The 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council opened on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, providing a platform for the international body to assess human rights situations across the globe.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, violations continue unabated, particularly in the eastern part of the country, where civilians face numerous abuses, including drone strikes. In the west, several human rights organizations are denouncing arbitrary arrests and detention in secret locations.

Documented abuses, but perpetrators rarely prosecuted

Human rights groups describe the situation in the DR Congo as deeply worrying, both in the east—partly under the control of the AFC/M23—and in the west, which is administered by the Congolese authorities.

“The United Nations continues to document these human rights violations, as do international and local organizations. In government-controlled territory, people are being held either in official prisons or in clandestine cells without knowing what they are accused of. Those responsible for these violations within state institutions are rarely brought to justice,” explains Jean-Claude Katende, president of the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO). The organization has repeatedly highlighted the prevailing impunity.

CNDH calls for sanctions against AFC/M23

According to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), the most egregious violations are largely attributable to the AFC/M23. The CNDH notes that it has called on the international community to impose sanctions on the rebels.

“We deplore the extreme human rights violations and attacks on the right to life in the area occupied by the M23 rebels. These are violations that strike at the very core of human rights. And of course, across the entire national territory, we will demonstrate in Geneva that there are also human rights violations, but of a more traditional kind that require conditions such as a strong economy,” insists Paul Nsapu, president of the CNDH.

Beyond the debates in Geneva, human rights defenders in the DR Congo are calling for concrete action. For them, the key issue remains justice: documenting violations, identifying those responsible, and ending impunity.