Congolese armed forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have brutally killed hundreds of civilians and committed widespread rape in the past three months in a military operation backed by the United Nations.

A network of African civil society and international organizations today called upon African Union states to use the AU’s upcoming session about the International Criminal Court to promote the court’s ability to prosecute the world’s worst crimes fairly and effectively.

The Congolese government's military operation in eastern Congo, Kimia II, backed by United Nations peacekeepers and aimed at neutralizing the threat from a Rwandan Hutu militia group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has resulted in an unacceptable cost for the civilian population.

(New York, October 9, 2009) – The award of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama should encourage him to apply his stated principles to both foreign and domestic human rights policy.

Human Rights Watch has put forward the merits of creating a “mixed chamber” – a national judicial institution with the temporary inclusion of international staff – as a mechanism to hold to account perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This paper seeks to stimulate further discussion and set out options for how such a mechanism could be established.

As director of the Olame Centre, a women's rights NGO, and a former member of Congolese parliament, Mathilde Muhindo empowers women to fight against discrimination and horrific sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo's recent bloody conflicts.

Southern African leaders should press Zimbabwe's power-sharing government to end ongoing human rights violations and to implement legal reforms.

This chronology describes the history of what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo, including its early history, rule under the Belgians, independence, war, failed peace efforts, transition, and the current government.