Congo's election to the UN's Human Rights Council has been criticized because of the country’s human rights record. "This is like making a pyromaniac the town fire chief," head of the NGO UN Watch, Hillel Neuer, said.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/A. Wandimoyi
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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was one of 15 states chosen on Monday after a vote by the 193-member General Assembly as rights representatives for three-year terms starting in January 2018.
Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Chile, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Qatar, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine were also elected.
The Human Rights Council is made up of 47 UN member states elected through direct and secret ballots.
While Congo was elected uncontested to the 47-member Geneva-based council, it still needed majority support. The country – which has been beset by political and militia violence since President Joseph Kabila refused to step down in December – won 151 votes.
Violence in eastern and central Congo has displaced 1.5 million in the last year and reopened fears of civil war.
Conflict in 1996-2003 resulted in millions of deaths and created conditions in which dozens of armed groups emerged.
Democratic Republic of Congo: The displaced people of Kalemie
More than 200,000 internally displaced people live in 17 provisional refugee camps around the city of Kalemie, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The conditions are hard, but better than those at home.
Image: Lena Mucha
Evening at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp
Two children run around at dusk in the Kalenge refuge camp for IDPs. Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes after fighting broke out in the province of Tanganyika in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Now, many live in camps in the city of Kalemie and its surroundings. Among them are many children, who were separated from their parents.
Image: Lena Mucha
Flammable buildings
The IDPs at the Kalenge refugee camp live in huts made of straw. Frequent fire outbreaks often spread rapidly from house to house. The situation is similar in other camps in the region. In June alone, the Moni, Lukwangulo, Kabubili, Kateke and Katanyika camps burned down. In August, half of Kakinga camp burned down, resulting in the death of a child.
Image: Lena Mucha
School becomes an emergency shelter
These children are in the Circle Filtsaf Primary School in Kalemie, but they are not here to learn. They were placed here after being driven out of Tabacongo in early May. Some of them suffer from diseases and malnutrition.
Image: Lena Mucha
Bacteria in blood
Employees of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders are testing for malaria in this provisional clinic. 70 to 80 percent of the population in the Kalunga refugee camp is said to be carriers of the Malaria bacteria. The doctors also treat children who are malnourished or suffering from measles.
Image: Lena Mucha
Fleeing as a family
"Our children and old people are dying," said Kisompo Selemani [In photo: 2nd from left]. The chief of the Twa people has been living with his wife and four children in Kilunga since November. The family had to leave their village when it came under attack by another Twa faction. "The government has to do something so that we can return to our villages," said the 64 year old.
Image: Lena Mucha
No education
Throughout the camp, there are no schools or other activities for children.
Image: Lena Mucha
Making a living
A woman sells cigarettes, flashlights and manioc with her children at the Kilunga refugee camp. Many of the displaced persons eat only one meal per day, mostly manioc flour and leaves.
Image: Lena Mucha
In search of clean water
While children in Mukuku play football, women transport water canisters. There is a lack of clean water. This increases the risk of contagious diseases such as cholera, which is transmitted via contaminated water.
Image: Lena Mucha
Looking for work
The security situation in the region is still volatile. Many displaced people are seeking safety in and around Kalemie. To earn some money, they work on the fields in the surrounding villages or collect firewood for sale.
Image: Lena Mucha
Temporary settlement or a new beginning?
Life in the refugee camp is not easy. Yet, it is much better here for many of the displaced persons. Most of them witnessed serious violence before they fled. According to Doctors Without Borders, there is a desperate need for psychological care.
Image: Lena Mucha
Mosquitoes a deadly threat
In the Kalonda refugee camp, 69-year-old Kabeja Kanusiki cares for her sick grandchildren. The mosquito net in the background is intended to protect them against malaria, which can be dangerous for children in particular. Altogether about 210,000 displaced persons live in about 17 non-official camps around Kalemie.
Image: Lena Mucha
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Criticism
"This is a slap in the face to the many victims of the Congolese government's grave abuses across the country," Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Of more than 5,190 human rights violations and abuses recorded in the DRC in 2016, 64 percent were committed by the Congolese army and police, according to the UN's Human Rights Office.
"This is like making a pyromaniac the town fire chief," said the head of the NGO UN Watch, Hillel Neuer.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, who has been calling for reform to the Human Rights Council, said the council should be "a unified voice of moral clarity with backbone and integrity to call out abusive governments."
"This election has once again proven that the Human Rights Council, as presently constituted, is not that voice," Haley said in a statement.
"Political repression, civilian attacks, mass graves. What happened in DRC last year makes their election to the Human Rights council entirely disappointing," British UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft posted on Twitter.
