UN Authority Figures

UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice:
The Democratic Republic of the Congo

Rape is frequently used as a weapon of war in the DRC, and an estimated 1,100 women are raped every day in the country.
Source: Vice News, February 5, 2015

Mission of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: "The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) is the United Nations body of Member States responsible for setting out global strategy to prevent crime and promote stable criminal justice systems. The 40-member UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice formulates international policies and recommends activities in the field of crime control...The Commission offers nations a forum for exchanging expertise and information on matters of crime prevention and criminal justice and to determine strategies and priorities for combatting crime at the global level....Priority areas mandated by the [Economic and Social] Council when it established the Commission in 1992 are: international action to combat national and transnational crime...and improving the efficiency and fairness of criminal justice administration systems." (Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice website)

Term of office: 2015-2017

DRC's Record on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice:
"The most important human rights problems included armed conflict in parts of the country that exacerbated an already precarious human rights situation, such as unlawful killings, sexual violence including rapes, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrests and detention. Widespread impunity and corruption throughout the government, as well as abuse and obstruction of and threats against journalists, human rights advocates, and members of the political opposition by state security force (SSF) members continued. Other major human rights problems included severe and life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention facilities; prolonged pretrial detention... Security forces killed or arbitrarily detained dozens of citizens prior to the voting... at least 41 persons were killed and that security forces throughout the elections physically harmed hundreds... On May 5, the North Kivu Military Operational Court handed down its decision for crimes of rape, pillaging, and murder committed by the FARDC [the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo] that occurred in Minova in 2012. Of the 39 FARDC soldiers who were defendants, it acquitted all 13 commanding officers of command responsibility for crimes committed by subordinates..." (US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2014, DRC)

Archive