DRC: Working with the Ministry of Justice on policy reforms and responding to attempts to undermine the independence of the judiciary
April 2010
On 4 March  2010, the Ministry of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) invited AfriMAP to participate in the first technical committee meeting on impunity and international crimes.  The team is one of the committees set in February by the Minister of Justice and is composed of representatives of government, the donor community, and civil society.

The committee’s objective is to suggest the most efficient implementation strategies for reforms in the justice sector. AfriMAP participates in two of these groups.  The March 4th meeting has allowed participants to identify and prioritize strategies for the fight against impunity of international crimes. Among other subjects, debates focused around the establishment of implementation strategies of the Rome statute; the possibility of creating a new Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and identifying mechanisms of transitional justice adapted to the Congolese context. The meeting was attended by representatives of: the European Union Police support unit (EUPOL), the Joint United Nations Human Rights Office, the MONUC’s Rule of Law Division, Global Rights, OSISA/AfriMAP, the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), SIED project, the secretariat of the Joint Committee on Justice, the Congolese Law Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Justice.

A month later, on 5 April 2010 a group of human rights organizations met, on AfriMAP’s initiative, to take a critical look at the recent attempts to revise the statute of magistrates. The meeting was in reaction to a bill prepared by the minister of justice and tabled in Parliament on 22 March 2010 that would substantially amend the 2006 statute of magistrates. Participants in the meeting prepared a submission to Members of Parliament calling for rejection of the changes proposed in the bill. Participants in the meeting included representatives of: Action Contre l’Impunité pour les Droits de l’Homme (ACIDH) ; Ligue pour la Démocratie et la Bonne Gouvernance (LDBG) ; Centre d’Etudes sur la Justice et la Résolution 1325 (CJR/1325) ; Campagne pour les Droits de l’homme en R.D.Congo (CDHCH) ; Association Africaine pour les Droits de l’Homme (ASADHO) ; et Culture pour la Paix et la Justice (CPJ).