United Nations Has a Responsibility in Congo

The continued violent protest due to the intended postponement of presidential elections has led to the death of dozens of Congolese. If President Joseph Kabila were to extend his term, there would be further violence which could lead to the death of millions of people, such as in the Congolese conflict of 1998 to 2003. I have seen firsthand the suffering and deprivation of human rights in the resulting influx of refugees to neighboring countries. When I conducted my Ph.D. research in Tanzania’s Nyarugusu Camp, refugees from Congo and the Great Lakes region told me their stories of torture, trauma, rape, hunger, insecurity — and the neglect of the international community.

It is the responsibility of the state to protect its population. Since the Congolese government is failing to do so, its citizens should therefore be protected by the international community. As stated in the United Nations Responsibility to Protect resolution, established by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/1 (2005): “Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.” In the event of a state’s manifest failure to do so, the United Nations confirmed that the international community was prepared to take “collective action” in a “timely and decisive manner.”