(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.

In this question and answer dossier, Human Rights Watch explains a number of aspects of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including who is fighting whom, the humanitarian situation, killings and other human rights abuses, sexual violence, UN peacekeeping, financial assistance, and others.

Killings and brutal sexual violence against women, girls and also men have massively increased in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since the start of military operations in January 2009.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should emphasize human rights on her seven-nation trip to Africa.

Human Rights Watch writes to Secretary of State Clinton in advance of her seven-nation tour of Africa to urge her to emphasize good governance, respect for human rights, and the rule of law.

Recognizing our obligation to help protect human rights and uphold the rule of law, we, the undersigned civil society organizations, appeal to African ICC States Parties to reaffirm their support for the ICC and their commitment to abide by their obligations under the Rome Statute, particularly in relation to the arrest and transfer of the President of Sudan to the ICC.

To help establish the rule of law, the EU should support and fund a mechanism to try those most responsible for the crimes suffered by the Congolese people, such as a separate chamber on war crimes in Congo's courts, with the involvement of international judges and prosecutors.