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Democratic Republic of Congo: UN expert warns of abuses against women human rights defenders and their families in South Kivu

Press releases
Special Procedures

30 September 2025

GENEVA -- A UN expert today expressed grave concern about the abduction and alleged sexual violence perpetrated against four women human rights defenders in South Kivu province, as well as the killing of the mother of one of the activists.

"These appalling acts are part of an already alarming pattern of systematic violence against civilians in eastern DRC, where human rights defenders, and women human rights defenders in particular, are consistently targeted," said Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

On 8 July 2025, women human rights defenders Espérance Martha, Chancelle Ibrahim, Noëlla Deborah and Christine Byaziza, all members of the organisation Femmes Artisanes d'Itombwe pour la Paix, le Développement et les Droits Humains (FAIPDDH), were abducted by suspected members of a militia group affiliated with the RED-Tabara, Ngumino, and Twirwaneho, while conducting a workshop to raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights in Mwenga territory. During their incommunicado detention, they were reportely subjected to sexual violence and acts of torture, and deprived of medical care and food.

The four women allegedly escaped on 15 July 2025, during clashes between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the militia holding them captive. Since then, they have become the target of repeated death threats and have had to flee their homes to go into hiding. Their respective families remain at serious risk. On 4 August 2025, Jeanne Martha Upendo, mother of defender Espérance Martha, was shot dead in her home by unidentified armed men.

"Women human rights defenders are at the forefront of the struggle for peace, equality and justice," Lawlor said. "It is urgent to put an end to abuses against them and the prolonged impunity surrounding such abuses."

The Special Rapporteur urged the State to ensure a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the abduction and incommunicado detention of the four women human rights defenders from FAIPDDH, as well as the murder of Jeanne Martha Upendo. She called for effective and urgent measures to ensure the safety of the women human rights defenders under threat, bring those responsible to justice and restore a safe environment conducive to the essential work of human rights defenders in the DRC.

"We wish to remind the Government of its obligations under international human rights law and its own national legislation to ensure the protection of human rights defenders against all forms of violence and intimidation," Lawlor said.

She recalled that the security situation in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu remains dire, and attacks by armed groups against civilians are frequent. Reports from the Fact-Finding Mission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights indicate shocking use of sexual violence by all parties to the conflict.

"The international community cannot remain indifferent to this recurring violence," the expert said. "Human rights defenders in eastern DRC must be urgently protected and supported - the achievement of a just and lasting peace in the region demands it."

The Special Rapporteur is in contact with the Government on the issue.

*The expert:

• Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

Endorsed by:

• Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;
• Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association;
• Claudia Flores (Chair), Ivana Krstić (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Haina Lu and Laura Nyirinkindi, Working Group on discrimination against women and girls.

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.