A/HRC/45/50 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 27 August 2020 English Original: French Human Rights Council Forty-fifth session 14 September–2 October 2020 Agenda item 10 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 41/26 of 12 July 2019, which renewed the mandate of the team of international experts on the situation in Kasai and requested it to submit a final report to the Council at its forty-fifth session. The report, preceded by an oral report from early March whose presentation was postponed to 17 June 2020, covers the period from July 2019 to August 2020. Its submission takes place in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which has had a negative impact on the implementation of the mandate of the team of international experts. The period in question was marked by a relative lull in the violence in the Kasai region, despite daily human rights violations, continuing crime and a worsened humanitarian situation. There is a serious humanitarian crisis there due to the massive return of several hundred thousand Congolese nationals, most of whom were expelled by the Angolan authorities, supposedly to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by relieving crowding at prisons and expelling undocumented foreigners. The problem is compounded by a difficult political context, with several provincial assemblies and governments in crisis. Despite this difficult context, the team of international experts has noted definite progress in the judicial processing of cases opened in the context of the crisis affecting Kasai between 2016 and 2018. Such progress, however, falls short, as the fight against impunity is still a challenge that is far from being met by the Congolese justice system. Several recommendations made in previous reports have not yet been implemented by the State; such is the case for the disarmament of all militia members, followed by their social and economic reintegration; the freeing of the women taken hostage by the Bana Mura militia; and the provision of sufficient human and material resources to the judiciary to enable it to carry out its work in a timely manner and in acceptable conditions. With regard to strategies for reconciliation, transitional justice, victim assistance and reparations, the team of international experts notes that there has been progress in the implementation of the project entitled Peace, Justice, Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Kasai Central, with community consultations and the establishment of a drafting committee tasked with drawing up a decree for the implementation of the recommendations. In early August 2020, the Congolese Government expressed its * The present report was submitted after the deadline in order to reflect the most recent developments. GE.20-11095 (E) 170920  170920