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The Human Rights Situation in April 2006;
MONUC Human Rights Division; 18 may. 06
The Congolese army (FARDC)
were responsible for the majority of human rights violations under
investigation by MONUC in April 2006. Acts of cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment against civilians by the Presidential Guard (GR) and the police
were reported in five provinces.
Armed groups continue to
present a serious threat to civilian population in the Kivus and in Katanga.
MONUC remains concerned by the increasing number of violations of the right
to free and fair elections. Seven soldiers convicted for crimes against
humanity by the Military tribunal of the Garrison of Mbandaka.
Main incidents
MONUC
remains concerned by the increasing number of violations of the right to free
and fair elections.
1. The Force Navale based in Sabe - 2km from Tchomia
in the Ituri District - has committed serious human rights violations
including extrajudicial executions and forced ‘disappearances.” These
violations occurred in the wake of fighting between the FARDC and the
Mouvement Révolutionnaire Congolais (MRC) on 29 March; two FARDC soldiers
were killed in this incident. On 30 March two civilians were arrested in the
street by soldiers and taken to Sabe Camp, the body of one of these detainees
was found a few days later on the banks of Lac Albert. The whereabouts of the
second detainee is unknown. Four other bodies, bearing gunshot wounds in the
nape of the neck were allegedly found in the area. In Bukuku- 7km north of
Tchomia- the military rounded up the villagers after repelling the MRC attack
on Tchomia and randomly picked the victim from the crowd in order to indicate
the whereabouts of the militia. The victim was allegedly killed soon after.
At least a further five possible summary executions, plus the use of torture
and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment committed by the Force Navale in
this area during the month of April remain under investigation.
2. Members of the Force Navale and police committed
mass rape and other gross human rights violations in Ganda, Likako and
Likundju, three localities of the Lifumba Waka groupement - 515 kms north
east of Mbandaka - during the night of
18 March 2006. Thirty four
women and three girls were raped and another nine girls were victims of
attempted rape. Fifty civilians were victims of torture and cruel, inhumane
and degrading treatment and 120 households were looted
3. A number of incidents reported this month have
threatened the right to free and fair elections. In Butembo, the residence of
a CEI official was attacked by armed men in military uniform in the night of
27-28 March 2006. The following night, the office of the national state
broadcasting company, RTNC, suffered a similar attack.
4. Two policemen allegedly broke into a radio station
"Radio Mongala" in Bumba – approximately 600 km north-east of Mbandaka - on
6 April 2006 and
confiscated all the equipment. The incident is believed to be linked to the
fact that the radio station in question was promoting one of the candidates
running for a seat in the Parliament
5. A political activist was arrested on 14 April in
Masoyi – 35 km
north west of Butembo- by
the 882nd battalion on 14 April and was detained in an unknown location. The
Battalion HQ promised to reveal his whereabouts to MONUC.
6. A presidential candidate and
18 of his supporters were arrested in
Kinshasa on 5 April. Four
mini-buses and two trucks full of military and police officers arrived at his
private residence to carry out the arrests. The politician and 11 others were
released on 8 April, but seven others remain in custody at Kin Maziere police
station.
7. Three members of the political party Mouvement pour
la Liberation du Congo (MLC) have reportedly been arbitrarily arrested by the
ANR in Bukavu on
14 April 2006 for election
related activities. Still in Bukavu, the provincial responsible of the
political party Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD/Goma) was
reportedly assaulted by members of the Republican Guards on 9 April 2006.
Intimidations against this party member are reported to continue.
8. The fight against impunity took a step forward
in the DRC on
12 April 2006.
For the first time in the country’s history, a judge convicted seven soldiers
for crimes against humanity. The Military tribunal of the Garrison of
Mbandaka handed down life terms for mass rapes in the village of Songo Mboyo
in Equateur Province in December 2003. Five other defendants were acquitted
for lack of evidence. The Court applied the Rome Statue of the International
Criminal Court that qualifies rape as a crime against humanity.
The FARDC were allegedly responsible for the
majority of human rights violations committed during this reporting period.
9. A military detainee died and another hospitalized
after reportedly being arrest and held in FARDC custody in Vuyinga - 60 km
south-west of Butembo. On
10 April 2006, ACR
allegedly arrested the men suspected of being allied with dissident Officer,
Laurent Nkunda, and handed them over to the FARDC. One of the victims
allegedly died the next day, reportedly from injuries sustained whilst in
custody. The second victim was released and hospitalised..
10. An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a
lieutenant of the 89th Battalion in Kagheri on 23 March 2006.
11. Sources in Muhangi – 30 km south west of Butembo-reported
that soldiers of the 882nd Battalion shot dead a civilian on 9 April 2006.
Details of the incident are unknown.
12. A civilian was reported to have been seriously
beaten by a soldier of the 89th Battalion in Kasugho on 17 March for having
refused to transport the perpetrator's belongings to Lubero.
