The Congo Tribunal

Keywords

armed groups

1.2

"Even though cruel crimes happen every day, the conscience of the world community remains untouched."

Sylvestre Bisimwa (investigator-in-charge, Bukavu / Berlin) was a lawyer in a mass rape trial committed by the Congolese army in the city of Minova. It is, at present, the only process of this kind. He acts regularly as lawyer for the International Court of Justice in Den Haag.

chairman Bukavu Berlin armed groups FDLR Mai-Mai Rebels Sheka MONUSCO United Nations DR Congo government impunity human rights mining mandate World Bank artisanal mining Dodd-Frank Act Banro MPC / Alphamin

1.3

"Why is it surprising that state structures are disintegrating when corruption has become a national institution?"

Colette Braeckman (member of the jury, Bukavu / Berlin) is a correspondent for the Belgian newspaper Le Soir in Africa. She is an expert on the Congolese war, its history and the involvement of the European governments. Her books about the Mobutu-Era and the Congolese war are considered as standard works.

member of the jury Bukavu Berlin Belgium World Bank Mobutu Rwanda civil war Kabila armed groups FDLR United Nations M23-Rebels mining contracts mining mandate China

3.1

"When the government stopped mining to fight the armed groups, we became unemployed."

Stéphane Ikandi (witness, Bukavu) represents artisanal miners from Bisie and fights for the rights for artisanal miners. He discovered the mine and is the co-founder of the cooperative COMIMPA. In 2011, he had to give up his pit.

witness Bukavu artisanal mining industrial mining expulsion armed groups FARDC MPC / Alphamin mining contracts FDLR local population

3.2

"People from Walikale do not profit from the wealth of raw materials."

Witness B (witness, Bukavu) is a former rebel soldier from the Sheka group that controlled the mine of Bisie.

witness Bukavu armed groups Mai-Mai Rebels Sheka massacres expulsion FARDC MPC / Alphamin mining contracts FDLR rape

3.5

"From which right does the majority benefit and not just national or international elites?"

Wolfgang Kaleck (member of the jury, Berlin) is the General Secretary of the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) in Berlin. The ECCHR is specialized in cases of human rights violation by multinational companies on foreign territories.

member of the jury Berlin World Bank Rwanda armed groups regulation FARDC Dodd-Frank Act OECD European Commission human rights

3.6

"Eastern Congo was an Eldorado for national and international actors during the war."

Christoph Vogel (witness and expert, Berlin) researches the cooperation between transnational regulation and the local mining sector in Eastern Congo as a part of his PhD in political Geograph at the University of Zürich and at the Congo Research Group at the New York University.

witness Berlin artisanal mining Dodd-Frank Act regulation traceability commodity certification Sheka armed groups commodity smuggling

5.5

"There is no clear differentiation between perpetrators, spectators and those who are indirectly involved."

Harald Welzer (member of the jury, Berlin) is a social psychologist, founder and director of the non-profit organization “Futurzwei”. He is an honorary professor at the University of Flensburg and an author (“Climate Wars").

member of the jury Berlin impunity civil war local population expulsion armed groups multinational companies DR Congo government United Nations NGOs regulation human rights