Luzolo Bambi Lessa

Emmanuel-Janvier Luzolo Bambi Lessa (born 31 January 1958) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was appointed Minister of Justice in the Muzito cabinet in October 2008.

Birth and education Luzolo was born on 31 January 1955 at Lisala. His parents were from the Bas-Congo Province. His father was a member of the armed forces of the Belgian Congo, then of the Congolese National Army. Luzolo attended schools run by the Fathers of Saint John the Baptist de la Salle in Lisala, Kinshasa and in Matadi. He then studied Law and Political Science, obtaining a law degree at the University of Kinshasa in 1985. He later attended the Institute of Criminal Science and Criminology of Aix-en-Provence and the University of Law, Economics and Political Science of Aix-Marseille III, where he obtained a Master in Law, Penal and Criminal Sciences in 1990 and a Doctorate in Law in 1996. The DRC system of justice is based on that of France. After becoming Minister of Justice, Luzolo visited France and obtained promises of assistance in training both senior judges and prison officials.

In August 2010 Luzolo gave his support to "Operation Zero Tolerance", to bring to justice all wrongdoers whatever their status in the elite. In June 2011 Luszolo announced a program where people could make complaints about miscarriages of justice every Tuesday in the office of Minister of Justice and Human Rights. The program was aimed at eliminating a "two tier" system of justice by giving a vehicle for the poor to speak up. In August 2011 Luzolo presented a bill to parliament for creation of a special tribunal of foreign and Congolese judges to judge war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the country since 1990.