Prosecution and Reparation for International Crimes Before Military Courts in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Dilemmas, Debates, and Directions

This article examines the effectiveness of prosecutions conducted largely before Congolese military courts, as well as the reparations mechanisms provided under national law, at a time when national transitional justice architecture is taking shape. It first highlights the dynamism, for an overall insufficiency of prosecutions given the scale of atrocities, the ambivalent role of military jurisdictions, and persistent shortcomings in compensating victims. It second maps the continuing debates on how to craft a holistic response to international crimes in the DRC through both criminal accountability and reparative justice. It third proposes practical prosecutorial and reparative directions for accountability of international crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The article concludes that far-reaching reform is urgent but transitional justice is not an accumulation of projects. It is a challenge to governance. What is required is strategic, rights-compliant prosecutions and, above all, an institutional pathway that turns reparations from courtroom declarations into delivered reality.