Suppression of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. 1996-2013 in DRC

Since the war of November 1996, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been the scene of serious violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law for over two decades human rights and international humanitarian law. International crimes such as mass rapes, torture and homicides have been committed almost everywhere in the country and continue to be perpetrated during the various conflicts that have occurred. Despite the fact that the DRC is a party to the various international instruments protecting civilian populations and those who no longer participate in combat, such as the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols, its civilian populations continue to be the target of various highway criminals. Also, these international instruments, the most recent of which is the Rome Statute, oblige the States Parties to be able, through their justice system, to punish the perpetrators of the said violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law. Unfortunately, impunity remains endemic because the Congolese justice system is lethargic and chronically unable to punish these various violations.