By: Fatou Krubally
The head of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s human rights commission has issued a powerful call for international action, warning that eastern DRC is being torn apart by brutal violence, with women, children, and activists paying the highest price.
Speaking at the 83rd Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, Paul Nsapu Mukulu, president of the CNDH-RDC, said the region is facing an alarming human rights crisis due to the continued attacks by Rwanda’s military and its allied M23/AFC rebel group.
He accused the Rwandan forces and their proxies of committing summary executions, sexual violence, and other abuses, particularly targeting civilians. “It’s been more than three decades of horror,” he said, stressing that the impact is felt not just in DRC but across the sub-region.
While he welcomed the recent Declaration of Principles signed between Rwanda and the DRC in Washington on April 25, Mukulu made clear that peace remains distant. He urged both governments to stick to their promises and move quickly toward a full peace agreement.
Mukulu’s statement also revealed deeper concerns. He said that his commission has received credible reports of Congolese journalists, human rights defenders, and youth being arrested, abducted, and disappeared even after fleeing to neighbouring countries. Some, he said, are stranded in Burundi in appalling conditions.
He called on the African Commission to adopt an urgent resolution pushing for a fact-finding mission to eastern DRC, support for local investigators, protection for activists, and sanctions against known violators.
“The fight against impunity remains our hobbyhorse,” he said bluntly.
Mukulu’s message was clear: the suffering in eastern DRC cannot be ignored, and the time to act is now. As leaders gathered in Banjul for talks on rights and justice, he reminded them that real lives are at stake and silence is not an option.
