Statement on the TFV mission to Bunia (DRC), Franziska Eckelmans, Acting Executive Director of the TFV, 8 Nov 2022

Photo: TFV Acting Executive Director Franziska Eckelmans with TFV beneficiary in the DRC.

From 31 October to 4 November 2022, the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) together with the Ambassadors of Canada, the Netherlands and Senegal to the DRC, met beneficiaries and partners of the Lubanga and Katanga reparation programmes and the Eastern DRC assistance programme.

 

Our mission was marked by the ongoing conflict in the three Eastern Provinces of DRC, one of the longest of our times, and took place despite the currently ongoing fighting in the outskirts of Goma.

The TFV’s Court-ordered reparation programmes in Ituri Province focus on the victims of what the Congolese refer to as the 2002-2003 war. Beneficiaries described how they continued over two decades to suffer physically and mentally from the crimes and how the reparations changed their lives. One former child soldier came to meet us with her new-born: She described how the reparations enable her to make an income and to provide for her oldest son born out of sexual violence at the time when she was a child soldier to get an education. With relief, she said: “In addition, I can now give money to my son when he comes to me and needs something.”   

The commitment and expertise of all our partner organisations involved in the multi-faceted service- based reparation programme and, in particular, the fact that many of them are rooted in Bunia or Eastern DRC impressed the three Ambassadors deeply. They expressed their conviction as to the need for reparative justice and noted with clear appreciation the individualised impact aimed at transforming the victims’ lives.

At the end of the mission, the Ambassadors and I shared the insight that providing reparative justice even though there is an ongoing conflict is essential. Victims explained that they waited for them and that they changed their lives.

On the ongoing conflict, victims of sexual and gender based violence reported about militia groups committing such crimes, while the women sought to satisfy the basic needs of their families. These victims are beneficiaries of the TFV’s assistance programmes, and also told us how these programmes helped them to overcome the stigmatisation and physical harm they had suffered in the aftermath of these crimes. Our partners pleaded strongly for more resources as the numbers and needs of the victims are so high, that their actions feel like drops in an ocean.

The Ambassadors and I have come out of this mission with the strong conviction that peace is urgently required for the people of Eastern DRC. But even more, justice is needed to work against the pervasive impunity with which Rome Statute crimes are committed currently in Eastern DRC.

The Ambassadors underlined the need for us to continue our work in Eastern DRC. For that, we urgently need increased voluntary contributions over the next months and the support of, in particular States, to do so. We will publish a call for funds separately.

We welcome the strong support provided by the Governor of Ituri to the TFV during this mission and express our gratefulness for the warm welcome and insights shared. He welcomed the Ambassadors warmly as a first visit of Ambassadors to Ituri Province in a long time. In addition, he expressed that he was impressed by the courage of the beneficiaries to speak about their suffering and underlined the need to end impunity, but also the need for the communities to find a way to live together peacefully.

This mission had not been possible without the support of the ICC’s Country Office in Bunia and of MONUSCO. They provided excellent logistical and security services.

I departed with the insight that implementing Court-ordered reparations in Ituri is dependent on the support of the ICC’s Country Office given the extremely challenging circumstances in the area. Their support to date is highly appreciated and essential to the success of the ICC’s and TFV’s reparative justice mandate.

Finally, we strongly thank the Ambassadors of Canada, the Netherlands and Senegal for taking part in this mission and a strong interest in our work and the governments of these countries for their important financial and political support to the Trust Fund for Victims until today.

For more information about the Trust Fund for Victims, please contact Kizita Forgwe on +237 776 744 70, or email: trustfundforvictims@icc-cpi.int or visit: www.trustfundforvictims.org

 

Updated information on Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) TFV programme activities in 2022 can be accessed here.