The APPG, along with the Aegis Trust and  parliamentary colleagues, have been working for some months to strengthen UK legislation on genocide. As the law currently stands, if a war crime, crime against humanity of crime of genocide took place outside the UK before the International Criminal Court Act came into force, suspects cannot be tried in English courts. There is also a requirement that suspects be resident in the UK, rather than just physically present. Essentially, where those suspected of some of the most heinous crimes in international law cannot be deported to face trial overseas, they wil be allowed to go free in the UK without facing justice.

The problem of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is well documented, and by any standards horrendous. Concerted action to counter it is clearly needed. Many different factors play a role in the perpetuation of the crisis, including on the broadest level the ongoing insecurity in the east and the need to develop a more properly functioning Congolese state. But for many observers, the core underlying issue is one of impunity. Without the ability to hold perpetrators to account and assert the rule of law, sexual violence will continue even if fighting does not. Achieving these aims is to a good degree a matter of developing and reforming the institutions of the justice and security sectors, but to do so will require considerable political will and a coordinated effort on all sides.