13. An elderly civilian reportedly died a day after he
was arrested by military prosecutors at Kilindera village – 82 km south east
of Beni – on 22 March 2006. His arrest was apparently an attempt to force him
to pay a $US 40 “fine” for his son, already held at the Beni Military
Prosecutor’s Office in Kyavinyonge. Unable to pay the "fine", he was kicked
and subjected to beating with truncheons and ropes, the following day he was
tied and forced to walk 52 km to a health centre at Kyavinyonge, where he
died shortly after.
14. On 15 April 2006 two women were allegedly
repeatedly raped by a soldier in Mukakira military camp close to the village
of Oicha – 30 km of Beni. The alleged perpetrator was arrested the next day
by the camp commander following the intervention of a local authority but
reportedly managed to flee.
15. A local chief, from Bugina in Rutshuru territory
died on 22 April 2006, allegedly after he was flogged by the 3rd company of
the 2nd integrated Brigade in Runyoni sector. According to medical and other
sources in the area, the chief was tortured after his arrest on 21 April,
when he was suspected of harbouring enemy combatants. According to FARDC
sources, three armed bandits accused the locality chief of being their
leader. On 22 April the locality chief was transferred to Bunagana, the
company HQ. Later that day he succumbed to his injuries as he was being
transferred to the 22nd Battalion HQ in Rubare.
16. A civilian was reportedly severely beaten by
soldiers of the 812th Battalion deployed at Kazinga – 20 km south west of
Masisi. ON 11 April, a demobilized soldier was reportedly abducted by members
of this battalion. His whereabouts are currently unknown. Two other soldiers
from he battalion trying to demobilize were reportedly summarily executed by
on the orders of a locally based military officer. There are no details on
these reports.
17. Two Rwandan women were allegedly raped by a
solider and an individual in civilian clothing on 24 April after being
arrested in Karuba in Masisi.. Goods and cash were also taken from the
victims by the soldier, presumed to be from the 812th Bataillon FARDC.
18. On 18 April, a civilian was arrested and taken to
T2 in Goma by Colonel Bindu, Chief of staff of the 8th MR where he was was
allegedly beaten until he lost consciousness. He was later taken to hospital.
The motive for his arrest and ill-treatment is unclear.
19. Four civilians, accused of being FDLR combatants,
were reportedly arrested by soldiers of the 2nd Integrated Brigade at Kiwanja
– 70 km north of Goma - on 22 March 2006. One of them was severely
ill-treated in the holding cell of the 8th Military Region.
20. A “prisoner of war” died on 1 April, shortly after
being captured by the FARDC during fighting between the 2nd Integrated
Brigade and an armed group (probably FDLR) at Katemba in the Rutshuru area.
Five detainees were transferred to the headquarters of the 8th MR in Goma,
two of them were hospitalized in Katindo and another detainee, a Rwandan
national, was transferred to the UNHCR. Two remain in custody without charge.
21. A civilian detainee was thrown to the street
through the first-floor window of the Auditorat Militaire in Butembo on 7
April. Three soldiers were later arrested by a military judicial inspector
for this crime. The victim was hospitalized following this incident.
22. A FARDC officer from the 892nd Battalion
reportedly ordered four soldiers to beat up a parking attendant on
21 March 2006
in Butembo. The incident occurred when the victim attempted to prevent the
officer from requisitioning a private vehicle. Since the victim made a formal
complaint at the military prosecutor’s office on 24 March, he has been
subjected to threats from the officer.
23. Seventeen civilians, including six children, two
women and a baby, were arrested and held in custody by FARDC, reportedly
following military operations in the Virunga national park on 26 April. One
of the women detainees claimed that her husband had been killed by the
soldiers, other detainees claimed they had been subjected to beatings whilst
in custody in Katwegueru, near Kisharo.
24. A 17-year-old girl was reportedly shot dead by
soldiers of the FARDC 1st Reserve Brigade in the
village of Konge – 18 km north of Bukavu – on 16 March 2006. The killing
occurred in the context of an armed robbery carried out on the girl’s home;
she was shot as she ran away in an attempt to call for help. The owner of the
house was also beaten during the incident.
25. A soldier of the 1st Reserve Brigade of the 15th
Battalion under the command of Captain Hindia are reportedly responsible for
raping a 15-year-old boy on 14 March as he made his way home from school in
Mushingi- approximately 10 km south of Bukavu. In nearby Kalonge, soldiers
forced civilians to transport their belongings on 28 March and a 13-year-old
girl was allegedly abducted when she refused to leave a two-year-old child to
carry their baggage. The child was returned to the family, but the
whereabouts of the girl remain unknown.
26. Two civilians were reportedly killed on 19 April
by a soldier of the groupement de combat de Walungu in Mushinga - 58 km
south-west of Bukavu. Three soldiers allegedly asked the victims at a
checkpoint for 100 USD but received only two bottles of beer. Angry about
this result one of the soldiers reportedly fired his gun and killed the
victims.
