Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, published in January, which found that state agents in that country carried out 1,176 extrajudicial killings in 2017, and that that number has tripled over the past two years.

The British Government is deeply concerned about the increase of extrajudicial killings carried out by state agents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Following the violent clampdown on protestors on 31 December and 21 January, the UK released statements condemning the violence and calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

The UK supported a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in June 2017 mandating an international investigation into the violence in the Kasai regions. We have repeatedly told the DRC government that this investigation must be allowed to operate unobstructed, to hold those responsible in the Kasais to account.

We have also called upon the DRC government, as a HRC member, to demonstrate its commitment to the highest human rights standards and take decisive action against human rights abuses and violations.