DR Congo: Victims’ lawyers file complaints over alleged crimes against humanity

Lawyers representing victims of kidnappings, massacres and civil society organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo have filed complaints with Belgian and international courts over alleged crimes against humanity. The complaints were submitted on Friday 10 July 2026 to the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office and to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague through an “Article 15 communication”, a procedure allowing individuals or organisations to provide information that may lead to an investigation.

According to the plaintiffs, crimes against humanity have been committed for the past six years against people opposing what they describe as the control of the presidential camp over mining resources in Katanga. A first complaint was filed a year ago in Brussels targeting nine members of President Félix Tshisekedi’s family. The latest legal action focuses on the alleged repression used to maintain control over these resources.

Eleven cases presented

The lawyers highlighted eleven cases in which they claim crimes against humanity have been documented, including hundreds of deaths and injuries during unrest at Makala prison in Kinshasa in 2024, as well as several alleged massacres in Lubumbashi, Kolwezi and other areas of Katanga. Lawyer Hervé Diakiese accused the authorities of relying on the “Force du progrès” militia linked to the ruling UDPS party, as well as on ethnic networks associated with President Félix Tshisekedi.

He referred to alleged speeches promoting a sense of superiority among some members of the president’s ethnic community, saying such rhetoric had also been expressed by certain administrative and state officials.

Calls for international justice

Lawyer Bernard Maingain argued that the Congolese justice system has failed to properly address alleged abuses. “We are exactly in a situation of failure of the judicial system in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said, adding that the conditions for an Article 15 communication under the Rome Statute had been met. The next step now depends on prosecutors in Brussels and The Hague, who must decide whether to open investigations into the allegations.