Lawyers representing victims of atrocities committed in eastern DR Congo organised a three-day seminar to document witness accounts and bring them to public attention.
From Friday, July 7, to July 9, in Kenyan capital Nairobi, Banyamulenge, Hema and Tutsi communities, will testify to what they have experienced in recent years.
Lawyers from DR Congo cities such as Bunia, Goma, Bukavu and Kinshasa joined efforts to organise the seminar, along with several representatives of associations representing the affected communities.
At a press conference as part of the seminar, on Friday, Jean Paul Shaka, one of the members of the lawyers, said their approach to seeking justice for the victims of atrocities in eastern DR Congo was “purely legal” and not part of any political processes.
“The purpose of this event is to give victims a platform to tell their stories,” Shaka said.
“We accepted and we are very humbled to represent them and to join our professional contributions to the fight for justice. It is critical for justice to have a seat at the table in today’s discourse in the country.”
“We believe as lawyers … that there will not be peace in [DR Congo] if justice is not done to the victims.”
One of the atrocities brought to public attention on Friday was a massacre by CODECO armed group that happened in Ituri province at a camp of displaced people located in Lala.
Among the team members is Bernard Maingain, a Belgian lawyer who has spoken out against atrocities and genocide ideology in the Great Lakes Region for years.
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The testimonies of up to 80 victims and witnesses from North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces will be recorded and handed over to the prosecution of the International Criminal Court, Maingain said.
“We are of the opinion, all members of the team, that it’s much more of a genocide,” Maingain said of the violence in eastern DR Congo.
He said, for example, that the CODECO attack on the Lala camp killed more than 50 people.
The camp is located about three kilometres from the base of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO).
Maingain said the team of lawyers would petition the UN Secretary General to launch an official investigation into the attitude of MONUSCO personnel during massacres that have happened in parts of eastern DR Congo.
He said that the Congolese army’s failure to protect civilians from armed groups was a question of morality, functioning of a state, and a legal question.
