Amnesty International Report 1994 - Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)

Hundreds of unarmed civilians were extrajudicially executed by soldiers, some when troops attacked protesters, others in reprisal for actions by civilians or when soldiers rioted. Scores of political opponents of President Mobutu Sese Seko were detained without trial: many of them were prisoners of conscience. Hundreds of soldiers involved in riots or suspected of opposing the President were also detained without charge or trial. Torture and ill-treatment of prisoners were widespread. New "disappearances" were reported and the fate of scores of political opponents of the government who "disappeared" in previous years remained unknown. Political violence escalated as the struggle for power between President Mobutu and his opponents continued, paralysing the economy and leading to a near-total breakdown in law and order. The security forces, which remained under the control of the President and his allies, periodically rampaged through towns and cities, looting and killing unarmed civilians with virtual impunity. Politically motivated intercommunal disturbances in parts of the country resulted in thousands of deaths. In January armed soldiers rioted in the capital, Kinshasa, and a series of strikes against the President brought the city to a stanDSTill. In February Belgium, France and the USA called on President Mobutu to hand over executive power to opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who had been appointed Prime Minister by a National Conference in 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993). The President rejected the demands and announced that he had dismissed Etienne Tshisekedi. Troops loyal to the President sealed off the People's Palace to prevent a meeting of the High Council of the Republic, the transitional legislative body elected by the National Conference, and troops held members of the Council prisoner for three days. No action was taken against the soldiers. In March President Mobutu revived the former one-party National Assembly and appointed Faustin Birindwa as Prime Minister. The High Council refused to recognize his appointment. For the remainder of the year, there was a political stalemate between the two legislative bodies and the two Prime Ministers heading rival government structures, but effective power remained in the hands of the President and the army. In April Faustin Birindwa's government ordered soldiers to raid the homes of Etienne Tshisekedi and his cabinet on the pretext of recovering government property. Several civilians were wounded in the attacks. Etienne Tshisekedi's government continued to call for civil disobedience and workers' strikes to force President Mobutu to relinquish power. It also asked the UN to send a peace-keeping force to the country. The UN Secretary-General sent an envoy to Zaire in mid-July and September, but there were no apparent improvements in the situation. The Organization of African Unity also tried to mediate without success. Intercommunal violence led to thousands of deaths in Shaba and North Kivu regions, apparently instigated or condoned by the regional authorities. In Shaba region, gangs made up of members of the indigenous population attacked members of the Luba ethnic group originating from West and East Kasaï regions, killing more than 500 people between mid-1992 and mid-1993. Sources in Shaba region alleged that the violence had been encouraged by former Prime Minister Nguz a Karl-i-Bond and Shaba's governor, with the aim of driving supporters of Etienne Tshisekedi, himself from West Kasaï, out of Shaba. In December the two Shaba leaders declared the region autonomous from central government. In the southeastern parts of North Kivu region, members of the Nyanga and Hunde ethnic groups attacked Banyarwanda, people of ethnic Rwandese origin, from March onwards. About 7,000 people, mostly Banyarwanda, were reported to have been killed by mid-August: the killings were said to have been incited by Nyanga and Hunde chiefs who control local government, and condoned by the regional governor. Although the governor and his deputy were suspended by the President at the end of July, those responsible for the killings were not brought to justice. There were also reports of serious human rights violations in the northeastern part of North Kivu region, near the border with Uganda, in the aftermath of armed clashes between government soldiers and rebels calling themselves "Lumumbists". Government troops reportedly committed extrajudicial executions of unarmed civilians, set villages on fire, looted property and raped women villagers. The rebels were also reported to have deliberately killed civilians and looted property. Rioting troops in Kinshasa killed nearly 1,000 people, many of them unarmed civilians, in late January. Soldiers from Kokolo military barracks in Kinshasa and from the Centre d'entraînement des troupes aéroportées (CETA), Airborne Troop Training Centre, rioted after being paid in new five million zaire notes declared illegal by Etienne Tshisekedi, which many traders refused to accept. The Division spéciale présidentielle (DSP), Special Presidential Division, was sent in by President Mobutu to quell the disturbances, but turned its fire on armed soldiers and unarmed civilians indiscriminately. At the same time they also attacked known opponents of the President; many civilians were shot dead in their homes. French troops evacuated foreign nationals after the French Ambassador was shot dead. Several hundred soldiers suspected of involvement in the Kinshasa riots were reportedly arrested and detained by the DSP at Tshatshi military barracks. There were fears for the detainees' safety: there had been no further information about them by the end of the year. Berthos Kibassa, the son of opposition leader Kibassa Maliba, was among the civilians executed extrajudicially at the end of January. Soldiers believed to belong to the DSP launched an unprovoked rocket attack on the house of Kibassa Maliba, then entered the building and burned Berthos Kibassa's body. Other members of the family were severely injured. About 52 unarmed men, women and children were reportedly shot dead - and many others