Congo News

USA: Human Rights Report: Democratic Republic of the Congo 2008
Bureau Of Democracy, Human Rights, And Labor / February 25, 2009
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/af/118995.htm
In all areas of the country the government’s human rights record remained poor, and security forces continued to act with impunity throughout the year, committing many serious abuses including unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, and rape. Security forces also engaged in arbitrary arrests and detention. Harsh and life-threatening conditions in prison and detention facilities, prolonged pretrial detention, lack of an independent and effective judiciary, and arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and home also remained serious problems. Security forces retained child soldiers and compelled forced labor by civilians. Members of the security forces also continued to abuse and threaten journalists, contributing to a decline in freedom of the press. Government corruption remained pervasive. Security forces at times beat and threatened local human rights advocates and harassed UN human rights investigators. Discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, trafficking in persons, child labor, and lack of protection of workers’ rights continued to be pervasive throughout the country. Enslavement of Pygmies occurred.

Armed groups continued to commit numerous, serious abuses - some of which may have constituted war crimes - including unlawful killings, disappearances, and torture. They also recruited and retained child soldiers, compelled forced labor, and committed widespread crimes of sexual violence and other possible war crimes.
Internal conflict in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, driven to a large degree by the illegal exploitation of natural resources, as well as a separate conflict in the western province of Bas-Congo, had an extremely negative effect on security and human rights during the year. The Goma peace accords signed in January by the government and more than 20 armed groups from the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu provided for a cease-fire and charted a path toward sustainable peace in the region. Progress was uneven, with relative peace in South Kivu and the continued participation of the South Kivu militias in the disengagement process. In North Kivu, what little progress was made in implementing the accords during the first half of the year unraveled with the renewed fighting that began in August, perpetuating lawlessness in many areas of the east.

On December 12, the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo Report Pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1807 reported that Rwandan authorities have supplied military equipment and been complicit in recruiting soldiers, including children, to support the Congolese rebel National Congress in Defense of the People (CNDP), led by a former general of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), Laurent Nkunda. In addition, the UN Group of Experts presented extensive and credible evidence that elements of the FARDC provided support to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which committed numerous abuses in eastern Congo during the year and was composed primarily of Hutus from neighboring Rwanda, including some who perpetrated the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Also in December, the Rwandan and Congolese governments met to develop a joint strategy to eliminate the FDLR.
At year’s end government control over many regions remained weak, particularly in North and South Kivu provinces. Civilian authorities generally did not maintain effective control of the security forces.

 

  • The civil war in the DR Congo has left the single biggest lost of life after the WWII, 5.8 million have died ;an average of 45000 people dies every month;every day that passes 1500 people dies. Some villages have just been wiped off, despite of this astonishingly high mortality figure, few people know about what some have called ” Africa’s First World War”
  •  In the 2008 index of the four weakest,fragile country in  the world the DR Congo is third just after Afghanistan follow by Iraq.
  • The DR Congo has the  biggest number of rape victim in the world and almost all the rape unpunished .The victim are as young as 2 months , in fact the government and the armed group use rape as a weapon of war.
  • The DR Congo has the biggest number of child soldiers in the world. 6 out 10 children don’t reach their fifth birthday.

    • -The Foreign and Commonwealth gives advice against all travel to the DR Congo,I quote:because of the tension and insecurity ,the situation can deteriote at short notice…

    -Amnesty International 2008 annual country report describes the Congo:-the country remained unstable ,and several region of the country suffered widespread insecurity and ethnic tensions, extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions, acts of torture or ill-treatment, and life threatening prison coondition continued on a daily basis.

    -The US State Department 2008 annual report:In all areas of the country the government human rights record remained poor ,and security forces acted with impunity during this year, committing numerous serious abuses, including unlawful killings, disappearance, torture, and rape, and engaged in arbitrary arrests and detention. Harsh and life-threatening conditions in prison and detention facilities, prolonged pre-trial  detention, lack of an independent and effective judiciary, and arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and home also remained  serious problems. Security forces recruited and retained child soldiers and compelled forced labour by adults and children. Members of the security forces also continued to abuse and threaten journalist, contributing to a decline in freedom of the press. Government corruption remained pervasive .Security forces at times harassed local human rights advocates and UN human rights investigators. Discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, trafficking in persons, child labour, and lack of protection of worker’s rights continued throughout the country. Armed groups continued to commit numerous, serious abused some of which may have constituted war crimes…the same is describe by many organisations: Human Right Watch, The Home Office country report and many more…

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