The Democratic Republic of Congo was officially elected this Wednesday to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, alongside Benin, Gambia, Kenya and Ethiopia for the Africa group, despite the controversy over violations of human rights in the country. The five countries will sit for three years, starting January 1.
1 min
With our correspondent in New York, Carrie Nooten
With 172 votes out of 190 voters, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was widely elected to the Human Rights Council, which sits in Geneva — without suspense, since there were only five candidates for five seats on the group’s side Africa out of the 18 seats distributed this afternoon in New York.
Also readEntry of the DRC into the UN Human Rights Council: the plea of the Congolese Minister of Human Rights
The controversy that had swelled in Kinshasa, where opponents demanded that the government respect human rights more before running for the Council, managed to partly reach New York. The NGO Human Rights Watch thus condemned the authorities’ severe repression of members of opposition parties, civil society activists, government critics and journalists throughout the period of the 2023 presidential election. .
She also notes that, apart from a few convictions, the members of the Congolese security forces responsible for the murder of at least 57 people in Goma in August 2023 have not been truly held accountable. The NGO singled out Ethiopia and Kenya.
Also read[Vos réactions] DRC: a controversial candidacy
For their part, Geneva diplomats point out that sitting on the Human Rights Council requires its members to modify their practice in this area in the long term.