Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the implementation of the Rome statute in that country and training of its armed forces in human rights observance.

I have had no discussions with my counterpart in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) about the implementation of the Rome statue in the DRC. On 11 June 2014 the then Minister for Africa discussed with the DRC’s representative to the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict Summit (the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence and Veteran Affairs) the importance of ensuring there is no impunity for those responsible for human rights abuses.

The DRC has not yet adopted the necessary legislation to incorporate the Rome Statute into domestic law. We urge it to do so and look forward to engaging the newly appointed Justice Minister on this and other related issues. Those responsible for abuses must be held to account, and law reform remains necessary to improving victims’ access to justice. We also support training of the Congolese Army in human rights and the tackling of sexual violence, through our contributions to EU Security Sector Reform Mission (EUSEC), the EU’s mission to the DRC focused on Security Sector Reform (SSR). This is helping to change attitudes and ways of operating, although there is still a long way to go.