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Today, the Council for the Examination of Atrocities in the DRC (https://CEADRC.org/) has launched.

Co-chaired by prominent Congolese human rights activist Julienne Lusenge and Sir Howard Morrison KC, one of the UK's foremost specialists in international criminal and humanitarian law, the Council will advise two Congolese institutions - the National Fund for Reparations for Victims of Sexual Violence (FONAREV) and the Interministerial Commission for Victim Assistance and Reform Support (CIA-VAR) as they work towards transitional justice for the people of the DRC.

Examining the findings of the 2010 UN mapping report (https://apo-opa.co/4yp6wVu) and recent human rights violations in the ongoing conflict in Eastern DRC, the Council will provide expert insight on the legal and diplomatic processes required to secure formal recognition of atrocities committed over the last three decades, and accountability for their perpetrators.   

It is made up of leading figures from across international law, diplomacy and academia.

Alongside its co-chairs, the Council's members are:

• Patrick Hayford, former Ghanaian career diplomat and Director of the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa.
• Stephen Rapp, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues.
• Nina Jørgensen, British-Norwegian international judge at The Hague and leading academic at the University of Southampton.
• Pascal Turlan, French expert in international criminal justice and accountability, and former official in the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

The Council held its inaugural meeting on Monday 13^th July 2026. During the meeting, members were presented with an update on FONAREV and CIA-VAR's work - specifically their Plus Jamais Seuls; Nos Voix Pour Elles; Ne Pas Oublier advocacy campaigns - as well as their programmes on access to transitional justice, urgent provisional measures in areas still affected by conflict, and rehabilitation initiatives for victims where violence has had lasting impacts.

At UNGA 80 in September 2025, President Tshisekedi used his keynote address (https://apo-opa.co/4pGPsqd) to call on UN member states to recognise a “silent genocide” in the DRC over the past three decades. He called for an independent international commission of inquiry to help “break the cycle of impunity”, and for UN sanctions against the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the east of the country.

In the initial meeting, Julienne Lusenge echoed this domestic sentiment, stating that “the first mission of the Council will be to break the silence”.

Last month, the DRC filed (https://apo-opa.co/4f4FsDq) a petition in the ICJ accusing Rwanda of breaking the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. The Council members also discussed this, noting that although the Council is independent and separate from this process, it will play a key role advising FONAREV and CIA-VAR on navigating the proceedings as they progress.

Director General of FONAREV, Patrick Fata Makunga:

“The formation of the Council for the Examination of Atrocities in the DRC marks a further major step in the quest for truth, justice and reparation for the victims of grave crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Following the government's filing before the International Court of Justice, the Council is more important than ever; it will provide vital guidance to FONAREV and CIA-VAR as we navigate the ICJ process ahead and any other legal or diplomatic avenues. With the guidance of these eminent international figures, we reaffirm that lasting peace cannot be built without recognition of suffering, responsibility and full reparation for victims.”

Executive Coordinator of CIA-VAR, François Kakese Kimaza:

“The establishment of this Council for the Examination of Atrocities in the DRC ahead of the third annual Genocost Day reflects the shared mission of FONAREV and CIA-VAR to bring before the international community the voice of victims and the demand for truth. We are honoured by the calibre of expertise this Council brings together, spanning human rights, international law and diplomacy. For CIA-VAR, this step is part of an essential struggle for the international recognition, accountability and reparation of grave crimes committed on our territory, in direct alignment with the national strategy of which CIA-VAR ensures the technical implementation."

Co-chairs of the Council for the Examination of Atrocities in the DRC, Julienne Lusenge and Sir Howard Morrison KC:

“For the last three decades, atrocities have been inflicted on the Congolese people at a scale reminiscent of the darkest incidents in human history.

“And yet, the stories of victims and survivors - their names and suffering - for too long have been ignored.

“Perpetrators of war crimes were able to act with impunity, shrouded by a veil of apathy amongst the international community who, for 30 years, have failed to provide recourse to formal recognition and justice.

“We are immensely proud to be leading this joint international effort to help find a path to transitional justice for the Congolese people.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of CEADRC.

Notes to Editor:

• Council for the Examination of Atrocities in the DRC website: https://CEADRC.org/
•  Full biographies of Council members:

Julienne Lusenge, Co-Chair

Julienne Lusenge is one of Africa's most prominent advocates for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, with over four decades of frontline experience in the DRC.

She is co-founder and President of Solidarité Féminine pour la Paix et le Développement Intégral (SOFEPADI), a coalition of forty women's organisations, and founder and Executive Director of the Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises (FFC), which channels international donor resources to more than 250 women-led local organisations across fourteen DRC provinces.

