Tactics and tools for the protection
of Human Rights Defenders

10 January 2011

United Nations
General Assembly

A/HRC/16/27

Distr.: General
10 January 2011
English
Original: French

Human Rights Council
Sixteenth session
Agenda items 2 and 10
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the
High Commissioner and the Secretary-General
Technical assistance and capacity-building

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights and the activities of her Office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
 

Summary
The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 13/22, invited the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to report to the Council at its sixteenth session on the development of the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and on the activities carried out by her Office in the country.
Following the example of the previous report, submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirteenth session in March 2010 (A/HRC/13/64), this report reiterates a number of recommendations that the High Commissioner and several human rights mechanisms have made in the past. The report assesses the response of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to these recommendations since the last report. In the course of the universal periodic review at the thirteenth session of the Council, the Government made a commitment to implement several of these recommendations. The High Commissioner welcomes this commitment and reiterates that she stands ready to assist the Government in its efforts in this direction.
While welcoming the Government’s efforts to implement these recommendations, the High Commissioner notes that the human rights situation has not improved since her last report and remains a matter of the utmost concern, especially in the east of the country, where the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office continues to report serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by national security forces and armed groups. Progress in combating impunity has been weak, and cases of serious obstruction of justice continued to be reported during the period under review. No significant progress has been made in the structural reforms that are essential to improving the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There was also a rise in serious violations of the rights of human rights defenders, journalists and opposition party members during the reporting period.
The High Commissioner encourages the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to implement all the recommendations contained in this report as soon as possible. The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will continue its efforts to support the Government, including through the plan of action that the Government has been invited to implement in accordance with resolution 13/22. The High Commissioner calls on the international community to assist the Congolese Government in addressing the major challenges facing it, and in particular in implementing the structural reforms that are essential if there is to be sustainable change for the better in the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.