AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 1995
(this report covers the period 1.1.94-31.12.94)
ZAIRE
Hundreds of opponents of President Mobutu Sese Seko were detained without trial; most were prisoners of conscience. Torture and ill-treatment of detainees were widespread. ''Disappearances'' continued and the fate of scores of people who ''disappeared'' in previous years remained unknown. Dozens of unarmed civilians were extrajudicially executed by the security forces. Zairian soldiers attacked Rwandese refugees in eastern Zaire, killing at least five. Two soldiers were sentenced to death. No executions were reported.
In January President Mobutu dismissed the prime minister he had appointed in 1993 (see Amnesty International Report 1994) and announced the formation of a transitional parliament, the High Council of the Republic – Transitional Parliament. In June the transitional parliament elected Léon Kengo wa Dondo as Prime Minister, a post he had held twice in the 1980s. His election was vehemently opposed by supporters of Etienne Tshisekedi, leader of the Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (udps), Union for Democracy and Social Progress, who had been appointed Prime Minister by the National Conference in 1992 but dismissed by President Mobutu in January 1993 (see Amnesty International Reports 1992 to 1994).
In July Prime Minister Kengo wa Dondo embarked on a program to end the crisis affecting most aspects of life in Zaire, in particular widespread violence and insecurity, ineffectiveness of the judicial system, lack of discipline in the army and the widespread and uncontrolled use of weapons by soldiers and some civilians. One of several initiatives aimed at reducing violence and human rights abuses was new legislation limiting the circumstances in which members of the security forces can use firearms. It was unclear, however, whether the new government had the authority to enforce these measures, as the security forces effectively remained under the control of President Mobutu and his allies. There were fewer reports of military units rampaging through towns and cities than in previous years, but the security forces continued to arrest and detain people arbitrarily with virtual impunity.
In June the un Commission on Human Rights appointed a Special Rapporteur on Zaire, and in November he visited the country. He was scheduled to submit a report to the 1995 session of the Commission.
Hundreds of people, including political activists, journalists and trade unionists, were arrested during the year. The majority were prisoners of conscience. In most cases they were detained by the security forces and held incommunicado and outside the framework of the law for weeks or even months. Few detainees were charged and even fewer were brought to trial. The courts were given no opportunity to rule on the legality of most cases of political imprisonment.
On 20 January, 440 members of the Parti lumumbiste unifié (palu), United Lumumbist Party, were reportedly arrested by members of the Civil Guard during a peaceful demonstration to protest against what they called the President's interference in the democratic process. They were taken to the Civil Guard's headquarters in the capital, Kinshasa, where they were allegedly tortured. Some were seriously injured. More than 400 of them were released uncharged by the end of January; the fate of the rest was unknown.
A wave of political arrests began on 12 June when Etienne Tshisekedi was arrested by members of the Division spéciale présidentielle (dsp), Special Presidential Division, near its Kibomango barracks, 60 kilometres from Kinshasa, together with three bodyguards and his driver. He was freed after nine hours, but his bodyguards and driver remained in custody for two months. The driver and two bodyguards were released following a government decision in August to release all political prisoners (see below). It was not clear whether they had been charged. The authorities claimed that the third bodyguard, Christophe Ntumba, had escaped, but there were reports that he had ''disappeared'' in custody and might have been killed.
On 11 July dsp soldiers assaulted Etienne Tshisekedi's residence in Kinshasa, reportedly killing one udps member and wounding at least five others. The assault was in reprisal for a confrontation earlier that day between soldiers and udps activists who were said to have objected to the presence of soldiers around Etienne Tshisekedi's house. During the confrontation four soldiers were seriously injured. At least seven udps supporters were subsequently detained at Kinshasa's Makala Central Prison, some of them suffering from injuries inflicted by the soldiers. The seven, together with five others, were charged in July as a result of an investigation into the incident ordered by the authorities. A court ordered their provisional release shortly afterwards. One of the seven, Kabongo Kadila, died in September, reportedly from his injuries and lack of medical care while in custody. The authorities denied any responsibility for his death.
Journalists were subjected to death threats and other forms of intimidation, and several were detained for writing or publishing articles critical of the President and his allies, or for supporting the udps. Wilfried Owandjankoi, a columnist for the newspaper La Tempête des tropiques, was arrested on 22 June by members of the dsp and detained for several hours. He was arrested because of two articles he had written which criticized the President. Tshibanda Kabunda, a journalist for La Voix du Zaïre (Voice of Zaire), the national radio and television station, and a former prisoner of conscience, was arrested by members of the Civil Guard on 1 July. He was accused of showing udps supporters in Matadi a video he had recorded of a udps meeting. It was not clear for how long he was detained, but he was freed by mid-July, apparently without charge.
