" Democratic Republic of Congo in violation of the African Commission’s decision regarding human rights abuses against civilians in Kilwa"

Your Excellency Mr. President, We are writing to bring to your attention a landmark 2017 decision of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (African Commission) regarding the victims of the Kilwa massacre in Haut-Katanga province, which has not been implemented by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In your current role as Chairperson of the African Union, and in light of your pledge to promote human rights and uphold African institutions, we urge your government to move swiftly to implement this decision and rectify the actions of the previous DRC government, which has failed to comply.

The African Commission’s decision (Communication 393/10) relates to abuses by the Congolese army perpetrated against inhabitants of the town of Kilwa in October 2004. During a military operation to crush a group of lightly armed rebels, the Congolese army indiscriminately shelled civilians, summarily executed people and disappeared many others. In total, over 70 people were killed. The soldiers received transportation and other logistical support from an Australian-Canadian mining company, Anvil Mining, which operated a nearby copper and silver mine...

For the past 17 years, the victims of the Kilwa massacre and their families have fought a tireless campaign for justice. The decision of the African Commission provided recognition of the harms they had suffered, and brought hope they could rebuild their lives. Some victims have since passed away and will never receive the reparation they were owed. The Congolese government’s failure, to date, to implement the decision is crushing that hope and we urge you to rectify this. We respectfully request your government to adopt a clear strategy to provide long-overdue justice and reparation to the Kilwa victims and implement the Commission’s decision.