UN Authority Figures

UN General Assembly Vice-President: Congo

Soldiers from the Republic of Congo killed at least 18 people while serving as United Nations and African Union peacekeepers in Central African Republic. The Republic of Congo has not set up credible investigations into the killings. Photo: Twelve skulls discovered in a mass grave believed to belong to individuals executed by Republic of Congo peacekeepers.
Source: Fox News, AP, June 7, 2016

Mission of the General Assembly:
"13. The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of:
    a. promoting international co-operation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification; b. promoting international co-operation in the economic, social, cultural, educational, and health fields, and assisting in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." ("UN Charter")

Term of office: 2016-2017

Congo's Record on "the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion":
"The most significant human rights problems included arbitrary or unlawful killings by security forces; arbitrary arrests, beatings, and torture of detainees by police; and refugee abuse. Other major human rights abuses included harsh detention conditions; lack of due judicial process; infringement of citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association; harsh treatment of undocumented immigrants; restrictions on the ability of citizens to change their government peacefully; restrictions on the activities of opposition political groups; corruption on the part of officials and lack of transparency; discrimination against women; sexual and gender-based violence, including domestic violence, child abuse, and early marriage; trafficking in persons; lack of access for persons with disabilities; societal discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, particularly toward indigenous persons (Baka); discrimination based on nationality, particularly toward individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR), and Rwanda; discrimination based on sexual orientation and HIV/AIDS status; and child labor. The government seldom took steps to prosecute or punish officials who committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in the government, and official impunity was a problem... There were numerous reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings... There were numerous credible reports of politically motivated disappearances... [T]here is no legal framework specifically banning torture under the criminal code. There were widespread reports of cases of government-led torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment..." (US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2015, Congo)

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