27. A woman was allegedly raped by a FARDC Commander
from the 116th Brigade on the night of 6 April. The victim was attacked near
her home in Rukaraba, Kalehe territory in
South Kivu. She was raped in the presence of three other soldiers.
28. A civilian claimed to have been arrested, beaten
and stripped of his clothing in public by six soldiers from the Force Navale
in Uvira on 21 April. The victim was first taken to a holding cell at Kalundu
port, then the military prosecutor’s office, where he was held without charge
for four days. The motive for ill treatment was for accusing a solider of
theft.
29. On the night of 17-18 April, a civilian in Uvira
was arrested by a soldier and a second beaten up by a drunken soldier. The
victim of arbitrary arrest was detained by the Commander of the 109th Brigade
for five days.
30. In Bukavu, a local NGO meeting was allegedly
interrupted by two soldiers on 5 April. The perpetrators seized documents and
announced that meetings related to the upcoming elections were the
prerogative of President Kabila.
31. During the night of 6-7 April 2006, a civilian was
allegedly killed by three FARDC soldiers in Bukavu during an armed robbery.
His wife was severely injured during the incident and was hospitalised. The
incident sparked a protest against continuous abuses and killings committed
by the FARDC.
32. A 13-year-old girl was killed by a Military Police
officer in Bukavu on
7 April 2006 during a
protest against continuous abuses and killings committed by the FARDC.
According to several witnesses, the girl was shot in her head when she was
trying to escape from the scene.
33. Two local NGO activists were allegedly arrested
and beaten by soldiers of the 118th Brigade in Mukolwe – 70 km south of Uvira
– on
30 March 2006.
According to a local source, their arrest was connected to their activities
to end civilian arrests.
34. A civilian claims to have been arbitrarily
arrested and tortured by three soldiers of the 118th Brigade in Katungulu II
– 59 km south of Uvira – on 3 April. He was accused of stealing, then tied up
and taken to the military camp where he was severely beaten with sticks and
kicked by three soldiers in the presence of their commander in a bid to make
him to confess to the theft. He was hospitalized after paying a bribe for his
release.
35. A civilian was reportedly stabbed by a soldier on
18 April in Kankinda – 80 km south-west of Bukavu. According to local sources
the victim refused to carry a soldier’s luggage.
36. A military commander from the South Front
Operations in Sange – 33 km north of Uvira – arrested two 13-year-old boys on
25 March, reportedly after they threw stones at him. The two boys were first
taken to police holding cells in Sange, where they were reportedly beaten by
three soldiers and then the commander recuperated them and took them to his
private residence.
37. Twenty two civilians, members of the Banyamulenge
community (ethnic Tutsi), were detained in military custody in Bukavu, after
being arrested by the ANR in Uvira in early April. Most of a total of 34
arrests were carried out at the border with
Burundi. Those detained are accused planning a third war in the DRC. The
detainees were held uncharged in deplorable conditions.
38. Three civilians were arrested and allegedly
summarily executed on 6 April by military in Mutumbi – approximately 25 km
north of Bunia. Their bodies were buried afterwards by the perpetrators. Two
soldiers have allegedly been arrested.
39. Two civilians allegedly died as a result of cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment inflicted on them by soldiers in Medu – 30 km
south of Bunia - on 28 March. The perpetrators allegedly arrested three
civilians, cut their hair, mixed it with soap, and then forced the victims to
consume it; two of them suffocated to death. The third victim managed to
escape and, on 3 April, arrived to Dele – 5 km south of Bunia.
40. A civilian was allegedly arbitrary executed by a
FARDC soldier in Muchanga – approximately 30 km south-east of Bunia – on
29 March 2006.
According to local sources, the victim was killed because he was wearing a
headscarf with an image of the American flag similar to the ones used by
militiamen. The FARDC allegedly took the body.
41. A demobilized soldier reportedly died following
severe ill-treatment inflicted by soldiers during detention in Bunia. The
victim was arrested by soldiers from his home on 1 April and spent 9 days in
detention during which time he was severely beaten. The victim was
hospitalised and reportedly died from his injuries on 16 April.
42. A military police officer was charged with bodily
harm for having seriously beaten up a civilian in
Kisangani on 26 March. The victim was hospitalised and seriously ill
following the attack, the motive of which remains unclear.
43. A civilian was arrested at
3
am by a group of soldiers, when they burst into a hotel where he was staying
in Kasumbulesa – 90 km from Lubumbashi- on
17 April 2006.
The victim claims he was then taken to the office of military intelligence
(T2), where he was seriously beaten with bamboo canes – allegedly to ‘punish”
him for having refused to open his door at the hotel. Although T2 confirmed
that the arrest took place, no justification was officered. Sources indicate
that the incident was a private dispute and the victim mistakenly abducted in
place of another individual. A large sum of cash was stolen at the time of
the incident; the victim was later hospitalized for his injuries.
