The so-called Mapping Exercise was aimed at providing a key advocacy tool vis-à-vis the Government and Parliament, as well as the international community regarding the establishment of appropriate transitional justice mechanisms and to encourage concerted efforts to combat impunity in the DRC. In his report of 13 June 2006 to the Security Council on the situation in the DRC, the Secretary-General indicated his intention to “dispatch a human rights team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to conduct a mapping of the serious violations committed between 1993 and 2003”.⁶⁶ This intention was reaffirmed in the two following reports of the Secretary-General of 21 September 2006 and 20 March 2007.⁶⁷ On 8 May 2007, the Secretary-General approved the Terms of Reference of the Mapping Exercise. The Mapping Exercise was subsequently presented to the Congolese authorities, notably to President Joseph Kabila, by whom it was well received, and to some of his cabinet ministers, by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights during her visit to the DRC in May 2007. In Resolution 1794 (2007) of 21 December 2007, the Security Council requested the full support of the Congolese authorities for the OHCHR-initiated Mapping Exercise. On 30 June 2008, a letter was sent by the High Commissioner to President Kabila announcing the imminent arrival of the Mapping Exercise Team. The Mapping Exercise began officially on 17 July 2008 with the arrival of the Chief of the Mapping Team in Kinshasa. Around twenty human rights officers were deployed over the entire territory of the DRC between October 2008 and May 2009 to gather documents and information from witnesses to meet the three objectives defined in the Terms of Reference. The Congolese Government has expressed its support for the Mapping Exercise on several occasions, notably in the statement delivered by the Minister of Human Rights at the Special session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in the East of the DRC in November 2008 and in various meetings between the Chief of the Mapping Exercise, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Human Rights.

CONCLUSION

Drawing up an inventory of the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law that were committed on DRC territory between March 1993 and June 2003, the report concludes that the vast majority of the 617 listed incidents constitute crimes under international law, if judicially investigated and proven. These were war crimes committed during armed conflict, either internal or international, or crimes against humanity committed in the context of a generalised or systematic attack against a civilian population, or in many cases both. The issue of whether the many serious acts of violence committed against Hutus in 1996 and 1997 constitute crimes of genocide can only be decided by a competent court.

In terms of justice, the response of the Congolese authorities in the face of the overwhelming number of serious crimes committed within the territory of the DRC has been negligible or even non-existent. The lack of political will on the part of the Congolese authorities to prosecute those who are responsible for serious violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law committed in the DRC has only encouraged further serious violations, which continue to this day. The report notes that, because of the many issues that arise when seeking justice for the crimes committed in the DRC, it is crucial that a holistic policy of transitional justice be implemented, which will depend on the creation of diverse and complementary mechanisms, both judicial and non-judicial. While the report is careful not to give any recommendations or directives in the strict sense of the word, it does, however, examine the advantages and drawbacks of various transitional justice options in terms of truth, justice, reparation for and rehabilitation of victims, and reform of judicial and security institutions (including vetting measures), in the current Congolese context. These options, which must be examined by the Government of the DRC and civil society, include: a) the creation of a mixed jurisdiction; b) creation of a new Truth and Reconciliation Commission; c) reparation programmes; and d) reforms of both the legal sector and the security forces. In order to ensure that the Congolese people are intimately involved in assessing needs, establishing priorities and finding solutions – in short, to ensure that they adopt these new mechanisms and understand their function and scope – it is essential that the authorities carry out national consultations on transitional justice beforehand to assure the credibility and legitimacy of any approaches carried out in this domain.