Freedom in the World 1998 - Congo, Republic of (Brazzaville)

1998 Scores

Status: Not Free
Freedom Rating: 6.0
Civil Liberties: 5
Political Rights: 7

Overview

Former military dictator Denis Sassou-Nguesso sought to consolidate his return to power in the wake of the 1997 civil war in which he ousted the elected government of President Pascal Lissouba. In December, fighting flared in Brazzaville after repeated clashes in the southern Pool region. Sassou-Nguesso was backed by Angolan air, armor, and infantry units and political support from France. He also reportedly received financial aid from the French ELF oil company, whose monopoly over Congo oil exports was threatened by President Lissouba's policy of diversifying Congo's trade partners. Sassou-Nguesso, who received only 17 percent of the vote in 1992 presidential elections, has promised to conduct open, multiparty elections in 2001. He is highly unlikely to keep this pledge, however, since 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.

Serious human rights abuses and occasional fighting continue. Civil wars in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and nearby Angola have made large numbers of weapons and fighters available to all sides in the conflict.

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 transition to open, multiparty elections in 1992. Pascal Lissouba of the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy won a clear victory over Bernard Kolelas of the Congolese Party for Genuine Democracy and Development in a second round presidential run-off 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 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 larger violence among ethnic-based militias in 1997. Sassou-Nguesso built his private army in his native northern Congo, and, with foreign aid, forcibly retook the presidency that he had lost in a free election. His ability to maintain stability and promote economic development is uncertain unless he can cultivate new coalitions with ethnic groups from the country's southern regions.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

The Congolese constitution has been suspended, and the future of the country's existing political parties is unclear. A 75-member transitional assembly was appointed by Sassou-Nguesso in January, 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 polls victory 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 pre-empted by the civil war that returned Sassou-Nguesso to power.

There have been numerous reports of killings by security forces and militia, which act with apparent impunity. Freedoms of assembly and association are 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.

Scarce resources and understaffing create a backlog of court cases and long periods of pre-trial 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.

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. 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. In September , journalist Fabien Fortune Bitoumbo was murdered by militia fighters. A few days earlier, offices of the magazine La Rue Meurt in Brazzaville had been raided by uniformed men who seized the publication's computer equipment.

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 is reportedly widespread, but not formally recorded. 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 non-binding arbitration before striking, but many strikes have proceeded without adherence to this process.

Physical reconstruction and restoration of investor confidence will be a post-war priority. In June, a $60 million reconstruction package was awarded by Western donors. In July, the IMF approved a $10 million loan.