44. A suspected thief was possibly beaten to death by
soldiers of the Force Navale at their base in Kalemie. The body of the man
was found at the base on the morning of 28 April, following his arrest the
previous evening. Evidence of severe beating on his body, led to the opening
of a judicial investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
45. Detainees in the Force Marin camp at Makala – 9 km
from Kalemie- complained of ill-treatment by guards, including beating. Human
rights officers found five detainees, all of them held illegally, during a
visit to the facility in April, two of those held complained of beatings.
46. Force Marin soldiers at Moba, arrested members of
a local NGO working to sensitize the local population about elections on 21
April. The detainees were released without charge the following day.
47. Two girls aged 11 and 13 were reportedly raped by
a group of four soldiers and a DSR official at Kabalo on 7 April. The
circumstances of the incident are unknown.
48. An officer of the 69th brigade based in Kongolo,
allegedly committed at least two human rights violations at Lengwe – 75 km
from Nyunzu- in
Katanga. A civilian was
subjected to arbitrary arrest and beatings by the officer on
8 April 2006,
apparently in an attempt to extort goods and money. Later that day, the same
officer beat and wounded a woman and stole her voter registration card at
Numbi – 92 km from Nyunzu.
49. In Mitwaba territory,
Katanga Province, civilians continue to be victims of violations committed by
soldiers of the 63rd Integrated Brigade. According to UNICEF, soldiers beat
up a civilian, stole a bike and eight support kits meant for IDPs on 17 April
2006. A civilian was reportedly beaten by a soldier in Mitwaba center – 350
km north of Lubumbashi - on 18 April. On 20 April several IDPs were
reportedly forced by soldiers to work in cassiterite mines. Prisoners of war
held by the FARDC were reportedly ill-treated.
50. Soldiers of the Force Navale and PNC officers were
reportedly responsible for human rights violations in Lisala – approximately
470 km north-east of Mbandaka – on 31 March 2006. According to local sources,
the perpetrators attacked the village firing gunshots in the air in order to
disperse civilian population and to prevent them from working at a forest
exploitation site. Thirty seven civilians were arrested, at least one woman
was raped, local homes were pillaged. Most of the local population fled to
the nearby forest.
51. According to a local source a civilian was beaten
to death by a soldier at a gold mine in Kasese – 196 km north-east of Kindu –
on
11 April 2006.
The soldier reportedly started to beat the victim after she refused attempts
to extort money.
52. Two FARDC soldiers of the 7th MR are allegedly
responsible for the rape of a woman in Kindu on
20 March 2006.
According to the victim, she was on her way home with her baby, when the
soldiers stopped her, threatened her with a gun and extorted 4.000 FC. One of
soldiers took the child, threw it to the bush and kicked the victim. She was
then raped by the second aggressor.
53. FARDC soldiers of the 441st battalion reportedly
shot dead two civilians (diamond dealers) on April 26 at Mukua Ndjanga - 35km
from Tshikapa. The victims were travelling towards the Angolan border when
they were reportedly attacked by three soldiers. Both victims bled to death
on the way to Tshikapa; one was shot in the legs and the other in the leg and
hands. On 27 April about 300 people carried the bodies through Tshikapa and
positioned themselves in front of the Mayor’s office to be dispersed by the
Police.
54. A woman claims to have been raped by five soldiers
who broke into her house the commune of Dibindi in
Mbuji Mayi on 20 March 2006.
The perpetrators threatened the victim with a gun while two of them allegedly
gang-raped the woman twice.
Incidents involving the PNC and some of its
branches were implicated.
55. Mines police opened fire on demonstrators,
shooting dead two of them, following an incident involving self employed mine
diggers and a multinational mining corporation in Kolwezi – 360km from
Lubumbashi- on 24 April 2006. Local mine workers protested against Anvil
mining in the town, after a clandestine digger was drowned trying to escape
from one of their security guards as he was clandestinely working in their
concession. When the protest turned violent – houses of Anvil employees were
set alight – mines police opened fire with live ammunition.
56. In Kasambulesa, mine workers in a state-owned
industry were violently dispersed by the PNC, when they protested on 24 April
against their employee for salary arrears, which had not been paid for 68
months. One of the demonstrators was hospitalized, after he was struck in the
eyes and face with a baton.
57. A police officer reportedly opened fire and killed
a civilian who refused to take part in communal work in commonly called
Salongo in the
village of Mashala – 100
km north of Katanga- on 2 April. Local police are still investigating the
case but stated that it was an accident.
58. According to local sources the PNC attacked the
village of Ubangi - 585 km
north-east of Mbandaka - on 8 April and arbitrarily arrested and tortured six
civilians who refused to take part in Salongo. The victims were allegedly
held and beaten in police custody for four days until they paid $50US to
secure their release.
