Congo forms war crimes council to seek justice for eastern atrocities

Congo announced a new advisory council in Bunia on July 15 to support its push for accountability over atrocities in the country’s conflict-ridden east, bringing senior war-crimes lawyers from the United States and Europe into a process long dominated by Congolese institutions. The Council for the Examination of Atrocities in the DRC is meant to advise two state bodies as they seek legal recognition of crimes and reparations for victims.

The council is co-chaired by Julienne Lusenge, a veteran Congolese human-rights defender who has documented sexual violence in eastern Congo for years, and Howard Morrison, a British lawyer and former judge at the International Criminal Court and the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Its other members include Stephen Rapp, the former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues who prosecuted former Liberian President Charles Taylor, and Pascal Turlan, a former senior ICC official with 25 years of experience in international criminal law, human rights law and international cooperation.

The move comes against the backdrop of a conflict shaped for decades by dozens of armed groups, competition over mineral resources and the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. Many perpetrators fled into eastern Congo after the genocide, feeding cycles of violence that have continued across North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. President Felix Tshisekedi called the crisis a silent genocide and called for an international commission of inquiry.

Congo filed a case at the International Court of Justice on June 26 accusing Rwanda of breaching international conventions on genocide, racial discrimination and torture, and says the claims cover alleged atrocities from 1996 to the present.

On Feb. 27, 2025, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs put the number of people in Congo affected by crises at 11 million and the internally displaced at 7.8 million. In 2026, the displaced population stood at 5.8 million, with 90% in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. The United States imposed sanctions on Rwanda’s military and four top commanders on March 2, 2026 over support for AFC/M23, and M23 fighters captured Uvira after the Dec. 4, 2025 Washington Accords declaration.