Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1993-2003 : report of the mapping exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between March 1993 and June 2003

This report is the result of interviews with several hundred interlocutors, both Congolese and foreign, who witnessed atrocities in the country: it substantiates their accounts and reflects their aspirations for justice. No report, however, can adequately describe the horrors experienced by the civilian population in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where almost every single individual has an experience to narrate of suffering and loss. In some cases, victims became perpetrators, while perpetrators were themselves sometimes subjected to serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, in a cycle of violence that has not yet abated. This report makes an assessment of the justice system in the DRC, based on insights from various stakeholders in the justice sector, including those who were victims of its shortcomings. It presents a number of options to be considered by both Congolese and international actors in the difficult task of reforming the justice system, which faces multiple challenges.UT Librarie