DR Congo: UN calls on gov't to respect human rights

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has raised concerns about a possible increase in cases of human rights abuse in the DR Congo if measures are not taken.

The High Commissioner who has concluded a 4-day visit to the DR Congo is scared that the progress made so far within the past ten years could be erased if nothing is done to calm the tension towards the end of Joseph Kabila’s mandate.

“The important advances relating to impunity for sexual violence are in line with broader progress in the DRC since I first came here, in another capacity, in 2004. The path to peace and democracy has been established, however imperfectly. There have been two nation-wide Presidential elections – the first in the DRC’s history – with some improvements in economic and social rights,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said.

The UN commissioner also said he is preoccupied with the growing harassment of representatives of the civil society and journalists as well the repression of voices which oppose the government.

For several months now, the United Nations, has denounced the tense political climate in the DR Congo. President Joseph Kabila has been in power since 2000 and civil society organisations and opponents have been accusing him of trying to play tricks to remain as president even after his mandate ends on December 20.