A/HRC/41/31 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 7 May 2019 English Original: French Human Rights Council Forty-first session 24 June–12 July 2019 Agenda items 2 and 10 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Technical assistance and capacity-building Report of the team of international experts on the situation in Kasai Summary This report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 38/20 of 6 July 2018, in which the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to appoint a new team of international experts to support the implementation of the recommendations made by the previous team. Many changes have taken place since then, including the election of Félix Tshisekedi as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 30 December 2018, which marked the start of a transition that is still under way. In addition, Kasai has faced an influx of several hundred thousand people who have been forced to leave neighbouring Angola. In order to resolve the crisis, the team of international experts recommends stepping up efforts to combat impunity in Kasai by introducing a more focused prosecution policy that targets specific types of offence and a particular range of groups in such a way as to encompass all the international crimes that have been committed in Kasai, the scale and gravity of which are undeniable. It is urgently necessary to strengthen national prosecution and trial capacities so as to be able to reduce the international presence. A prosecution policy of this kind would be a chance to take advantage of the window of opportunity for peace and reconciliation that remains open in Kasai. It must be combined with the urgent introduction of a policy aimed at reconciling communities, disarming and integrating members of all militia groups and reducing the military presence in Kasai, and the establishment of a transitional justice mechanism that is culturally and legally appropriate. This transitional justice mechanism must involve searching for the root causes of the conflict, establishing the truth and providing redress, identifying the reforms that are needed and creating a culture of peace, dialogue and tolerance. Lastly, the economic and social causes of the current crisis, which has particularly affected young persons and women, require the rapid implementation of a policy for the reconstruction and development of Kasai, accompanied by the injection of specially dedicated funds. GE.19-07485 (E) 280519 290519 