Photo: Michael J. (MJ) Sharp visits with Elizabeth Namavu and children in Mubimbi Camp, one of the camps for displaced people in eastern Congo. Photo by MCC/Jana Asenbrennerova. 

On June 23, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations approved a resolution to send experts to the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate violence in the Kasai region. The region has been marked by violence, including the deaths of Michael (MJ) Sharp, UN expert and Mennonite, and his co-worker, Zaida Catalan, on March 27.

The UN resolution, passed by consensus, calls for investigation into “alleged human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law in the Kasai regions.” Since 2016, says the UN, 1.3 million people from the Kasais have been internally displaced by the violence, while some 30,000 refugees have fled to Angola. The New York Times reports that the Congolese government has resisted such investigations.

Congolese Mennonites in the area are also feeling the effects of the violence.

“The church has sustained major wounds both to its people and its infrastructure,” says Adolphe Komuesa Kalunga, national president of Communauté Mennonite au Congo (Mennonite Church of Congo). Fighting forced the suspension of classes at Kalonda Bible Institute, and many church members are in hiding or reporting damage to church and school buildings.

According to John Sharp, MJ’s father, the resolution represents progress but “falls short of the goal.” The DRC government has made a number of arrests, claiming that some of those arrested are responsible for MJ and Catalan’s deaths. This “may or may not be legit,” says John Sharp.

In an article for Human Rights Watch, Ida Sawyer, the organization’s director for the Central Africa region, states that this investigation is an important “step toward justice” but that “the resolution doesn’t go as far as the situation warrants. It doesn’t go as far as the thousands of victims in the Kasais deserve.”

Sawyer notes that while Congolese government representatives have agreed to cooperate with the team of experts, some Congolese officials have celebrated the resolution and have said the investigation will not be independent but will support current government efforts. Human Rights Watch is urging the International Criminal Court to get involved in investigating the violence in the Kasai region.

According to John Sharp, current advocacy efforts are focusing on calling senators, especially those on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to continue to advocate for a full-fledged independent investigation. Tom Udall, Senator from New Mexico, is taking the lead on this, and Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas has promised his support. Sharp urges individuals in other states where senators serve on the Foreign Relations Committee to continue to call on their senators to support an independent investigation, too.