UN Authority Figures

UN Human Rights Council: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Released footage shows armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) summarily executing at least eight civilians, including women and children. Photo: Video of the massacre
Source: International Business Times UK, February 20, 2017

Mission of the Human Rights Council:
"The General Assembly...2. Decides that the Council shall be responsible for promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner; 3. Decides also that the Council should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon..." (Resolution 60/251)

Democratic Republic of the Congo's Term of office: 2018-2020

Democratic Republic of the Congo's Record on human rights:
"The most significant human rights problems included unlawful killings; torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment; and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including rapes and abductions. Other major human rights problems included disappearances; life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention facilities; arbitrary arrests and prolonged pretrial detention; arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and home; abuse of internally displaced persons (IDPs); arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention; harassment of civil society and opposition leaders and the inability of citizens to change their government; corruption at all levels of government; and restrictions on freedom of speech and press. Societal discrimination and abuse--particularly against women, children, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and indigenous persons; the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community, and persons with albinism--were problems. Trafficking in persons and forced labor, including of children, occurred, as did violations of worker rights... authorities often took no steps to investigate, prosecute, or punish officials who committed violations, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government, and impunity for human rights abuses was a problem."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2016, Democratic Republic of the Congo)