Freedom in the World 1999 - Congo, Republic of (Brazzaville)

1999 Scores

Status: Not Free
Freedom Rating: 5.5
Civil Liberties: 5
Political Rights: 6

Ratings Change

Congo, Republic of (Brazzaville's) political rights rating changed from 7 to 6 due to the reestablishment of contact between the government and some of the country's political leaders in exile, and the signing of a preliminary peace accord.

Overview

The military ruler Denis Sassou-Nguesso and a number of senior rebel figures signed a preliminary peace accord in December 1999 after the government made substantial gains on the battlefield. The agreement, which was brokered by Gabonese President Omar Bongo, calls for a halt to fighting, an amnesty for combatants who voluntarily disarm, reorganization of the military, and an eventual return to democratic rule. An earlier agreement was signed in November. Ousted Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas criticized that accord as a sham, saying it did not represent his movement, although he is considered marginally more flexible than overthrown President Pascal Lissouba, who still considers himself Congo's leader. Both have lived in exile since Sassou-Nguesso overthrew their government in October 1997 and have indicated a willingness to negotiate. They were not signatories to the November and December agreements.

While government forces have won control of the capital, and other main towns, fighting continues in the forest interior. Up to 250,000 people, or about half of Brazzaville's population, fled fighting early in the year that pitted Sassou-Nguesso's troops and Cobra militia against the Cocoye and Ninja militias siding with Lissouba and Kolelas.

Reports of atrocities against civilians are widespread, including arbitrary detentions, executions, and rapes by both government forces and rebel militias. A United Nations report in November 1999 said anarchy exists in rural areas of the south, sending farmers fleeing fertile land. According to the report, tens of thousands of women have been raped, more than 500,000 people have been made homeless in the fighting, and a whole generation of youth has resorted to a life of plunder and extortion.

Civil wars in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and nearby Angola have made large numbers of weapons and fighters available to fuel the conflict. Sassou-Nguesso has been backed by Angolan air, armor, and infantry units and political support from France. He also reportedly received financial aid from the French Elf Aquitaine oil company, whose monopoly over Congo oil exports was threatened by Lissouba's policy of diversifying Congo's trade partners.

A decade after its independence from France, a 1970 coup established a Marxist state in Congo. In 1979, General Sassou-Nguesso seized power and maintained one-party rule as head of the Congolese Workers' Party. Domestic and international pressure forced his acceptance of a national conference leading to open, multiparty elections in 1992. Lissouba, of the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy, won a clear victory over Kolelas, of the Congolese Party for Genuine Democracy and Development, in a second-round presidential runoff that excluded Sassou-Nguesso, who had run third in the first round. Legislative elections produced no clear majority. After an anti-Lissouba coalition formed, the president dissolved the assembly and called for fresh polls. Legislative polls in 1993 produced a presidential majority, but were marred by numerous irregularities. Several parties boycotted the second round.

The disputed elections led to armed conflict. In late 1993, Brazzaville suffered what proved to be only a foretaste of the far greater violence that was to occur among ethnic-based militias in 1997. Sassou-Nguesso went on to build a private army in his native northern Congo and forcibly retook in 1997 the presidency that he had lost in a free election in 1992.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Sassou-Nguesso, who received only 17 percent of the vote in the 1992 presidential elections, has promised to conduct open, multiparty elections in 2001. But sharp ethnic divisions among the country's nearly three million people can be expected to produce electoral results similar to those in 1992, when voting along ethnic lines gave him little support outside his minority ethnic base in the north.

A new constitution has been drafted and is expected to be completed sometime in the year 2000. A 75-member transitional assembly was appointed by Sassou-Nguesso, but exercises no real power. The Congolese exercised their constitutional right to elect their president and national assembly deputies to five-year terms of office through competitive multiparty elections for the first time in 1992 and 1993, respectively. President Lissouba's 1992 victory at the polls was widely considered to be free and fair, but 1993 legislative election results were disputed by the opposition. Presidential polls set for July 1997 were preempted by the civil war that returned Sassou-Nguesso to power.

Freedom of assembly and association is constitutionally guaranteed, but interior ministry permission for public gatherings is occasionally denied, and there is a real threat of violence by government security forces or other armed factions. Human rights groups such as Congolese Human Rights Watch continue to operate, but often with great difficulty. Religious freedom is respected in law and practice.

There are numerous and persistent reports of atrocities against civilians committed by both sides in the conflict. Victims describe persecution by soldiers and their militia allies at army roadblocks and recount being used as human shields by rebel militia forces. In November the army said any of its soldiers found guilty of committing abuses against civilians would be punished. Most of the president's soldiers are from northern ethnic groups, which exacerbates tensions between northerners and southerners. Aid agencies warn of a humanitarian crisis with up to 500,000 displaced people suffering from malnutrition and oppression. Tens of thousands of refugees have poured into neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon.

Scarce resources and understaffing create a backlog of court cases and long periods of pretrial detention in extremely harsh prison conditions. The three-tier formal court system of local courts, courts of appeal, and the supreme court was generally considered to be politically independent until the civil war. In rural areas, traditional courts retain broad jurisdiction, especially in civil matters. In September 1999 authorities set up two military tribunals to try soldiers accused of committing atrocities.

Freedom of expression is limited. The government monopoly over electronic media is complete except for a radio station operated by political allies of Sassou-Nguesso. However, broadcasts from neighboring countries are widely heard. A July 1996 law imposed registration requirements and severe penalties for slander and defamation. A 1995 law also provides stronger penalties for defamation of senior officials, requires media to "show loyalty to the government," and permits seizure of private printing works during emergencies. There is extensive self-censorship.

Women suffer extensive legal and societal discrimination despite constitutional protections. Access to education and employment opportunities, especially in the countryside, are limited, and civil codes regarding family and marriage formalize women's inferior status. Adultery is legal for men, but not for women. Polygyny is legal, while polyandry is not. Violence against women reportedly is widespread and increased substantially during the war. Discrimination against Pygmy groups is also reported. Many Pygmies are effectively held in lifetime servitude through customary ties to Bantu "patrons."

Workers' rights to join trade unions and to strike are legally protected. Six labor confederations operate with various linkages to the government and political parties. Unions are legally required to accept nonbinding arbitration before striking, but many strikes have proceeded without adherence to this process by soldiers at army roadblocks.

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