Human Rights Watch is pleased with the implementation six months ago of a program for the urgent restoration of the criminal justice system in Bunia, Ituri province ("the program"). This program is the result of a joint effort by the government of the DRC, the European Commission (EC), and the Cooperation Department of the French government (French Cooperation). It aims to restore quickly judicial structures in the Ituri district in order to put an end to the impunity that has fostered the cycles of violence and serious crimes there since 1998.
This document is not an exhaustive evaluation of all the obstacles and accomplishments of the program. It selects the most salient ones with a view to identifying the challenges that will loom ahead in the fight against impunity in Ituri. It is based essentially on in-depth interviews carried out by Human Rights Watch in Bunia and Kinshasa with members of the judiciary, government officials, representatives of U.N. agencies and European institutions involved in the program, and members of national and international nongovernmental organizations involved in the operation of the judicial system in Ituri. The main objective of this document is to contribute to the improvement of the ability of the courts in Bunia to prosecute the perpetrators of the most serious violations of human rights. It makes recommendations to this end, which Human Rights Watch hopes will be taken into account as the second phase of the program is negotiated.