59. Two inmates allegedly “disappeared” during an
incident at Kasapa Prison in
Lubumbashi and are
believed to be dead. Another five detainees sustained gunfire injuries on 11
April when police guarding the facility opened fire when inmates revolted
against the refusal of prison authorities to let relatives deliver food.
60. A civilian was allegedly beaten to death by police
officers in Nduba, Walungu territory - 45 km south-west of Bukavu- on 15
April . The victim was reportedly arrested on 8 April and allegedly died on
15 April 2006
in a local health centre following the injuries sustained in custody.
61. A woman and her infant child, were arrested in
place of her husband by two police officers in the neighbourhood of Kasenga
in Uvira on
1 April 2006. The victim
claims to have been beaten with a baton by a policeman while in detention in
the holding cells of the 3rd platoon of the PNC.
62. According to local sources, three police officers
raped a woman in Lokangu – 190 km south of Kindu – and arbitrarily arrested
and beat her husband, on
28 March 2006. The
officers were originally on mission to arrest the father of the husband.
After they could not find him they arrested and beat his son instead and
raped the woman.
63. A civilian was reportedly arrested and beaten by
17 police officers, after he was accused of adultery in Kalima – 101 km
north-east of Kindu. According to a local NGO, the victim was arrested on the
order of the second in command of the District Police Commissioner on 17
March, then stripped and severely beaten. He was held in police detention for
six days before paying a 6,000 CF (approximately $US14) and released.
64. A 16-year-old girl was reportedly raped during
detention by a police officer in Bafwasende on
26 March 2006.
The victim was arrested together with her 15-year-old sister by the PNC in
Bafwasende for unknown reasons.
65. A woman was allegedly killed by a stray bullet
fired by a PNC officer in the Ngiri Ngiri neighbourhood of
Kinshasa on 25 March 2006.
The incident happened when police officers fired several shots in an attempt
to disperse a crowd of civilians engaged in a street fight. The alleged
perpetrator and several civilians participating in the fight were arrested
and detained in the holding cells of Ngiri Ngiri police commissariat.
Other members of the security forces were
responsible for human rights violations in five other provinces.
66. Six civilians from the Hema ethnic group were
arrested on 23 April by members of the Garde Republicaine on the road to
Kisangani airport. They
were accused of being Rwandan nationals, despite showing their identity
papers. The six were released after intervention by the MONUC.
67. A radio journalist from Radio OKAPI in
Kisangani was reportedly
beaten by eight soldiers of the Garde Républicaine on the order of their
captain in Kisangani on 24 April. The journalist was on a mission to verify
information concerning the beginning of the brassage process for the
soldiers.
68. A civilian man claims to have been arbitrarily
arrested and severely beaten by an ANR official and five police officers in
the ANR office of
Lubumbashi on 11 April.
According to the victim he was never informed about the reason of his arrest
and released the next day under threats not to inform the justice about the
incident.
69. A civilian was reportedly arbitrarily arrested and
tortured by two ANR in Lubumbashi On 13 April 2006. The victim claims to have
been beaten by the ANR agents using a plastic stick and their fists in order
to force him into confessing a theft. He was released the same day after
paying $100US.
70. In Tshikapa,
Kasai Occidental Province,
ANR officials allegedly arrested an attorney on 15 March who represented the
interests of a family in a private legal affair. The victim was released on
the same day after the intervention of a local NGO.
Armed groups were believed responsible for a number of
abuses in three provinces.
71. Twenty women were allegedly raped by Rwandan Hutu
in Kalonge - 25 km south of Bukavu– between 14 and 16 March according to a
local source. At least eight victims were hospitalized after the attack.
72. FDLR militia allegedly abducted eight civilians in
Mushingi – 7 km west of Kalonge – on 25 March. A victim claimed that they
were abducted in order to transport belongings of FDLR militia. The
whereabouts of other abducted persons remain unknown.
73. Five Rwandan Hutu are allegedly responsible for
the abduction of ten women during the attack on the groupement of Gifunzi –
approximately 10 km south of Bukavu – on
26
March 2006.
74. According to a local source, two civilian men were
allegedly killed and two women were injured during an attack carried out by a
group of armed FDLR combatants on the locality of Kaniola-Cindubi – 55 km
south-west of Bukavu- in the night of 6-7 April 2006. Further four men were
allegedly abducted and taken to the forest.
75. FDLR combatants reportedly looted a truck carrying
around 30 civilians from Bunyakiri- 83 km north-west of Bukavu- and kidnapped
15 of them on 10 April.
76. Three civilians were reportedly killed by FDLR
during an attack on the
village of Karhishenyza -
75 km south-west of Bukavu - in the night of 13 to14 April 2006.
77. A civilian was reportedly kidnapped by FDLR
combatants in Kiwanja – 50 km north of Goma- on 17 April.
