Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• Author: Grabish, Beatrice
• Position: Peacewatch - Withdrawal of UN investigative team

On 17 April, Secretary-General Kofi Annan decided "reluctantly and after full consideration of all alternatives" to withdraw the investigative team he had sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to look into allegations of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in certain parts of that country, in the light of the total absence of cooperation of the Government in allowing the investigative team to carry out its work, and following a careful assessment made by a mission sent for that purpose.

The team was established to bridge the impasse caused by the refusal of the Kinshasa Government to allow a Joint Investigative Mission of the Commission on Human Rights to look into the allegations. Although the team was sent in August 1997 to secure the Government's cooperation, it has since "constantly met a series of obstacles by the authorities, despite repeated assurances by the Government that the team would be allowed to carry out its work". Attempts by forensic experts to excavate suspected sites of mass graves were blocked, and the authorities harassed and intimidated witnesses who provided testimony to the investigators, according to the Secretary-General's Spokesman.

The Commision on Human Rights, under its mandate, will continue to monitor the question of allegations regarding serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, referred to the development in "the overall context of the international community's commitment to fight impunity, which is one of the major factors in the recurrent violence in the Great lakes region and elsewhere". She called the team's withdrawal "a grave setback in this battle against impunity", and stressed that the people of the Congo-Kinshasa were entitled to a future free from the violence and abuse of past decades.

...