Technical Assistance and Capacity-Building for Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

A/HRC/RES/33/29View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 10 Technical assistance and capacity-building, published in 2016.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2013–2016

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2016	A/HRC/RES/33/29	Technical assistance and capacity-building for human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo	2,459	34%Compare
2015	A/HRC/RES/30/26	Technical assistance and capacity-building for human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo	1,889	26%Compare
2014	A/HRC/RES/27/27	Technical assistance and capacity-building for human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo	1,914	38%Compare
2013	A/HRC/RES/24/27	Technical assistance and capacity-building for human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo	1,533	–

What subjects does this mandate have?

11 subjects

Administration of Justice Civil and Political Rights Conferences Democratic Republic of the Congo Elections Human Rights Report Preparation Security Sector Reform Sex Crimes Technical Cooperation Violence

What’s in this document?

38 operative paragraphs

Condemns unequivocally the wave of violence in the eastern part of the country, and all the armed groups perpetrating it;

Strongly condemns the recent deadly clashes in Kinshasa and elsewhere in the country, and strongly urges the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to intensify its efforts and to take immediate steps to resolve peacefully the political issues that led to that violence, and to avoid further confrontations;

Expresses its concern at the continuing atrocities in the Beni region against civilians, and condemns in the strongest terms the senseless criminal violence against the civilian population committed by the Allied Democratic Forces and affiliated groups in Eringeti;

Also expresses its concern at allegations of crimes in the eastern part of the country committed by members of the security forces, notes with appreciation the efforts of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice, and welcomes the sentences already brought down, in particular against high-ranking officers;

Encourages the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to intensify its efforts to put an end to violence in the eastern part of the country, with the support of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo within its mandate, in particular by strengthening its efforts in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants;

Also encourages the Government to provide the means necessary to facilitate ongoing inquiries and trials against those responsible for sexual violence, including that committed in Kavumu, in South Kivu;

Further encourages the Government to continue its efforts to implement the plans of action of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a view to reduce and prevent the recruitment of child soldiers and sexual violence, and welcomes the progress made;

Encourages the Government to continue actively its efforts, with the support of the international community, to end impunity for the perpetrators of these grave violations of human rights, including those involving sexual violence, in the eastern part of the country, and to ensure that victims of such crimes receive adequate care, protection against reprisals, and reparations;

Welcomes the efforts made by the Government with regard to investigations and the prosecution of peacekeepers who have returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and been accused of alleged acts of sexual violence when deployed in the Central African Republic;

Calls upon the Government to ensure equitable political participation for all, and to create without delay the conditions necessary for the holding of free, transparent, inclusive and peaceful elections, in particular in view of the legislative and presidential elections;

Invites all stakeholders and Congolese political actors to contribute peacefully to keep peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to consolidate democracy and the rule of law, and to engage in good faith in a real, credible and inclusive political dialogue;

Notes the organization of the national political dialogue under the auspices of the African Union and the international community with a view to finding consensual solutions for the holding of peaceful, transparent and credible elections, and calls upon all stakeholders to respect and implement the resulting political agreement in conformity with the constitutional framework, and to refrain from any recourse to violence before, during and after the elections;

Calls upon the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the independent national electoral commission to accelerate preparations for the elections, and to establish as soon as possible a credible electoral calendar as part of the ongoing dialogue process;

Notes with appreciation the launching on 31 July 2016 by the independent national electoral commission of the process of revision of the electoral roll in the province of Nord Ubangi;

Welcomes the efforts made by the United Nations, the International Organization of la Francophonie and the European Union to ensure the credibility and the stabilization of the electoral roll;

Invites the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to improve and increase the participation of women in the political and administrative domains, and notes with appreciation the legislative measures already taken in the framework of the amendments to the Family Code and of the law on the parity of men and women;

Encourages the Government to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation, can participate freely in public affairs and that they fully enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, which constitute essential conditions for a real, credible and inclusive political dialogue;

Welcomes the recent liberation of certain human rights activists in the framework of the presidential amnesty, and measures to ease political tension with a view to facilitating political dialogue, calls for the complete dismissal of remaining charges against some of them, and calls upon the Government to rapidly extend these measures to prisoners of conscience who are still incarcerated;

Encourages the Government to provide greater protection for all political actors, civil society, journalists and human rights defenders during elections, and to ensure respect for all human rights;

Expresses its deep concern at the violent confrontations in the electoral context, including reports of the disproportionate use of force by security forces, and calls upon all stakeholders to reject all violence;

Also expresses its deep concern at reports of restrictions on the freedoms of peaceful assembly, opinion and expression and violations of the right to liberty and security of person, and threats against and intimidation of members of political parties, civil society representatives and journalists, and of arbitrary detention and the interference of the executive in the functioning of justice;

Calls upon the Government and all relevant institutions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to take all additional measures necessary to prevent all violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and to conduct thorough investigations into all acts of violence and violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of human rights so that all perpetrators, whatever their affiliation, are brought to justice;

Emphasizes the individual responsibility of all stakeholders, including State officials, and leaders of the political parties of the government majority and the opposition, to act in strict compliance with the rule of law and human rights;

Stresses the importance of releasing all persons detained arbitrarily, including human rights defenders and persons of different political affiliations, of transferring detainees from the National Intelligence Agency to regular detention centres, and of granting unlimited access by the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office to centres under the responsibility of the Agency, and in this respect calls upon the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fulfil promptly its commitment to eliminate Agency detention facilities;

Encourages the Government to continue in its commitment to its cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner, the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office, the Human Rights Council and its special procedures;

Invites in this regard the Government to respond positively to outstanding visit requests submitted by thematic special procedure mandate holders, and to favourably consider extending a standing invitation to them;

Commends the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the establishment and operationalization of the national human rights commission, in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles);

Encourages the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to maintain and strengthen the momentum of the efforts made to reform the army, the police and the security services;

Welcomes the establishment and functioning of the Constitutional Court, and encourages the Democratic Republic of the Congo to pursue the creation and installation of other courts in the context of the reform of the judicial system;

Also welcomes the vote by the National Assembly on the draft law on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, ratified by the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2002;

Encourages the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to take appropriate measures to ensure the smooth functioning of all implementing agencies of human rights, including the human rights liaison unit, the national human rights commission, the interministerial committee on human rights, the national commission for the universal periodic review and the unit for the protection of human rights defenders;

Reiterates its request to the international community, in the framework of ownership of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to improve the involvement of national authorities and beneficiaries in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects for the promotion and protection of human rights with a view to ensuring that they have a greater impact at the central, provincial and local levels, particularly with regard to the priorities of justice and human rights, as defined in the recommendations made at the national forum on justice in April 2015;

Also reiterates its request to the international community to focus on structural, long-term interventions throughout the entire territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to optimize the long-term impact of technical assistance programmes;

Encourages the Government to organize a forum on human rights, in particular on the impact of technical assistance by the international community to the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

Invites the High Commissioner to inform the Human Rights Council on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as and when appropriate;

Decides to organize, at its thirty-fourth session, in the presence of all stakeholders, an interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to give an oral update on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fifth session, in an interactive dialogue;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a report on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the electoral context, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-sixth session, during an enhanced interactive dialogue;

Decides to remain seized of the situation until its thirty-sixth session.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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