78. During the night of 17 to 18 April 2006 a group of
armed Rwandan Hutu reportedly killed three civilian men and kidnapped six
women and a man in the
village of Nyalubuze – 60
km south-west of Bukavu. One civilian was allegedly injured during the
attack.
79. A group of armed Rwandan Hutu, killed two
civilians and deliberately wounded three others in the course of an attack on
the
village of Maziba/Lwiro –
approximately 50km north of Bukavu – on 27 April. According to eyewitnesses,
the attackers broke into homesteads and terrorised the residents and left
with livestock and other goods
80. Mayi Mayi of "Mundusi” reportedly took a local
priest and a major of the 6th MR hostage on 1 April, fearing their commander
had been arrested in Kalemie. The two were on a mission to the village to
negotiate the possibility of their disarmament and integration into the
brassage process.
81. Mayi-Mayi of Gédéon carried out three attacks on
villages between Manono and Kiambi – 95 km east of Manono – in March 2006.
Nasanga village was burnt on 11 March and a civilian was killed in the
village of Mambwe on 15
March.
Children caught in DR Congo fighting,
AFP, 01 Apr. 06
KINSHASA, April 1, 2006 (AFP)
- The human rights organization Amnesty International said Friday a dissident
general is recruiting large numbers of children to fight in the conflicted
North-Kivu province.
"For several weeks, anti-government forces loyal to
dissident general Laurent Nkunda have been recruiting children, often by
force, in the Masisi and Rutshuru territories of North-Kivu," said Veronique
Aubert, an Amnesty International researcher who has just returned from the
region.
"Many others, fearing abduction by Nkunda's troops,
have been forced to flee their homes and families to seek protection in major
towns and cities. Many of the children had previously been recruited by armed
groups and had already passed through a formal release and family
reunification programme."
"While visiting one centre caring for children
released from the armed groups, we were appalled to learn that in one week
alone in early March, 14 of the 782 children they had reunified with their
families since July 2005 had been re-recruited by Nkunda's forces," Aubert
added. "Other centres reported similar figures."
She said the recruitments and continuing insecurity in
North-Kivu were also having a devastating effect on programmes to reunify
children formerly associated with armed groups with their families and to
develop projects to support them in their return to civilian life.
Many of the allegations of recruitment and use of
children concern the 83rd army brigade, formerly part of the RCD-Goma armed
political group and composed of Kinyarwanda (Rwandan) -speaking soldiers who
oppose the extension of DRC state control in North-Kivu.
Elements of this brigade have rallied to Laurent
Nkunda and in January 2006 attacked government army positions in Rutshuru
territory, later committing scores of rapes of women and girls from
non-Rwandan-speaking ethnic groups.
D.R.
Congo: Gold Fuels Massive Human Rights Atrocities
Leading
international corporations established links to warlords
(Johannesburg,
June 2, 2005) — The lure of gold has fuelled massive human
rights atrocities in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Human Rights Watch said in a new report published today. Local
warlords and international companies are among those benefiting from access
to gold rich areas while local people suffer from ethnic slaughter, torture
and rape.
<Corporations should ensure their activities support peace and respect for
human rights in volatile areas such as northeastern Congo, not work against
them.> Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher on DRC
The 159-page report, “The Curse of Gold,”
documents how local armed groups fighting for the control of gold mines and
trading routes have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity using
the profits from gold to fund their activities and buy weapons. The report
provides details of how a leading gold mining company, AngloGold Ashanti,
part of the international mining conglomerate Anglo American, developed links
with one murderous armed group, the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI),
helping them to access the gold-rich mining site around the town of Mongbwalu
in the northeastern Ituri district.
The Human Rights Watch report also illustrates the trail of tainted gold from
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to neighboring
Uganda from
where it is sent to global gold markets in
Europe
and elsewhere. The report documents how a leading Swiss gold refining
company, Metalor Technologies, previously bought gold from Uganda. After
discussions and correspondence with Human Rights Watch beginning in December
2004, and after the report had gone to press, the company announced on May 20
that it would suspend its purchases of gold from Uganda. The Metalor
statement was welcomed by Human Rights Watch.
“Corporations should ensure their activities support peace and respect for
human rights in volatile areas such as northeastern Congo, not work against
them,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher on DRC at Human Rights
Watch. “Local warlords use natural resources to support their bloody
activities. Any support for such groups, whether direct or indirect, must not
continue.”
In contravention of international business standards and the company’s own
code of conduct, AngloGold Ashanti provided meaningful financial and
logistical support – which in turn resulted in political benefits - to the
FNI and its leaders, a group responsible for some of the worst atrocities in
this war-torn region. In correspondence with Human Rights Watch, AngloGold
Ashanti stated there was no “working or other relationship with the FNI” but
it said that it had made certain payments in the past to the FNI, including
one in January 2005 that was made under “protest and duress.” AngloGold
Ashanti
also said that any contacts with the FNI leadership were “unavoidable.”