At least three trade union leaders – the three workers' representatives in the transitional parliament – were arrested on 16 August during a peaceful demonstration by civil servants in Kinshasa demanding payment of their salaries. They were arrested by members of the Civil Guard and the Gendarmerie's Brigade spéciale de recherche et de surveillance (bsrs), Special Investigation and Surveillance Brigade, which was trying to prevent the demonstration. Those arrested included Benjamin Mukulungu, president of the Syndicat des Enseignants, Teachers' Union, and Kibaswa Kwabene Naupess, secretary general of the Syndicat des agents de santé, Health Workers' Union. They were reportedly taken by jeep to a secret detention centre. At the end of the year it was unclear whether they had been charged or whether they were still in custody.
A possible prisoner of conscience, Jérôme Koy-Kashama, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment at Lodja in Kasaï-Oriental province for rebellion. He was apparently arrested after protesting against the use of torture by local security force members.
In July a judicial commission was set up by the Ministry of Justice to visit all detention centres. The following month the government announced that all political prisoners identified by the commission would be released, and in October it said that all had been freed. It was unclear, however, whether the commission had had the authority to check all places of detention controlled by the security forces and whether all prisoners had been released unconditionally.
Torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, particularly beatings of political detainees, were widespread. For example, Léon Kadima, a member of the udps and Etienne Tshisekedi's special envoy, was reportedly tortured after his arrest on 5 July. He was said to have been subjected to electric shocks while in custody at the Higher Institute of Building and Public Works, used by the Civil Guard as a secret detention centre. He was released in September without charge. No investigation into the alleged torture was initiated.
Conditions were so harsh in some prisons that they amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Scores of deaths as a result of starvation and lack of medical care were reported in Makala prison and other prisons around the country. In Bunia prison in Haut-Zaire, prisoners were immobilized with leg-irons which caused severe injuries. In August the Minister of Justice promised to release from Makala prison all prisoners who were ill. It was not known how many were released.
''Disappearances'' of suspected government opponents were reported. Most victims were arrested by the security forces and taken to a secret detention centre before ''disappearing''. Four members of the udps, including Théodore Kongo Mukwa, reportedly ''disappeared'' after their arrest by unidentified men following a udps meeting in Kinshasa on 5 June. The fate of dozens of people who ''disappeared'' in previous years remained unknown and it was feared that they had been extrajudicially executed. The government made no attempt to investigate the reported ''disappearances''. For instance, there was no investigation to discover the fate of Nelly Lengwa, a member of the Forces novatrices de l'union sacrée, Innovating Forces of the Sacred Union, who ''disappeared'' after her arrest on 13 July 1993 by three members of Civil Guard. She was reportedly taken away in a jeep without a number plate.
Dozens of deliberate and unlawful killings by members of the security forces were reported throughout the year, some of which were extrajudicial executions. In those cases where inquiries were ordered by the authorities, it was difficult to assess whether they took place and were independent. Pierre Kabeya, a journalist working for the newspaper Kin-Matin, was found dead on the night of 8 June in a street near Loano military camp in Kinshasa's Kintambo district. His death appeared to be linked to an article he wrote about the 1991 trial of those implicated in the 1990 attack on the Lubumbashi University campus (see Amnesty International Report 1991). Pierre Kabeya's body had been mutilated and a copy of Kin-matin placed conspicuously near the body. The government stated in October that the procurator in charge of the investigation had concluded that insufficient evidence was available to identify Pierre Kabeya's killers.
On 28 October Adolphe Kavula, director of the newspaper Nsemo, was kidnapped by armed men, believed to be members of the security forces. He was found dying by the roadside on 6 November. He was a founder of the udps and had recently published articles about the President's personal finances.
On 27 June, three people were reported to have been killed by members of the local police in Mbuji-Mayi, capital of East Kasai region, when an opposition meeting at the headquarters of the udps was violently broken up. Those killed included Kalenga Kasongo and Joseph Mulamba. At least 12 others were injured, two seriously. The government subsequently denied that anyone had died, claiming that no one had lodged complaints about relatives being killed.
Rwandese refugees fleeing to eastern Zaire's North and South Kivu regions from mid-July onwards were attacked by Zairian soldiers; at least five refugees were killed. Refugees attacked and killed several Zairian soldiers in reprisal.
Two soldiers were sentenced to death on 1 October by a Military Court in North Kivu; they were convicted of murder and attempted murder, apparently in connection with offences against refugees. No executions were reported.
On 27 November the Zairian authorities forcibly returned 37 Rwandese refugees to the Rwandese authorities, who detained them.
In February Amnesty International published a report, Zaire: Collapsing Under Crisis, and called on the international community to put pressure on President Mobutu to take action to end the cycle of human rights violations and to introduce effective human rights safeguards.
In September Amnesty International issued a public appeal to the new Prime Minister, welcoming the measures announced in July and calling on his government to implement them rigorously and to introduce the organization's recommendations to safeguard human rights and to establish the rule of law. A 13-page response was received from the government in October, commenting on some of the cases cited, reiterating the government's intention to end human rights violations, but urging comprehension at an international level for the difficult situation facing Zaire.
In December Amnesty International asked about the forcible return of Rwandese refugees and sought guarantees that no further such deportations would occur. No response had been received by the end of the year.
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