Her work has directly supported the prosecution of over 800 perpetrators of gender-based violence and war crimes, and SOFEPADI's medical centre has treated more than 7,500 survivors.

In 2020 the World Health Organization appointed her co-chair of an independent commission investigating sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian workers during the 2018 Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

Her recognition includes the US State Department's International Women of Courage Award (2021), the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity (2021) and inclusion in TIME's 100 Most Influential People (2024).

Sir Howard Morrison KC, Co-Chair

Sir Howard Morrison KC is one of the United Kingdom's foremost specialists in international criminal and humanitarian law, with a legal career spanning nearly five decades.

He began as a UK barrister before serving as a Senior Circuit Judge and Senior Justice of the UK Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, then as UK judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where he presided over the trial of Radovan Karadžić, and subsequently as UK judge at the International Criminal Court, serving two terms as President of the Appeals Division.

In recognition of his services to international law he was appointed OBE, CBE and KCMG. He holds academic appointments as Visiting Professor at Northumbria University, Honorary Professor at Leicester University, an honorary doctorate of law, and is a Senior Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at Cambridge University.

He currently serves as the UK's Independent Advisor to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General and President of the Court of Appeal of the British Indian Ocean Territories, training judges in Iraq and Ukraine on war crimes cases and lecturing worldwide on international criminal and humanitarian law. He is a special advisor to the UK Ministry of Defence on the laws of armed conflict and a Master of the Bench of Gray's Inn.

Patrick Hayford

Patrick Hayford is a retired Ghanaian career diplomat with five decades of experience in international diplomacy mainly on multilateral issues.

Between 2006 and 2012 he served at the United Nations headquarters Secretariat in New York as the Director , Office of the Special Adviser on Africa  before which time he was the Director for Africa and Regional Affairs in the Executive Office of United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan (1999-2005 ).

Ambassador Hayford served between 1996 and 1997 as Ghana's Acting High Commissioner (Ambassador), to the U.K. and then as Ghana's High Commissioner (Ambassador) to South Africa, Mauritius, Lesotho, the Comoros, and the Seychelles (1997-1999). 

His career in international affairs began in September, 1974 . He also served tours of duty in New York and in Cairo. At the Accra headquarters of Ghana's Foreign Ministry he held multiple responsibilities including head of the International Organizations and Conferences Department.

Stephen Rapp

Stephen J. Rapp is a leading figure in international accountability, having served as the fourth United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, leading the Office of Global Criminal Justice from 2009 to 2015 under President Obama.

He previously served as Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) from 2007 to 2009 and Chief of Prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) from 2001 to 2007.

At the ICTR, Rapp led the prosecution in the Nahimana case, securing the first convictions of media figures for direct and public incitement to genocide, and he also led the prosecution at the SCSL of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. His prosecutorial approach is recognised for its victim-centred strategy and for advancing the recognition of sexual and gender-based violence as an international crime.

Since 2015 he has held a portfolio of academic and advisory roles, including Global Prevention Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Senior Fellow at Georgetown Law's Center on National Security, Fellow of Practice of Oxford's Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict, Distinguished Fellow at the Hague Institute for Global Justice, and Chair of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA).

Nina Jørgensen

Professor Nina Jørgensen is a British and Norwegian academic and sitting international judge whose career bridges scholarship and international criminal justice.

She has served as Professor of Public International Law at the University of Southampton since 2019 and as a Judge on the Appeals Chamber of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague since 2020. She is a barrister in England and Wales, called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1999.

Her career of approximately twenty-five years spans international criminal tribunals including the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the ICTY and the ICTR, alongside academic posts at Leiden University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Southampton. She obtained her doctorate from the University of Oxford and has published widely in international law, including two monographs, an edited collection and numerous peer-reviewed articles.

Pascal Turlan

Pascal Turlan is a French international lawyer with over 25 years of experience in international criminal justice, international human rights law, and international cooperation. A leading expert in international criminal law, he has dedicated his career to advancing justice and accountability on the global stage.

Based in The Hague, he spent nearly two decades at the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), rising from Situation Analyst to Adviser and Head of Judicial Cooperation, and began working on the Democratic Republic of the Congo situation as early as 2003.
Earlier in his career, he played a pivotal role in establishing international justice mechanisms, including working at the French Ministry of Justice and the Sierra Leone Ministry of Justice, where he contributed to the setting up of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and in humanitarian contexts, collaborating with Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde.

