Democratic Republic of Congo

House of Lords written question – answered at on 20 November 2012.

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Photo of Lord Alton of Liverpool Lord Alton of Liverpool Crossbench

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo about the recent gun attack on Dr Denis Mukege; and whether they will make representations to President Kabila to ensure that the case is appropriately investigated, that those responsible are brought to justice, and that Dr Mukege and his family are offered appropriate protection.

Photo of Baroness Warsi Baroness Warsi Senior Minister of State (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) (Jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government), Senior Minister of State (Department for Communities and Local Government) (Faith and Communities) (also in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office)

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) issued a statement on 28 October which said:

"I was deeply dismayed to hear about the attack on Dr Denis Mukwege on 25 October. Dr Mukwege works tirelessly in very difficult conditions to give hope to women who have suffered the most appalling crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I had the honour of meeting Dr Mukwege during the UN General Assembly when we shared a platform to talk about the issue of sexual violence in conflict. He is a remarkable man. I was relieved to hear that Dr Mukwege and his family are safe but saddened that his guard was murdered during the attack. I urge the Government of the DRC to investigate the attack promptly to bring to justice those responsible".

On behalf of EU member states, the EU Head of Delegation raised the incident with Foreign Minister Tshibanda on Friday 2 November, urging the Congolese authorities to investigate the attack thoroughly. The EU Humanitarian Office (ECHO) provided safe passage in the aftermath of the attack for Dr Mukwege and his family to Bujumbura, Burundi. The family have since travelled to Europe with support from the Belgian Government. Our embassy in DRC will continue to follow the incident closely and monitor progress on finding those responsible for the attack.

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