Pauline Patraeke, the secretary of state, on Thursday signed a resolution asking South Africa’s attorney-general to look into “human rights violations committed in [the] Democratic Republic of Congo” there.

It referred to “the murder of the Tutsi people, atrocities against Bosnian Serb citizens, and mass rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

The South African government said it believed there was “no need for a UN Security Council resolution about the human rights situation in [the] Democratic Republic of Congo,” and that no action was recommended.

A UN official said “there is absolutely no justification” for a resolution that might have been “very problematic for the peace process”, and told a news conference that other UN member states were not in favour of it.

The resolution is also being widely discussed in Congo and would not oblige the government of President Joseph Kabila to take a public position on the matter.

On Thursday, Mr Kabila said the resolution was inappropriate and should be withdrawn, while the government of Congo said it was not to be taken seriously.

A UN envoy said: “We have not reached a position regarding the UN action on the situation in Congo.”