Human Rights Watch researchers documented meetings between the company and
the armed group leaders. The self-styled president of the FNI, Floribert
Njabu, told Human Rights Watch, “The government is never going to come to
Mongbwalu. I am the one who gave [AngloGold] Ashanti permission to come. I am
the boss of Mongbwalu. If I want to chase them away, I will.”
AngloGold
Ashanti
started preparations for gold exploration activities in Mongbwalu in late
2003. The company won the mining rights to the vast gold concession in 1996
but, hampered by the ongoing war, postponed activities there until a peace
agreement was signed and a transitional government was established in
Kinshasa. The central government failed to establish control of Ituri,
however, and the areas around Mongbwalu remained in the hands of the FNI
armed group.
“As a company committed to corporate social responsibility, AngloGold Ashanti
should have waited until it could work in Mongbwalu without having to
interact with abusive warlords,” said Van Woudenberg. “Congo desperately
needs business investment to help rebuild the country, but such business
engagement must not provide any support to armed groups responsible for
crimes against humanity.”
From 1 – 3 June, Anglo American is co-chairing the Africa Economic Summit in
Cape Town, aimed at promoting business investment and engaging business as a
catalyst for change in Africa.
The gold concessions of northeastern Congo, some of the richest in
Africa, could help to rebuild
Congo’s
shattered economy. But according to Human Rights Watch researchers, fighting
between armed groups for the control of the gold mining town of Mongbwalu
cost the lives of at least two thousand civilians between June 2002 and
September 2004. One miner told Human Rights Watch: “We are cursed because of
our gold. All we do is suffer. There is no benefit to us.”
Throughout the conflict, artisanal mining has continued. Millions of dollars
worth of gold are smuggled out of Congo each year some of it destined for
Switzerland.
The Swiss refining company, Metalor Technologies, bought gold from Uganda.
Asked about these purchases by Human Rights Watch on April 21, 2005, Metalor stated it believed “the gold…was of legal origin.” But
since
Uganda
has almost no gold reserves of its own, a significant amount of the gold
purchased by the company was almost certainly mined in Congo. In its public
statement of May 20, Metalor said it would not accept any further deliveries
from
Uganda
until the company could clarify
Uganda’s
position and statistics on gold production and export.
“We hope other companies will follow the lead set by Metalor,” said Van
Woudenberg. “The problems we have documented are not unique to Congo, nor to
one international company. Rules governing corporate behavior must be
enforced, otherwise they are meaningless.”
In August 2003, a group of United Nations experts adopted a set of draft
human rights business standards, known as the U.N. Norms, which signaled a
growing consensus on the need for standards on corporate responsibility, but
they have not yet been widely implemented by companies. The international
community has also failed to effectively tackle the link between resources
exploitation and conflict in
Congo,
choosing to ignore previous U.N. reports that highlighted the issue.
Northeastern Congo has been one of the worst hit areas during
Congo’s
devastating five-year war. Competing armed groups carried out ethnic
massacres, rape and torture in this mineral-rich corner of Congo. A local
conflict between Hema and Lendu ethnic groups allied with national rebel
groups and foreign backers, including Uganda and Rwanda, has claimed over
60,000 lives since 1999, according to United Nations estimates. These losses
are just one part of an estimated four million civilians dead throughout the
Congo, a toll that makes this war more deadly to civilians than any other
since World War II.
“Efforts to make peace in Congo risk failure unless the issue of natural
resource exploitation and its link to human rights abuses are put at the top
of the agenda,” said Van Woudenberg “Congolese citizens deserve to benefit
from their gold resources, not be cursed by them.”
Quotes from The Curse of Gold
Witness of atrocities by the UPC armed group in a village near to
Mongbwalu:
I saw many people tied up ready to be executed. The UPC said they were going
to kill them all. They made the Lendu dig their own graves… [then] they
killed the people by hitting them on the head with a sledgehammer.
Witness in Mongbwalu:
When the UPC were in Mongbwalu they sent their gold to Bunia and from there
it was sent to
Rwanda.
In exchange they got weapons.
A witness to the burning of Hema women accused of being witches by the FNI
armed group:
The strategy was to close them in the house and burn it. They captured the
women from the surrounding countryside. They said it was to bring them to
talk about peace. They put ten women in a house, tied their hands, closed the
doors, and burned the house. This lasted about two weeks, with killing night
and day.
A young gold trader tortured for failure to pay taxes to the FNI armed
group:
There I spent two days in a hole in the ground covered by sticks. They took
me out of the hole to beat me. They tied me over a log and then they took
turns hitting me with sticks - on my head, my back, my legs. They said they
were going to kill me.
A witness to forced labor:
The FNI combatants come every morning door-to-door. They split up to find
young people and they take about sixty of them to the river to find the gold…
They are forced to work. If the authorities try to intervene they are beaten.
