The 4 Main Sections of the Report

I. Most serious violations

Inventory of the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed between March 1993 and June 2003

II. Specific Actes of Violence

Inventory of specific acts of violence committed against women and children and linked to natural resources during the conflicts in the DRC.

III. Justice System in the DRC

Evaluation of the current capability of the Congolese national justice system to provide justice for committed crimes identified

IV. Transitional Justice Options

Formulation of options for transitional justice mechanisms that could contribute to the fight against impunity in the DRC

"No report 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."
Navanethem Pillay United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

The 4 Key periods in the Report

MAR 1993 - JUNE 1996

FAILURE OF THE DEMOCRATISATION PROCESS AND REGIONAL CRISIS

JUL 1996 - JUL 1998

FIRST CONGO WAR & ALLIANCE OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES FOR THE LIBERATION OF CONGO REGIME

AUG 1998 - JAN 2001

THE SECOND WAR AND THE 'RASSEMBLEMENT CONGOLAIS POUR LA DEMOCRATIE' (RCD)

JAN 2001 - JUN 2003

TOWARDS TRANSITION : FROM LAURENT-DESIRE KABILA TO JOSEPH KABILA & INTERCONGOLESE DIALOGUE

About the mapping exercise

Foreword

“No report can adequately describe the horrors experienced by the civilian population in DRC, where almost every single individual has an experience to narrate of suffering and loss…”

Introduction

The mapping team’s 550-page report contains descriptions of 617 alleged violent incidents occurring in the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003…

Background and Mandate

The discovery of three mass graves in North Kivu was a painful reminder that gross human rights violations committed in DRC had remained un-investigated…

Executive Summary

Each incident points to the possible commission of gross violations of human rights and/or international humanitarian law and […] are each backed up by at least two independent sources

Terms of Reference

« The Mapping Team will conduct a mapping exercise of the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003 »

Methodology

…gather basic information (e.g. establishing the locations, timings and backgrounds of major incidents, the approximate numbers of victims, the alleged perpetrators, etc.) …