A State of Siege, which is similar to a state of emergency, enforced in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) authorities since May 2021 has been used as a tool to crush dissent, with two human rights activists killed by security forces and dozens of activists arbitrarily detained on trumped-up charges, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing.
Following further closures of media outlets and a mounting crackdown on internet and mobile messaging in the wake of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Amnesty International’s Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes Joan Nyanyuki said:
On 24 September, a court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) found Grâce Tshiunza, Mino Bopomi, Cedric Kalonji and Carbone Beni guilty of “insulting the president”, “publication of subversive writings” and “civil disobedience”. The same court acquitted Palmer Kabeya. Amnesty International believes that the court’s decision against the four human rights activists is baseless and criminalizes legal and peaceful activism by human rights activists.
Pro-democracy activists Rachel Pilipili, Francois Kahombo Hangi, Justin Mutabesha, Benjamin Kamuntu and Parfait Muhani have been in arbitrary detention since 21 January. They have alleged that they were beaten in the first five days of their detention by security officers. The five were arrested during a peaceful demonstration in Goma.
In response to the killing of two UN experts in Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, said...
The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must show restraint in their handling of protests to ensure that they do not inflame tensions in the country, and conduct …
The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have overseen a systematic crackdown on opponents of President Joseph Kabila’s attempt to stay in power beyond the constitutionally mandated second …
The release of four Congolese pro-democracy activists, including Amnesty International Prisoners of Conscience Fred Bauma and Yves Makwambala, is cause for celebration but they remain at risk of re-arrest unless …
Vano Kiboko, a former Member of Parliament who had been in detention since December 2014, was released from prison on 5 May after completing his sentence.
The release yesterday of six youth activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo by way of presidential pardons will be seen as little more than an exercise in window dressing unless all prisoners of conscience and others detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights are freed, said Amnesty International.
