GENEVA, Switzerland, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Wednesday more work is needed from the Democratic Republic of Congo to address crimes committed during the 2011 election period.
"Every threat, every act of violence, every arbitrary arrest of an opponent by the authorities constitutes a serious setback, not only for the protection of human rights in the DRC, but also for reconciliation for Congolese society," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement Wednesday from Geneva, Switzerland.
A U.N. report released Wednesday found more than 40 people died in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of political violence in 2011. In all, the world body registered more than 300 human rights violations committed during the violence, which affected at least 769 victims.
Pillay said efforts from Kinshasa to address past human rights violations have not yet produced results. She said there's a culture of impunity prevailing in DRC two years after the election.
DRC is recovering from violence that gripped its eastern provinces for roughly a year. The rebel March 23 Movement was accused of war crimes in its campaign from eastern DRC, though aid consortium Oxfam said there are more than a dozen different rebel groups fighting in the region.
National and provincial elections are set to take place in DRC between 2014-16.
