Amnesty International Report 1999 - Congo (Republic of The)

CONGO

(REPUBLIC OF THE)

Several dozen suspected opponents of the government, including possible prisoners of conscience, were detained without charge or trial. Hundreds of unarmed civilians and captured combatants were extrajudicially executed by government forces and allied militia. Some detainees were tortured and virtually all were held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Dozens of deaths in custody were reported. Dozens of people "disappeared" in the custody of government forces. Armed opposition groups committed human rights abuses, including deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians.

In January the government organized a national forum which approved a transitional constitution known as the Acte fondamental (Fundamental Act). This replaced the 1992 constitution which had been abrogated when President Denis Sassou Nguesso came to power in October 1997. In its preamble, the Fundamental Act reaffirmed the commitment of the Congolese people to democratic and human rights principles as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. The forum also elected the Conseil national de transition, a 75-person transitional parliament. The transitional period was slated to last for as much as three years, followed by presidential and legislative elections.

The forum concluded that former President Pascal Lissouba, who was overthrown in October 1997, and his allies had committed grave human rights violations, including acts of genocide, and recommended to the government that those responsible be brought to justice. In June the government published a report containing allegations of human rights violations by former President Lissouba's government and supporters. Serious human rights abuses, including many deliberate and arbitrary killings, "disappearances" and torture, committed by government forces and allied militia under President Nguesso, did not feature in the report. The government started a process of enacting a law to punish the crime of genocide and other violations of human rights attributed to former President Lissouba's government and its allies, and another law setting up a court to try the perpetrators. In October acourt indicted 100 people, including former President Lissouba, with offences ranging from killings and torture to fraud and theft. In November the government issued an international warrant for the arrest of former President Lissouba.

A spate of clashes between armed opposition groups, and President Nguesso's forces, which included militia not formally integrated into the regular security forces, occurred during the year. Among the armed opposition groups were the "Ninjas", loyal to former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas, and the "Cocoyes", loyal to former President Lissouba. Government forces included members of the Congolese National Police and armed forces, as well as members of President Nguesso's former militia, the "Cobras". Government forces were supported by troops of the governments of Angola and Chad. After a lull early in the year, fighting between armed opposition groups and government forces intensified in Brazzaville and the Pool region from late August onwards. At the end of December President Nguesso announced that hundreds of people had been killed. Most of the victims were unarmed civilians, many of whom were extrajudicially executed by government forces during reprisal attacks or counter-insurgency operations. By the end of the year, at least 40,000 people had fled to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo and tens of thousands more had been internally displaced.

People accused of supporting former President Lissouba were detained without charge or trial. They included Henri-Marcellin Dzouma-Nguelet, a former official in the Ministry of Finance, who was arrested in February and held in the southwestern town of Pointe-Noire. He and Colonel Michel Ebaka, a former regional administrator of Cuvette region, were detained by the Direction de la surveillance du territoire (DST) security service in Pointe-Noire. They were not charged with any specific offence, although government officials claimed that they had committed crimes during the civil war in late 1997. In July the two men were allowed to visit their families during the day, but spent the nights at the Pointe-Noire headquarters of the DST. They were still held without charge at the end of the year.

Some civilian political detainees were held without charge. They included Jacques Moanda Mpassi, a former government minister. He had been arrested in November 1997, apparently as he tried to board a flight out of the country, and held in Pointe-Noire. He was released in April. Although he was not charged with any specific offence, the authorities claimed that he had attempted to use his brother's passport to leave the country and said that he would eventually be formally charged with fraud. Two former members of the Constitutional Council were arrested in November, accused of complicity in crimes against humanity because they voted in June 1997 to extend former President Lissouba's presidential mandate. They were Nestor Makoundzi-Wolo and the President of the Brazzaville Bar Association, Hervé-Ambroïse Malonga. They appeared to be prisoners of conscience.

Albert Moungoundo, who was detained in 1997 (see Amnesty International Report 1998), was released without trial. However, later in the year, the authorities claimed that he would be tried at a future date on fraud charges.

About 30 military officers arrested in late 1997 and early 1998 remained in custody without charge at the end of the year. Most of them were held at the Military Academy near the capital, Brazzaville. Those held included army colonels Oscar Ewolo, Eugène Mavoungou and Benjamin Loubaki. They were accused of supporting former President Lissouba. Although the authorities reportedly claimed that they would be tried in connection with crimes committed by former President Lissouba's government, none of them had been charged with any specific offence by the end of the year. They appeared to be held solely because they failed to support President Nguesso during the war which culminated in his coming to power. It was unclear whether they had been involved in human rights abuses.

Hundreds of unarmed civilians and captured combatants were extrajudicially executed by government forces and allied militia. Most were killed during counter-insurgency operations after attacks by armed opposition groups on members of the security forces or on civilians. For example, as many as 300 unarmed civilians were reportedly killed in Mouyounzi between April and June by government agents, including members of the "Cobras" militia, after members of the "Cocoyes" armed opposition group killed a policeman and a local government administrator. In October government forces, together with allied Angolan and Chadian government forces, reportedly killed hundreds more civilians during an offensive against the "Ninja" armed opposition group in the Pool region. Despite widespread reports of violence, including the burning of hundreds of homes, the authorities failed to investigate the killings or take any action against the perpetrators.

Dozens of people accused of armed robbery were killed by members of the security forces enforcing what appeared to be a shoot-to-kill policy. For example, two men accused of trying to rob passengers in a taxi were shot dead at Tié-Tié near Pointe- Noire. One of them was killed instantly and the other, who survived the initial shooting, was found and killed in a nearby hospital. As many as 43 alleged armed robbers in Brazzaville were arrested and shot dead by the police at Itatolo cemetery. They included 78-year-old Jean Ndinga, who was reportedly killed when the police failed to find his son who was being sought for armed robbery.

There were reports of rape by government and Angolan soldiers. For example, in late July several Angolan soldiers beat and raped a woman near their military barracks in a suburb of Pointe-Noire.

Many detainees were beaten at the time of their arrest or in custody. Most detainees, particularly in Brazzaville, were held in overcrowded cells with virtually no ventilation; some reportedly died from thirst and starvation, as well as from lack of medical care.

Dozens of detainees who "disappeared" in the custody of the police, particularly in Brazzaville, were feared dead. For example, as many as 17 detainees "disappeared" after they were removed from the Brazzaville central police station in April.

Armed opposition groups deliberately and arbitrarily killed civilians they believed to be government supporters. Members of the "Ninja" armed group killed unarmed civilians who refused to support them, particularly before and during clashes with government forces. In September members of the "Ninja" armed group killed a journalist and several other people who were travelling with a government minister.

Amnesty International condemned human rights abuses by government forces and by armed opposition groups. In a letter to President Nguesso in March and during a visit to the country in July, Amnesty International urged the authorities to set up an independent and impartial inquiry into human rights abuses that occurred in the recent past and to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice. In December the organization called on President Nguesso and leaders of armed groups to give clear public instructions to their forces not to commit human rights abuses, and urged the government to prevent the shelling of civilian targets.