This report argues that urgent measures are needed to strengthen the protection of civilians in North-Kivu. Among these measures are ensuring that the military integration programme underway in the DRC excludes members of armed groups or government soldiers suspected of having committed human rights abuses; that steps are taken to calm ethnic tensions in the province; and that MONUC’s capacity and will to intervene where necessary to protect civilians is reinforced. The rebuilding of the DRC’s justice system is essential in order to end impunity, and because it is fundamental to the success of future peace-building and reconciliation.
