Corporate report

Democratic Republic of Congo - in-year update December 2015

Published 21 April 2016

The UK remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in the DRC, which deteriorated in the last six months of 2015. Abuses continued on a daily basis. We received credible reports that the security forces, including the army, police and intelligence agency (ANR), were complicit in extra-judicial killings, rapes, and ill-treatment of detainees. As recorded by the UN Joint Human Rights Office in their annual report, the main state perpetrators of human rights violations were the National Police Service (PNC), and the overall principal perpetrators of human rights abuses were armed groups.

Political and civil space continued to shrink in the latter half of 2015. There were a number of arbitrary arrests of journalists, civil society figures and human rights defenders. Three university students – Joel Bukuru, Jires Bagomisa, and Leon Nguwa – were arrested in March for distributing opposition party literature on their university campus, calling for justice in favour of Kamerhe in the Kamerhe v. Moleka case. They were charged with “Offense au Chef de l’Etat” (insulting the Head of State), a charge which has been brought in several cases. They were detained by the ANR from March to December, at which point they were transferred to marginally better conditions in Makala prison. The British Embassy Kinshasa is closely monitoring the case with international partners, including attending trial hearings and meeting with the detainees.

The UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) in the DRC has recorded human rights abuses relating to the electoral process across the country, including high numbers of cases in Kinshasa, Katanga, Eastern Kasai, Western Kasai, Orientale, North Kivu and South Kivu. The British Embassy, alongside international partners, continues to follow the case of the “Filimbi” activists, whose case had not concluded by the end of 2015 despite the DRC Parliament’s call for urgent progress. On 15 September, the opposition political platform “la Dynamique de l’opposition” organised a meeting in Kinshasa to call for President Kabila to step down in December 2016 at the end of his term in office. Violence broke out between protestors and youths during this event, and at least one person was killed. An individual distributing flyers in favour of the demonstration was arrested arbitrarily by PNC agents. We urge the government to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for violence and arbitrary arrests during this event.

The DRC has made progress on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), an area we continue to work on closely with the DRC government, NGOs, and civil society. FCO Minister for Human Rights, Baroness Anelay, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (PSVI), visited the DRC in October 2015. During her visit, she announced a new project with the NGO TRIAL to train local practitioners to use the International Protocol on the documentation and investigation of sexual violence in conflict. We are currently working with the United States locally to ensure it is widely accessible across the country. Baroness Anelay also visited eastern DRC, and discussed how the UK can support UN efforts to investigate cases of sexual exploitation and abuse, including by UN Peacekeeping forces. We continue to work closely with Jeanine Mabunda, the DRC President’s Special Advisor on the Fight Against Sexual Violence. The Department for International Development continues to mainstream SGBV work into its programming; for example, its work on peace and security. There is more to be done to reduce sexual violence by armed groups and the armed forces; the Kavumu rapes of babies and young children show sexual violence is still endemic in some parts of the DRC.

There was some progress in the fight against impunity in the security forces in the latter half of 2015. In September, the Military High Court upheld an earlier conviction of Colonel Mukayi for the 2010 murder of human rights defender Floribert Chebeya and his driver. In October, the Military Court in Kindu convicted Senior Commissioner Amuri Mpia Abraham of crimes against humanity following various violations of human rights perpetrated by the PNC in 2012 in Maniema province. He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. We remain concerned that the government has failed to investigate those responsible for human rights violations during the police Operation Likofi and the protests in Kinshasa and other cities during January 2015. In addition, the government has yet to investigate the mass grave at Maluku and produce its findings. We request the government to release the reports that it has promised on these incidents as soon as possible. In December 2015, the National Assembly adopted legislation implementing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is a positive development in the fight against impunity for serious crimes, and a welcome update to the Military Penal Code, abolishing immunity for these crimes for the Head of State and other government figures. Nonetheless, we remain concerned that some implicated in human rights violations, including in the case of Floribert Chebeya, remain at large. We urge the DRC government to bring those responsible for human rights violations to justice.

Thomas Lubanga and Germain Katanga were transferred from The Hague to Kinshasa in December 2015, to serve the remainder of their sentences pronounced by the ICC. Katanga was due to be released in January, but will remain in custody since he is being prosecuted by the Military High Court for crimes other than those he was convicted of by the ICC. We urge the DRC government to ensure that ICC suspects prosecuted for further offences are given a fair trial.

The majority of human rights abuses continue to occur in eastern DRC and are perpetrated principally by armed groups. The “Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda” (FDLR) was the main group, and committed numerous incidences of rape and murder in 2015. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) pose a significant threat to civilians in Beni, and retain the ability to mount attacks. In September and October, 53 civilians were killed and another 20 abducted. There has been a recent escalation in ethnic conflict in North Kivu province, between the Hutu and Nande communities. We are deeply concerned about this, and are working with MONUSCO to support efforts to prevent this from worsening.