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GENEVA / DRC MAPPING REPORT
STORY: GENEVA / DRC MAPPING REPORT
TRT: 5:35
SOURCE: UNTV / FILE
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 30 SEPTEMBER 2010, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
1. Wide shot, UN Geneva headquarters
2. Med shot, Navi Pillay entering office
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The DRC mapping report recounts almost 600 incidents of very serious violations of human rights, law and international humanitarian law that occurred over a 10 year period. It reflects the consequences of long-term instability and conflict in that area and really the incidents that have been related to our team are truly appalling. The suffering of civilians that occurred during that period is recorded in the report.”
4. Cutaway, Pillay working
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The crimes are very serious. Of course it’s not a judgment it’s a collection of evidence and its main point to the commission of crimes such as war crimes because the laws of war forbid the killing of civilians it points to crimes against humanity and some instances might well amount genocide. But the report makes clear that it’s only a court of law that can determine what crimes are suspected of having been committed.”
6. Cutaway, Pillay working
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The mapping of the events that occurred during that 10 year period are significant because the consequences are still evident today. Because these crimes have never been addressed justice has not been delivered but there has been impunity and lawlessness so very many rebel groups have cropped up who continue to take the law into their own hands and rape and pillage. Most recent example is the rapes that occurred in eastern DRC in August over which my office and the joint Human Rights office issued a report a few days ago.”
8. Cutaway, Pillay working
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The report is about combating impunity in the context of addressing transitional justice. The report makes several recommendations and suggestions but does not make any decision for the government or for the people of DRC. It is for them to get together and determine what kind of transitional justice system they would pursue. But one clearly is to have accountability, to bring perpetrators to book.”
10. Cutaway, Pillay working
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“Well I think it was unfortunate that this report was leaked. It prevented us from having planned a release for this report. The unfortunate consequence was that just one aspect of what this massive report addresses received the focus of the press and that is the incidents that were allegedly committed by the Rwandan armed forces.”
12. Cutaway, Pillay working
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“As I said the report is not a judicial investigation. It is a forerunner to an investigation. It is a collection of evidence the aim of this report is to end impunity to advice and recommend transitional justice relief and mechanisms for the government and for the citizens of DRC to determine the procedures they would adopt. Transitional justice mechanisms seek the achievement of rule of law, justice, peace and also the prosecution of perpetrators, and end the impunity and end the cycle of violence that has been going on in that region.”
FILE – MONUSCO - 01 SEPTEMBER 2010, KIBUA, LUVUNGI, EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
14. Various shots, aerial view of Kibua
15. Close up, Indian peacekeeper with gun atop jeep
16. Close up, Indian peacekeeper on jeep
17. Med shot, gun on jeep through the village
18. Various shots, villagers
19. Wide shot, Indian soldiers with jeep on guard in the village
20. Med shot, jeep carrying FARDC soldiers
21. Wide shot, jeep carrying FARDC soldiers
22. Various shots, UN cars driving through village
23. Various shots, women
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today (1 October) released a 550-page report listing 617 of the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law over a 10-year period by both state and non-state actors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that the reported incidents reflect “the consequences of long-term instability and conflict in that area.”
The report said that tens of thousands of people were killed, and numerous others were raped, mutilated or otherwise victimized during the decade.
Pillay added that the report “is not a judgment, it’s a collection of evidence and its main point to the commission of crimes such as war crimes because the laws of war forbid the killing of civilians.”
The report also examined in detail various options for truth and reconciliation, as well as for bringing those responsible for serious crimes to justice, thereby ending a climate of near-total impunity and setting the foundation for sustainable peace and development in the DRC.
The report is the product of a “Mapping Exercise” that took more than two years to research and produce, including eight months work on the ground in the DRC by a 33-strong team charged with interviewing witnesses and examining other information from a wide range of sources.
Pillay said that “the mapping of the events that occurred during that 10 year period are significant because the consequences are still evident today.”
She added that “because these crimes have never been addressed justice has not been delivered but there has been impunity and lawlessness so very many rebel groups have cropped up who continue to take the law into their own hands and rape and pillage. Most recent example is the rapes that occurred in eastern DRC in August over which my office and the joint Human Rights office issued a report a few days ago.”
The report said that many of the attacks were directed against non-combatant civilian populations consisting primarily of women and children. Over 1,280 individual witnesses were interviewed to corroborate or invalidate alleged violations, including previously unrecorded incidents, and more than 1,500 documents were collected and analysed.
Pillay said that it “was unfortunate that this report was leaked” in August. She added that the “unfortunate consequence” was that the focus of the press was on just “one aspect of what this massive report addresses” and “that is the incidents that were allegedly committed by the Rwandan armed forces.”
The genesis of the Mapping Exercise dates back to 2005 when, two years after a peace agreement in the DRC became operative, three mass graves were discovered in the eastern part of the country. Several UN bodies agreed the following year to recommend a Mapping Exercise.
Led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), this was intended as a crucial step towards achieving justice and ending the cycle of impunity in the DRC.
Pillay added that “the report is not a judicial investigation. It is a forerunner to an investigation” and that it will “recommend transitional justice relief and mechanisms for the government and for the citizens of DRC to determine the procedures they would adopt.”
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