injured - on 22 February by members of the DSP in Kinshasa's Kimbanseke district. The attack was reportedly in reprisal for the killing of a soldier by a group of civilians. As in previous incidents no investigation was known to have occurred and no action was apparently taken against the soldiers responsible. On 4 July at least four men were shot dead and an 11-year-old boy was stabbed to death by soldiers loyal to President Mobutu who tried to prevent the main opposition party, the Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS), Union for Democracy and Social Progress, from holding a rally at Kinshasa's principal sports stadium. Scores of President Mobutu's opponents were detained in a wave of arrests which began in March. Those held included trade unionists and journalists. Most were prisoners of conscience. Most of those detained were held incommunicado for several weeks at security force detention centres, then moved to Kinshasa's Makala Central Prison. None were charged and all were believed to have been released within four months. Several UDPS members were arrested in late March, including Placide Mukendi, Martin Lukulungu and Lambert Tshitshimbi Katombe, a former army colonel and security adviser to Etienne Tshisekedi. They were all released untried by the end of July. At least 18 members of the Union Sacrée, Sacred Union, a coalition of opposition political parties including the UDPS, were arrested in April and held without charge or trial for up to several months. Joseph Olenga Nkoy, an aide to Etienne Tshisekedi, was detained for just over two months and reported to have been tortured at the Kinshasa headquarters of the National Gendarmerie, known as the "Circo". At least five trade union leaders were arrested following a strike by civil servants in May. They included Kuku Gedila and Ngandu Tshilombo, leaders of the Conféderation démocratique du travail (CDT), Democratic Labour Federation. All prisoners of conscience, they were held for up to three months in cells below the Procuracy building in Kinshasa. People working for independent newspapers were also targeted. In March and April independent newspaper vendors in Kinshasa were attacked by members of the security forces, who confiscated or destroyed many of the newspapers. Kenge Mukengeshayi, editor-in-chief of Le Phare newspaper, was one of at least eight journalists who were arrested. He was detained in April by security police. In April the High Court ordered his release, but he was immediately redetained by order of the Procurator General. He was released untried in June. Further arrests of President Mobutu's critics occurred from October onwards. Those arrested included Ferdinand Chimanuka, a member of the Parti démocrate et social chrétien (PDSC), Christian Democratic and Social Party, and president of an opposition coalition in Kivu. He was released in December by the Supreme Court which ruled that he had no case to answer. Other detainees, including Déo Kambale, a leading UDPS member, were released, but it was not clear at the end of the year how many remained in custody. More than 50 soldiers arrested in January 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993) in Kinshasa continued to be held incommunicado without charge or trial. There were fears for their safety. Torture and ill-treatment of prisoners were widespread. Political detainees were frequently beaten by members of the security forces, either at the time of arrest or while in custody. Kalala Mbenga Kalao, a journalist working for Tempête des tropiques, was brutally assaulted by the soldiers who arrested him in August after his newspaper published statistics indicating that members of President Mobutu's ethnic group comprise 70 per cent of the officers in the Zairian Armed Forces. He was first detained in a school building taken over by the Civil Guard, then transferred to a military security service detention centre. He was released without trial in September. There were also reports of detainees being subjected to electric shocks, whipping and rape. The authorities, including the judiciary, failed to investigate claims of torture. "Disappearances" of suspected government opponents continued to be reported. At least five people, including Emile Nkombo, a UDPS official, reportedly "disappeared" after being seized by members of the security forces on 4 July at Kinshasa's principal sports stadium when the UDPS was trying to hold a rally there. The fate of dozens of people who "disappeared" in previous years remained unknown and it was feared that they had been extrajudicially executed in secret (see previous Amnesty International Reports). Conditions in Zaire's prisons and detention centres were so harsh they amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Dozens of deaths from starvation and medical neglect were reported in Kinshasa's central prison of Makala, and also in other prisons around the country. In some prisons, such as Bukavu Prison, locally made leg-irons which were welded around the prisoner's ankles were used as restraints, causing serious injuries to the victims. President Mobutu commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment in November. No executions or new death sentences were reported during the year. Amnesty International repeatedly expressed concern to President Mobutu about human rights violations by the security forces and called for the release of prisoners of conscience and for an end to torture, "disappearances", extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations. In September Amnesty International published a report, Zaire: Violence against democracy, and called publicly for an end to the cycle of abuse and the introduction of effective human rights safeguards in Zaire. President Mobutu's office said that the report contained "tendentious allegations", but failed to respond to any of the cases cited. After considering communications concerning human rights violations in Zaire under a procedure established by the Economic and Social Council Resolutions 728f/1503, in March the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution deploring "the continuing serious violations of human rights" in Zaire and decided to consider the question again publicly at its 1994 session.