Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize 2018, called on Friday for the creation of an international criminal court for the DRC, whose east has been plagued by armed violence for more than twenty-five years.

"Despite the state of siege established in the Kivus and Ituri" since the beginning of May, "the security situation does not seem to be improving in these provinces", wrote in a statement Denis Mukwege, referring "with fear to the recent killings" which killed dozens in the territories of Beni and Irumu.

The populations “live in fear and horror”, despite the presence in the region of the UN force (Monusco) in support of the Congolese army.

For him, "this tragic and scandalous situation is no longer bearable".

"Faced with the failure of political and security solutions, we are convinced that the path to lasting peace will involve recourse to all the mechanisms of transitional justice," said the Nobel Prize winner.

Mukwege speaks with the UN General Assembly

"While leaders from around the world will soon be speaking" at the UN Annual General Assembly, we "urge" Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi to "seek the assistance of the United Nations and the adoption of a resolution of the Security Council to set up without delay a team of investigators, ”he said. According to Dr Mukwege, a doctor practicing in South Kivu, these investigators will have to “exhume the many mass graves in the east of the country and collect and preserve evidence of acts likely to constitute war crimes, crimes against 'humanity and the crimes of genocide'.

The Congolese president must also, he adds, "expressly ask the United Nations for the establishment of an international criminal tribunal for the DRC and support for the establishment of specialized mixed chambers to render justice to the victims of most serious crimes ”.

It must also "materialize its commitment to adopt a holistic national strategy for transitional justice", continues Denis Mukwege.

We must “put an end to the culture of impunity that has fueled conflicts in our country since the 1990s,” he concludes.

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