Congo

Ten years ago today, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published his "Mapping" report on the most serious crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 1993 and 2003. This unprecedented investigation was to put an end to more than a decade of impunity and had in one year registered 617 war crimes, crimes against humanity and possible genocide crimes. But since then, none of these crimes have been tried, and its recommendations remain a dead letter condemned by more and more voices in the Congo,…

UNICEF on Wednesday became the third UN agency to launch an internal investigation into the sexual abuse of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and promised "serious consequences" for possible sins. The Children's Fund said in a statement that it was "shocked that people identifying themselves as UNICEF workers have allegedly abused vulnerable women in the Democratic Republic of Congo." It was not immediately clear how many UNICEF staff had been charged. "There will be serious consequences for any staff…

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it was investigating allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of people who identified themselves as UN agency workers fighting Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The WHO said its management and staff were "furious" over recent reports of sexual abuse by people who said they worked for the UN health agency in the Ebola campaign in the DRC. "The actions allegedly taken by individuals who identify themselves as working for the WHO are unacceptable and will be…

Every day, an estimated 400 women perform unsafe abortions in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. FRANCE 24 spoke with members of the NGO Afia Mama, which provides psychological, medical and legal support to women seeking abortion. Although the DRC has signed and ratified the Maputo Protocol, which allows women to terminate a pregnancy in the event of rape or if it threatens their health, Congolese criminal law continues to prohibit abortions. "The fact that the law is inconsistent means that the…