The trip of the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, in the DRC led him to Ituri and South Kivu, two provinces plagued by violence, and which aimed to assess the state of justice in the country where he had been staying since May 28. On Monday, he met Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege in Bukavu. Thursday, June 1, the last day of his trip, a cooperation agreement in the fight against war crimes was signed between the DRC and the ICC, in Kinshasa, in the presence of the Head of State, Félix Tshisekedi. The opportunity to discuss the major justice projects in the Great Lakes region.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
The prosecutor acknowledged the efforts that have been made in the DRC, but expects a little more from the Congolese authorities on justice issues, particularly in the east of the country.
“ We have to make sure that these are not pious promises that are not felt by the people of this country, insisted Karim Khan. It requires a willingness to work hard, to deliver justice, to consider more imaginative options, a holistic solution including transitional justice, international justice and local justice. And I am ready to work in different scenarios in The Hague if we are competent “.
Mr. Karim Khan congratulated the Head of State for his commitment to fight against impunity in all its forms. President Tshisekedi, for his part, praised the efforts of the ICC in prosecuting the perpetrators of crimes against humanity.
– DRC Presidency 🇨🇩 (@Presidence_RDC) June 1, 2023
For his part, Felix Tshisekedi spoke of cases of aggression between countries, referring to the conflict between his country and Rwanda. ” Faced with this reality, it is important that the Member States be able to reaffirm their adherence to the values of the Court, understood in particular through the establishment of a repressive judicial institution endowed not only with the power to challenge the qualities and status of perpetrators , co-perpetrators and accomplices of the crimes, but also of a general competence covering in principle the different sectors of human relations at the national and international level “.
In this regard, the Congolese government officially filed a complaint, Tuesday, May 23, with the ICC for the crimes committed within the framework of the resurgence of the M23.