office in Paris for having initiated this first indictment pronounced in the framework of a judicial procedure opened on the basis of the UN Mapping Report, concerning the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1993 and 2003.

The arrest and indictment of Mr. Roger Lumbala in Paris is an important step for international justice and the fight against impunity from which many alleged Congolese and foreign perpetrators continue to benefit. 

Impunity is one of the main causes of the perpetuation of massacres on Congolese territory, the most recent of which occurred on January 1, 2021, when 16 people were brutally killed in Beni.

We trust that other European States will also initiate proceedings on the basis of universal jurisdiction for the facts documented in the Mapping Report and, in parallel, will support the Congolese State in initiating a process of transitional justice to guarantee victims’ rights to justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition. 

Without justice, we will not have peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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