Association des femmes avocates défenseurs des droits humains, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa & Equality Now v. DRC, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 2025

This case arose from a January 2011 incident in Fizi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congolese soldiers had carried out a retaliatory military operation against civilians following the killing of a fellow soldier. This resulted in mass arrests, the collective rape of women, torture, destruction of property, and other abuses against fifty-three women and one man. Although domestic military courts initially convicted several soldiers and ordered compensation, the appeals process before the High Military Court stalled for years, leaving victims without effective remedies or reparations. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that the prolonged and inaccessible domestic proceedings rendered the local remedies ineffective, and held that the Democratic Republic of the Congo violated multiple provisions of the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol, including rights to dignity, freedom from torture, liberty and security, access to justice, and the special protection of women. The Commission concluded that the sexual violence constituted torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment attributable to the state, and it emphasized that delayed justice, procedural obstruction, and failure to provide reparations perpetuated the violations suffered by the victims.