Experts from three continents strived to ensure justice for the children of Kavumu. Find below a small anthology of their battle:
©TRIAL International - The plaintiffs' lawyers and Elsa Taquet
"This trial represents an immense fulfillment regarding the work carried out by our team, by the collective of lawyers, by the other international partners or by the judicial authorities. To see this trial finally taking place after such a long battle with the families of the victims and after all the efforts supplied by the actors involved, is the sign that impunity has no longer its place for such grave and atrocious crimes."
Elsa Taquet, DRC Legal Advisor for TRIAL International
Read: With your help, justice becomes possible
"Overall, this was an important day for the fight against impunity in the DRC. People who thought they were untouchable because of their social standing learned that respect for the rule of law applies to everyone. Moreover, the trial gave the offenders and those who might follow in their footsteps good reasons to pull back. Of course, the number of crimes remains enormous and the road ahead is long. But if every time, we fight to repress the perpetrators of these crimes, we will have helped lower the rate of impunity and thousands of people will access justice."
Maitre Charles Cubaka Cicura, spokesperson for the plaintiffs' lawyers of the Kavumu trial
Read: The key role of local actors
"This investigation, undertaken in extreme circumstances, due to the complex and recurring nature of these crimes, required that international experts step in to enhance the process. They buttressed the local experts by applying methodologies and complementary techniques. All the people and organisations that participated had to work in unison to turn back the tide of impunity."
Georges Kuzma, police and justice expert consultant for Physicians for Human Rights
"All I hope now is for these children to be recognized as victims and their traumas to be repaired. It is humanity's duty to commit to defend and protect all of its members. My first contact with these young victims was already a year ago and their assault took place four years ago. Yet, we are still talking about a hypothetical psychological recovery! How much longer is it going to last?"
Jacqueline Fall, expert medical consultant for Physicians for Human Rights Read: A psychologist alongside traumatized children
"We continue the medical and psychological monitoring, considering that to this day, scientific literature does not tell us what the future will hold for these women, on the sexual, fertility and psychological levels. This follow-up work is crucial for the future of these children, even after the verdict."
Doctor Denis Mukwege, founder of Panzi hospital in Bukavu (DRC)
"Our expectation is that the trial contributes to make the truth burst upon the crimes committed in Kavumu; to establish the authors’ responsibility and to sanction them in an appropriate way as well as to offer adequate reparations to the victims and their families. In a wider way, we hope that the repression of these atrocities will send a message to all the individuals who continue to commit exactions in DRC: every person will be sanctioned if she is responsible of serious crimes."
Daniele Perissi, Head of the DRC Program for TRIAL International