**KINSHASA, March 17, 2016—**The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the UN Joint Office for Human Rights (UNJHRO), in collaboration with the Office of the UN Special Envoy on the Great Lakes Region and with the financial support of the European Commission, held a conference on March 15-16 to strengthen judicial cooperation in the fight against impunity for international crimes in the Great Lakes Region.
The two-day conference, hosted by the Congolese Minister of Justice and Human Rights H.E. Mr. Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, brought together senior prosecutors specialized in international crimes in four states: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. All four states are members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
High-level Congolese governmental, judicial and prosecutorial authorities involved in judicial cooperation attended as well as senior authorities from the Congolese National Army and National Police who help facilitate regional judicial cooperation requests. Senior international experts from INTERPOL and the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals also contributed.
“Judicial cooperation among ICGLR member states is of critical importance, as it aims to operationalize and coordinate efforts to effectively fight impunity for serious crimes that are unfortunately still committed in the region,” said Thambwe Mwamba, in his opening remarks on the significance of the conference.
Despite successive peace agreements in the region, violence and human rights violations continue to plague the eastern part of the DRC, where both Congolese and foreign armed groups remain active. Caught in the middle, civilians are suffering persistently high rates of killing, rape, looting and forced displacement.
With the signing of the 2013 Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Region, 13 states committed to giving no safe haven to individuals accused of committing genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or other serious violations. They also committed to regional judicial cooperation. Difficulties remain despite these commitments.
“Often the worst forms of criminality in the region have cross-border dimensions,” said José Maria Aranaz, UNJHRO Director. “And so far, while some national judicial reforms have been achieved in the DRC, too little attention is being paid to improving cooperation across neighboring states to hold the perpetrators of the most egregious crimes accountable while judicial cooperation is a fundamental condition to close the gap of impunity of armed groups and of those who are involved in illegal activities that fuelled conflicts in the DRC and in the region.”
Obstacles to judicial cooperation in the region has helped fuel impunity, with high-ranking members of armed groups and individuals accused of gross violations of human rights and illegal exploitation of natural resources enjoying protection in their own states or neighboring states.
“At a critical time in the fight against impunity, this conference has brought together participants from four countries in the Great Lakes to discuss the technical and practical challenges to improving judicial cooperation among them,” said Myriam Raymond-Jetté, ICTJ’s Criminal Justice Program Officer in the DRC. “Such cooperation can help strengthen accountability, regional relations and rule of law. It can also help build confidence among neighboring states and improve stability in the region.”
In sharing experiences of regional judiciary cooperation, participants discussed their national legislation and the possibility of regional cooperation. Together, they examined concrete examples of extradition and mutual legal assistance processes in cases of international crimes.
Participants also discussed the importance of regional commitments and protocols on judiciary issues on international crimes, best practices challenges that could be supported or enhanced in the region, challenges and obstacles hampering implementation of judiciary regional cooperation, and operational opportunities.
“Holding individuals accountable for international crimes, including illegal exploitation of natural resources, is critical to breaking down the structures of impunity that allow armed groups to continue to thrive and to restoring the dignity and security of the victims,” said Raymond-Jetté.
At the conclusion, participants adopted a set of recommendations aimed at facilitating a comprehensive, effective legal framework of extradition and mutual legal assistance for the region. These include legislative reforms to harmonize relevant national laws with international agreements and connecting executive, legislative and judiciary national focal points and security services involved in extradition and mutual legal assistance requests.
Update: Read the conference report in English and French.
Photo: Howard Varney, ICTJ, Jean-Michel Dumond, EU Ambassador in DRC, H.E. Mr. Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, DRC Minister of Justice, M. Gressly, DSRG MONUSCO, José Maria Aranaz, Director of the UN Joint Human Rights Office, Madeleine Schwarz, Office of the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region.
