UN rights expert welcomes abolishment of military tribunal in DR of Congo

The top United Nations expert on human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has welcomed the government's decision to abolish the country's military tribunal and court prosecutor's office.

In a statement issued yesterday in Geneva, Iulia Motoc, the Commission on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DRC, welcomed the Government's decision to eliminate the military tribunal - la Cour d'Ordre Militaire - and court prosecutor's office, military institutions which did not meet international fair trial standards.

She said that this step represented important progress for the administration of justice in the DRC and encouraged the Government to continue in the same direction.