A victim of torture by General Jerome:
They said the gold was for Commander Jérôme and he needed money to build his
house. They said if I didn’t give the money, Jérôme would give the order for
me to be killed. On the fifth day Jérôme came with his officers to the prison
. . . and pointed his gun at me. He said: “Since the first day, I said I
would kill you. I don’t joke. Today it’s the end of your life.” They made me
get out of the hole and lie down. Jérôme loaded his revolver and put it to
the back of my neck.
Mining engineer in the Durba gold mining region where the Ugandan army had
been present:
The Ugandan army were responsible for the destruction of Gorumbwa [gold]
mine. They started to mine the pillars. It was disorderly and very
widespread. People were killed when the mine eventually collapsed. It was not
their country so they didn’t care about the destruction.
A gold trader asked why he worked in the dangerous mines:
“Tell me what choice I have? This is the only way I can make any money. Its
about my own survival and that of my family.”
A Congolese government official:
“We just watch our country’s resources drain away with no benefit to the
Congolese people.”
Charles Carter, Vice President at AngloGold Ashanti:
The company has made preparations to “commence exploration drilling on the
Kimin prospect [OKIMO] in the Ituri region of the DRC…[W]hile this is
obviously a tough environment right now, we are looking forward to the
opportunity to fully explore the properties we have in the Congo, believing
that we now have access to potentially exciting growth prospects in Central
Africa."
Local observer to events in the mining regions:
“Njabu [President of the FNI] now has power due to the gold he controls and
[the presence of] AngloGold Ashanti. This is his ace and he will use it to
get power in Kinshasa.
DRC: Stop the slaughter now!
Democratic Republic of Congo: Time to stop the carnage
and economic exploitation
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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No life for children amongst the tanks
- Children beside soldiers from the Interim Emergency Multinational Force
and United Nations force in Bunia, Ituri
© AI |
Human Rights
DRC: Stop the slaughter now!
In recent weeks, killings have spiralled in Ituri and Kivu provinces, where
renewed fighting has exacerbated an already terrible humanitarian situation. In
Ituri, thousands of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands more forced
to flee conflict between ethnic militia.
The war in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a human rights and
humanitarian crisis of vast proportions. Since August 1998, at least 3.3 million
people are estimated to have died because of the conflict, most from disease and
starvation. More than 2.25 million people have been driven from their homes,
many of them beyond the reach of humanitarian agencies.
Armed groups have aimed ruthless violence directly at civilian communities,
especially in rural areas. Villages throughout the east have been attacked,
their inhabitants killed, raped, beaten or driven into the countryside. In many
areas, homes, fields, health centres, food stores, everything that survival
depends on, have been looted or laid waste.
The governments of DRC, Rwanda and Uganda are sponsoring the violence through
their patronage of the armed groups responsible. All the groups use child
soldiers and have committed appalling human rights abuses. Despite this, the
three governments have continued to supply weapons, equipment, training and
other forms of military and political support.
The deployment of an emergency UN multinational force in May 2003 has calmed the
situation in the town of Bunia but not in the rest of Ituri, and its mandate
will expire in September. AI fears that the permanent UN military mission (MONUC)
in the area will be unable to avert a dramatic escalation in violence or provide
effective protection to civilians.
Please help by signing our petition today.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Time to stop the carnage and
economic exploitation
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Cemetery for victims in Kisangani of
Eastern DRC conflict
© AI |
For the last four and half years the people of the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) have suffered countless violations of their human rights in a
conflict fuelled by a drive to control and exploit the country's natural
resources.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of
10 December 1948
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted
and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of
which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly
called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and
"to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in
schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the
political status of countries or territories."
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and
inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of
freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous
acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world
in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom
from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common
people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as
a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights
should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations
between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed
their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote
social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation
with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance
of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the
greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all
nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping
this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to
promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures,
national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition
and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the
peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are
endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a
spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on
the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the
country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,
trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade
shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to
equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any
discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to
such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national
tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the
constitution or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an
independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and
obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed
innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he
has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act
or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or
international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier
penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal
offence was committed.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy,
family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference
or attacks.
Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the
borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to
return to his country.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum
from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely
arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and
principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the
right to change his nationality.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race,
nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They
are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its
dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of
the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association
with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this
right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either
alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his
religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country,
directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his
country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections
which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret
vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is
entitled to realization, through national effort and international
co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each
State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his
dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just
and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for
equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration
ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and
supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the
protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation
of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health
and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing
and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in
the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other
lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social
protection.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least
in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally
available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis
of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship
among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the
activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall
be given to their children.
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of
the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and
its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material
interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of
which he is the author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the
rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full
development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject
only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of
securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and
of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general
welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the
purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State,
group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act
aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
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