Recommendations

To the Congolese Government

• Implement the recent peace negotiations addressing security concerns with belligerents in the East. In light of the destabilizing potential of ongoing conflict in eastern DRC, peace and security remain prerequisites for future economic development.
• Undertake effective reform of the security sector, not only to ensure that past human rights violators are removed from the ranks, but also to train the national police and army to be human rights protectors rather than violators whom civilians fear, as is the current perception of the population.
• Open an inter-community dialogue to address social antagonisms, resolve underlying causes of the conflicts including access to land and exploitation of natural resources, facilitate the demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, and permit the return of internally displaced and refugees.
• Develop a broad-based reconstruction plan that engages the population and reflects the priorities expressed by the respondents.
• Commit to national dialogue with population to assess various transitional justice mechanisms, including prosecutions and other reconciliation mechanisms, such as inter-ethnic dialogue to address root causes of the conflict.
• Engage in effective reform of the national judicial sector including
  • Reform of military and civilian court systems to guarantee independence, transparency, and due process to build trust in the judicial system.
  • Prioritize the prosecution of war crimes and ensure national complementarity with the ICC by adopting an effective legislative framework for national prosecutions of war crimes.
  • End impunity for crimes of rape and sexual violence.

To the Informal and Formal Belligerents Active in Eastern DRC

• Respect the ceasefire terms of recent peace agreements and engage in an effective process of demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration. The government of Rwanda should engage in meaningful collaboration for the disarmament, demobilization, and repatriation of Rwandan Hutu FDLR combatants on DRC soil.

To Bilateral and Multilateral International Donors

• Maintain pressure on the DRC government and belligerents to respect the peace process; monitor and ensure respect for the ceasefire.
• Ensure that the DRC government and belligerents pursue peace and justice simultaneously by including commitments that guarantee accountability and the pursuit of a multifaceted approach to transitional justice mechanisms in ongoing peace processes.
• Focus on international engagement with reforming the national judicial sector to promote accountability for human rights violations and the rule of law. Transitional justice concerns should be integrated into judicial reform plans.
• Oversee government security sector reform to guarantee transitional justice concerns are met, including vetting and an effective disciplinary system for ongoing human rights violations committed by army and police.
• Engage in a long-term development strategy to promote good governance of Congolese state institutions.

To MONUC and United Nations Entities

• The United Nations Security Council must renew the mandate of MONUC to continue to engage in monitoring peace in eastern DRC.
• MONUC should ensure that it implements its mandate to protect civilians.
• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) should effectively complete its mandate to conduct a six-month mapping exercise of human rights violations and should engage in broad-based consultations of the Congolese population to seek additional information regarding the population’s needs and preferences for pursuing various transitional justice mechanisms.

To the International Criminal Court

• Improve its information campaign and outreach for upcoming trials, taking advantage of radio as a means of disseminating information.
• Review the possibility of holding its trials in situ.
• Continue and broaden the investigation and prosecution of suspected war criminals.