Security Council Press Statement on Deaths of Two Members of Group of Experts on Democratic Republic of Congo

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Matthew Rycroft (United Kingdom):

The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the killing of two United Nations experts from the Group of Experts who were monitoring the sanctions regime in the Kasaï-Central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and expressed concern over the unknown status of the four Congolese nationals accompanying them.

The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy to the families of the victims, the Governments of the United States, Chile and Sweden, as well as to the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Nations Secretariat.

The members of the Security Council urged the Congolese authorities to continue the search for the four missing Congolese nationals.

The members of the Security Council called on the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to swiftly and fully investigate these crimes and bring the still unidentified perpetrators to justice.  They encouraged a United Nations inquiry into the matter, as per the statement by the Secretary-General on 28 March 2017, and encouraged cooperation from the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in this regard.

The members of the Security Council underlined that attacks targeting civilians, such as these United Nations-appointed personnel, may constitute war crimes under international law.