In recent years, he has served as Legal and Programme Director for Project Expedite Justice's Ukraine programme. Currently, he combines high-level consultancy work on accountability and justice sector reform with organizations such as the International Development Law Organization, the EU Pravo-Justice project, and Truth Hounds International, with academic roles at Sciences Po Paris and France's École Nationale de la Magistrature.

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The Government of Uganda is considering recruiting skilled Ugandans recently repatriated from South Africa into the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) as part of wider efforts to reintegrate them into the country's workforce and harness their expertise for national development.

​The Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde, said he would engage the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, on the possibility of recruiting qualified returnees who have expressed interest in serving in the military.

Lt. Gen. Tumukunde made the remarks on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, while delivering a lecture on employment and reintegration opportunities to more than 1,000 returnees currently undergoing rehabilitation and ideological orientation at the National Leadership Institute (NALI), Kyankwanzi.

During the interactive session, many of the returnees expressed a desire to join the UPDF, citing their professional experience in driving, forensic investigations, machine operation, and other technical fields.

“We have many of them who are drivers, and I think the army wouldn't mind having professional drivers. We shall discuss with General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who has been very helpful in bringing these people back, to see whether we can absorb some of them directly because they are very skilled,” Lt. Gen. Tumukunde said.

He noted that many of the returnees had worked as Uber drivers and in other specialised occupations in South Africa, making them a valuable human resource for Uganda.

According to the minister, the 1,030 Ugandans currently undergoing the re-entry programme at Kyankwanzi, including 331 children, represent a significant pool of skills acquired while living and working abroad.

“I must say that this is a very big pool of skilled people, ranging from plumbers, refrigeration and cooling systems technicians, dog handlers and trainers, machine operators, and many other professions,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Tumukunde said the government had initially anticipated challenges in reintegrating the returnees but had instead found a disciplined, resilient, and highly skilled group capable of making meaningful contributions to the country's socio-economic transformation.

“I came here worried that we were going to receive people who would struggle to fit into our society, but I am extremely impressed. Despite what we are calling a bad experience, Uganda is receiving back people with valuable skills,” he said.

He added that the government intends to identify highly skilled individuals and facilitate their involvement in training fellow Ugandans, while supporting others to establish businesses through existing government empowerment programmes.

“We shall ensure that those who are highly skilled are supported to teach others. Those who want to start businesses will receive assistance, and we are also organising them into a pool of skilled workers so that Ugandans can easily access their services,” he said.

The minister highlighted several government initiatives that will support the returnees, including the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) Project, the Youth Livelihood Programme, and Emyooga.

He also urged the returnees to remain law-abiding citizens as they reintegrate into society.

“I warned them about lawlessness because South Africa has developed tendencies towards lawlessness. That is not something we are going to accommodate here,” Lt. Gen. Tumukunde said.

Expressing optimism about Uganda's capacity to receive more citizens returning home, he said the government remains committed to welcoming all Ugandans who choose to return.

“Enjovu teremererwa masanga gaayo' (An elephant is never burdened by its own tusks). We shall receive them. They are in a very good mood, very impressive, and they will receive certificates after completing this re-entry course,” he added.

The minister further observed that although reports indicate that about one million Ugandans are living in South Africa, only about 1,000 have so far returned under the first phase of the voluntary repatriation exercise.

“We need to be even more receptive to their return,” he said.

Speaking on Africa's future, Lt. Gen. Tumukunde emphasised that the continent's development must remain the responsibility of Africans.

“Either way, the business of developing Africa is ours,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the NRM Chapter in South Africa, Mr. Luzige Isma, appealed to Ugandans still living in South Africa who wish to return home to remain calm and patient as the government prepares subsequent phases of the voluntary repatriation programme.

He urged them to stay safe and continue following official communication from the Government of Uganda.

The rehabilitation and ideological orientation programme at NALI Kyankwanzi is being coordinated by the National Secretariat for Patriotism Corps under the leadership of Commissioner Hellen Seku.

The day's programme also featured presentations by the Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre, Mr. Alan Kasujja, and the Uganda Police Force spokesperson, ACP Kituuma Rusoke, who guided the returnees on responsible citizenship, personal security, crime prevention, and the responsible use of social media as they prepare to reintegrate into Ugandan society.

The returnees are expected to complete the programme on Friday, July 17, 2026, during a pass-out ceremony to be presided over by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who spearheaded the repatriation initiative following the recent xenophobic violence in South Africa.

The programme is designed to provide ideological orientation, facilitate the returnees' successful reintegration into Ugandan society, and connect them with government programmes that promote employment, skills development, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Uganda.