8 June 2022
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should urgently support both formal and informal justice processes to protect victims and witnesses of mass human rights atrocities. This is according to new research by Impunity Watch and ULPGL Goma (Free University of the Great Lakes Region).
The research examines the most prominent informal transitional justice mechanism in the DRC, the barza intercommunautaire. This mechanism is rooted in ancestral practices that focus on mediation and restoring peace. It looks at how victims and survivors are using the barza in the absence of formal justice processes, and the challenges that impede their participation.
The DRC has experienced 32 years of military dictatorship and more than 20 years of armed conflicts. The latter are characterised by absolute power, violent suppression of dissent, and a brutal one-party rule.
Informal transitional justice: the barza communautaire
Despite some transitional justice experiences such as the Sovereign National Conference and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, countless victims are still waiting for justice.
In the absence of, and as a complement to an envisaged formal transitional justice path in the DRC, the barza intercommunautaire remains an important tool to bring divided communities together.
Consequently, the barza must be included alongisde formal mechanisms, such as criminal justice, reparation, truth-seeking and guarantees of non recurrence.
Recommendations from the research came from input from 42 key informants and 15 focus group discussions. Equally important, they include strategies to provide a gender-inclusive approach to support victims and embed the barza intercommunautaire into the grassroots.
This research is part of a broader multi-year comparative research project: ‘Promoting access to justice through victim participation: Foregrounding informal processes’, implemented by Impunity Watch and research teams from the DRC, Colombia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Syria, and Tunisia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands have funded the project.
Download the report here:
And watch a video on the subject of victim participation in informal justice processes here.
Find out more about our work in the DRC.
Image: Getty Images