The
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has won a seat on the UN Human Rights
Council. This could be a prank, but such matters should be taken seriously.
Following
a UN General Assembly vote, DRC along with 14 other countries will join a
47-member "club" from January next year until the end of 2020.
Despite
the huge criticisms from various political quarters, due to the “Dantesque”
record the Joseph Kabila’s government presents, constantly disrespecting human
rights, the vote in the Assembly gave DRC 151 votes.
The DRC has been devastated by a
series of conflicts throughout its history, the result of its endless natural
resources, which has carried out countries and warring factions in permanent
harassment for the pursuit of power.
One
mustn’t forget President Joseph Kabila refused to resign from the presidency in
December 2016 and this situation has been responsible for a considerable
increase of violence. In the last year, the number of refugees has spread in
the central and eastern part of the country - 1.5 million.
Government
security forces are accused of being responsible for most of the violence in
the Kasai region, where around 5000 people were killed and almost 100 mass
graves were identified.
In
such complex and vicious arena one may observe only in a full year, what kind
of ethics does this UN human rights council have? Should we believe it is a
credible UN body at the global level?
Miguel Verde - Senior Consultant, Professor of
International Relations
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