29 September - 3 October 2013 | Kinshasa

From 29 September to 3 October 2013, PGA conducted a field mission in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC) in the framework of the PGA Complementarity Project to generate political will for the fight against impunity through genuine domestic investigations and prosecutions and the fulfilment of the rights of victims. In addition, the PGA team also succeeded in advancing the position of the Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC in support of the ICC and against the withdrawal of African States Parties from the Rome Statute.

The PGA delegation met with many Parliamentarians (Deputies and Senators), stakeholders and relevant actors in the DRC who all agreed that the principle of complementarity necessitates the full implementation of the Rome Statute of the ICC within the Congolese legal order. During the mission, the agenda of the National Assembly was published and PGA was able to confirm that, as a result of PGA members’ efforts in the National Assembly and following the PGA Seminar for Legislators on measures to implement the principle of complementarity between domestic jurisdiction and the ICC held in the Parliament of the DRC on 12-13 June 2013, the ICC implementing legislation tabled by PGA Member Dep. Balamage in September 2012 was included as a priority-item in the agenda of the PAJ Committee (Political, administrative and legal affairs). Senate leaders have also confirmed their mobilisation for a prompt treatment and adoption after first-reading adoption by Lower House.

In addition, PGA is particularly pleased that its current and former members ensured the inclusion of (i) the fight against impunity, (ii) the adoption of the ICC implementing legislation and (iii) the creation of a mechanism for the reparations of victims in the conclusions of the “Concertations Nationales”, national consultations that were convened by the Government and held in the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the end of September.

This was notably confirmed by the Speaker of the National Assembly and PGA member Hon. Aubin Minaku, who submitted the synthesis of the “National Concertations” on 5 October to the President of the DRC, Mr. Kabila, and who reiterated to the PGA Delegation on 2 October his unreserved commitment to the domestic implementation of the Rome Statute (among the first 5 priority items for his Chamber current agenda).

In fact, during the bilateral meeting between a PGA delegation led by Dep. Dieudonne Upira (Province Orientale), Chair of the PGA DRC National Group, and the Speaker, in response to a solicitation made PGA Member Juliette Mbambo MP (North Kivu), Hon. Minaku agreed to discuss with President Kabila of the Summit of the African Union on the ICC, which will be held in Addis Ababa 11-12 October 2013 and during which a position of the African Union inviting Member States to withdraw from the ICC will be discussed. Expressing his personal opinion, Mr. Minaku stated that the DRC “must take the side of the victim, the African victim who deserves justice, and without prejudice to geostrategic interests, the DRC shall maintain its support and cooperation for the ICC, within the Rome Statute". Parliamentarians for Global Action and the Lower House of the Colombian Parliament will extend an invitation to Mr. Minaku to address the 2013 Annual Forum of PGA, to be held in Bogota’ on 9-10 December 2013 on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, on the following topic: "The DRC contribution to the development of international criminal justice".

The PGA delegation also met with representatives of the international donors’ community for the justice sector (including Belgium, France, the EU, Italy, the Netherlands and the United States): The outcome of these meetings, particularly the one with the Head of the EU Delegation in the DRC, reinforced the commitment of the leaders of the PGA DRC Group to pursue the cause of the ICC and the fight against impunity.

Finally, the PGA delegation met with the Procureur général de la République in order to establish a dialogue and a solid basis for future cooperation with the Parliament of the DRC once the ICC implementing legislation will be adopted, so as to ensure that the priorities and concerns on the fight against impunity of his office will be taken into account by Legislators and that mutual communication between the two institutions is put in place.