Democratic Republic of the Congo

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UNDP focused on two workstreams to promote the rule of law, improve community security and access to justice. First, the activities implemented by the Joint Justice Programme composed of UNDP, the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) Justice Support Section, the Corrections Unit, UN Police, the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) and the UN Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict (ToE) within the framework of the UN Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law (GFP). Second, a project developed with the support of UNDP’s Global Programme for Strengthening the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security for Sustainable Peace and Development (the Global Programme) to strengthen police reform and combat impunity through enhancing the criminal investigation capacities and oversight mechanisms of selected units of the national police in North Kivu and Tanganyika.

Interventions of the Joint Justice Programme within the GFP framework

In 2022, the Joint Justice Programme in the DRC worked on strengthening the legal framework of the criminal justice chain and individual accountability, facilitating mobile court hearings and inspections, improving access to justice and accountability for violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL). In addition, the construction and rehabilitation of justice and penitentiary infrastructure was finalized, and digitalization efforts continued. Despite the volatile security situation and lack of mobility, the Joint Justice Programme managed to implement most of its activities with some delays and revisions to adapt to the realities on the ground.

The intervention zones of the programme supporting provincial strategies for prosecuting international crimes included Kinshasa, North Kivu, Tanganyika, Central Kasai, as well as Ituri and South Kivu.

Human rights

The support to mobile courts enabled the adjudication of 198 criminal cases, bringing justice to more than 600 individuals, including 92 women and 9 children survivors of sexual violence in Tanganyika and Kasai Central.

In terms of capacity building, the programme organized training for more than 500 civilian and military magistrates, police officers, clerks and registrars, including 60 women, on the fight against organized crime and sexual violence, operational criminal analysis, judgement drafting, and criminal and civilian file management.

Innovation

Digitization of over 2,200 personal files of judges managed by the High Judicial Council, over 7,500 criminal records and the files of more than 21,000 prisoners in 20 prisons contributed to improved management within the penitentiary system and increased its transparency and efficiency in serving people.

Leave No One Behind

Finally, the joint programme supported the rehabilitation of 15 infrastructure units of police, justice and prison services. It also promoted food self-sufficiency in penitentiary institutions and the socioeconomic and professional reintegration of detainees by setting up agricultural farms, bakeries and training spaces in the prisons of Kananga, Goma and Luzumu.

Joint advocacy for legislative changes to improve the criminal justice chain brought tangible results. The following pieces of legislation were adopted or are in the pipeline: a draft law on protection of victims and witnesses of international crimes; a promulgated law on reparation for victims of conflict related sexual violence and IHL crimes; a draft law on the protection and accountability of human rights defenders; ordonnance on the creation of the inspector general for justice and penitentiary systems.

This holistic approach and complementary interventions enabled justice, police and penitentiary actors to perform and deliver justice service to people, including the most vulnerable groups, in a fair manner with a view to ensure equality and leave no one behind. Despite the advancements, however, the penal chain in the DRC lacks a fully functional structure and has insufficient human, financial and operational resources.

Following MONUSCO’s complete withdrawal from Tanganyika and Kasai Central, the Joint Justice Programme and other UN entities will amplify efforts to support provincial partners in improving their capacities to take over justice and security tasks to protect their communities, facilitate access to justice, and prevent, prosecute and adjudicate serious human rights violations, including conflict-related sexual violence, in the context of the fight against impunity. To address the deficit of magistrates in the DRC, UNDP supported the design of the training curricula for, and the recruitment of, 5,000 new magistrates (more than 30 percent women), in addition to the current 3,500 magistrates already in place (25 percent women).

Promoting the police reform with UNDP’s Global Programme support

The Global Programme has been providing financial and technical support for the rule of law programming in the DRC since 2017. In addition, the Global Programme helped reinforce partnerships under the GFP framework. In cooperation with the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO), two joint programmes were developed, focusing on justice in 2020 and policing in 2021.

In 2022, the Global Programme provided financial and technical support to implement, in collaboration with MONUSCO and the UN Police (UNPOL), the police reform project in the North Kivu and Tanganyika provinces. However, in July 2022, mass protests against the presence of MONUSCO in the country broke out in the province of North Kivu and most of the activities in this region were temporarily suspended.

Most of the activities in the province of Tanganyika were launched as planned. Jointly, UNDP and UNPOL provided support to establish a new department of the General Inspection of the Congolese National Police (IGPNC) in Kalemie, inaugurated by the Vice Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior, Security, Decentralization and Customary Affairs in October 2022. Five inspectors, including two women, were deployed to ensure sustainability of the operations. UNDP promoted gender mainstreaming and sensitized senior Congolese National Police officials in the units it supported. The establishment of this new department and the ongoing coordination and oversight sent a strong message of transparency and demonstrated the commitment of the National Police to fight against impunity for violations and crimes committed by the police.

To respond to the recent and complex challenges in North Kivu and elsewhere, the IGPNC has officially adopted the new training policy for inspectors presented by UNDP and UNPOL. It envisages the organization of a long-term training in Kinshasa for inspectors deployed, or to be deployed, in the provinces aiming to remedy disparate and non-coordinated capacity building interventions. UNDP continues to rely on the expertise of UNPOL to further identify the needs of the Congolese National Police.

Partnerships

In addition, UNDP established strategic partnerships with various technical and funding partners that support the IGPNC, including the European Union, UNPOL, International Organization for Migration and the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). One of the joint initiatives includes pooling the funds programmed by each entity for the organization of a training session to benefit all the provinces at the same time, which will enable the participation of a larger number of inspectors and will ensure the same level of knowledge and skill sets are planted in all the provinces.