Landmark Ruling Brings Justice for Survivors of Wartime Sexual Violence in DRC

For more than a decade, the women of Fizi Territory in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, lived with the weight of unspeakable violence and the silence of a justice system that refused to hear them. On New Year’s Day in 2011, Congolese soldiers stormed their communities, raping more than 50 women, torturing others, looting homes, and leaving families shattered. Some women were murdered.

Military trials promised accountability but never delivered. Hearings were delayed, judges failed to appear, and authorities refused to hold mobile courts in the victims’ locality, effectively excluding survivors from the process. Justice seemed permanently out of reach.

Now, in a landmark decision, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has ruled that the DRC is accountable for those atrocities — and must act. The Commission ordered the government to prosecute perpetrators within six months, compensate survivors, and provide free medical and psychological care. It also directed the state to issue a public apology in the affected region, integrate women’s rights into military and judicial training, and publish the decision nationally.

“This milestone recognises sexual violence as a weapon of war, and of the power of legal mechanisms to secure truth, accountability, and change,” said Wivine Kavira of the Association des Femmes Avocates Défenseurs des Droits Humains, one of the groups that brought the case alongside Equality Now and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA).

The Commission’s findings were sweeping. It confirmed that the DRC had violated multiple articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Maputo Protocol, including the rights to life, dignity, health, and protection from torture. Crucially, it acknowledged the gendered nature of the violence, recognising that the attacks were designed to degrade women specifically.

For survivors, the ruling is more than symbolic. Reparations — financial compensation, healthcare, and recognition — offer a chance to rebuild lives long fractured by trauma. “This is not only a legal victory; it is a moral and historic one,” said Esther Waweru, Senior Legal Advisor at Equality Now. “For the 53 Congolese women we represented, this ruling is a long‑overdue recognition of the harms they suffered, and the State’s failure to act.”

The decision also comes at a time when sexual violence in the DRC is escalating once again. In early 2025, the rebel group M23 captured Goma and Bukavu, triggering a surge of attacks. UNICEF reported nearly 10,000 cases of rape and sexual violence in just two months, with children accounting for up to 45% of victims. In this context, the Commission’s ruling is not only a condemnation of past crimes but a direct challenge to ongoing patterns of abuse.

“This decision affirms that African human rights bodies are not just symbolic, but effective accountability tools for gender‑based crimes, especially those committed by state agents during conflict,” said Dr Musa Kika, Executive Director at IHRDA.

For the women of Fizi, the ruling is a long‑awaited recognition of their suffering and a pathway to justice. For the continent, it sets a precedent: states that fail to prevent, punish, and remedy gender‑based violence — especially when committed by their own forces — are in breach of binding obligations.

The ghost of impunity still haunts the DRC. But with this ruling, survivors have forced the state to confront its failures — and reminded the world that justice, though delayed, can still be claimed.