II. Recommendations
To the Congolese Government
- Release immediately all individuals detained without charge, or charge them with a legally cognizable offense and prosecute them before courts that meet international fair trial standards.
- Investigate and discipline or prosecute as appropriate soldiers, police officers, intelligence agents, and any other official, regardless of rank, implicated in killings, torture, or mistreatment.
- Establish a task force under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice comprising military and civilian judicial officials, and international and national human rights experts, to establish the number and identities of persons detained without charge or trial, to monitor the release of detainees, and to document cases of torture and ill-treatment of detainees for future judicial action. Direct the task force to report regularly and publicly to parliament and the government.
- Ensure that members of the political opposition, the media, and civil society are permitted to exercise freely their rights to free expression, association, and assembly as guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- Permit national and international human rights monitors access to all places of detention and interviews in private with those detained.
- Establish an independent vetting mechanism to remove and exclude, with appropriate due process mechanisms, members of the security forces responsible for serious human rights violations.
- Take all necessary action to stop government officials from interfering in judicial proceedings.
- In accordance with Congolese law prohibit trial by military courts of civilians.
- Enact legislation implementing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to grant civilian courts jurisdiction over military personnel implicated in criminal offenses against civilians.
To the Congolese National Assembly and Senate
- Conduct a parliamentary inquiry into arbitrary arrests, torture, and ill-treatment of detainees by the military, police, and the security services.
- Review the role of all security and intelligence services; eliminate duplication and clarify mandates of various services in order to facilitate more effective parliamentary oversight of their conduct.
To International Donors
- Urge the government to release immediately all persons detained without charge or prosecute them in courts meeting international fair trial standards.
- Make the human rights situation in Congo, including arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment, and harassment and attacks on perceived political opponents a high priority in dialogues with Congolese government officials, emphasizing the need for concrete steps to address these concerns to assure favorable bilateral relations.
- Provide financial and political support for the creation of a Ministry of Justice task force to monitor persons in custody, their treatment, and their release.
- Monitor trials and regularly visit places of detention to promote compliance by the Congolese government with international human rights standards.
- Press the government to permit MONUC and other international and national human rights monitors free access to all places of detention.
- As part of continued donor support for the Security Sector Reform program, urge that the Congolese government establish an independent vetting mechanism to remove and exclude, with appropriate due process mechanisms, members of the security forces responsible for serious human rights violations. Assist the government in designing and implementing such a mechanism.
- Request an urgent visit to Congo by the UN special rapporteur on torture.
To MONUC and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
- Publish promptly MONUC and OHCHR reports on serious human rights abuses in Congo.
Military, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Agencies: multiple institutions, overlapping mandates
Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Forces Armées de la République démocratique du Congo,FARDC) . The current national army, numbering some 100,000 soldiers, was created by integrating former belligerent forces into the existing government army, a process not completed by the time of the 2006 elections. From 2006 through 2008, the 7th integrated brigade was the main force in Kinshasa, based at Camp Kokolo military base. The FARDC throughout Congo have been accused of widespread human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, torture, rape, and pillage.
Republican Guard (Garde Républicaine) . A special unit, including many soldiers from Katanga (home province of Joseph Kabila's father), commanded directly by the president and with a mandate to protect him and presidential premises. Estimated to number 10,000 to 15,000, the Republican Guard is deployed at airports, border posts, and other strategic sites and carries out security functions far beyond its mandated role. It has its own military intelligence units who operate separately from those of the FARDC and former DEMIAP (see below). Despite efforts by foreign governments and the UN to have the unit integrated into the army during the transition period, the Republican Guard remains outside the regular military structure. The majority of the force is in Kinshasa and operates from Camp Tshatshi.
"Maison militaire" [or "Military House"]. A powerful military and security body established by presidential decree in 2003 to advise the president on national defense and security affairs. It serves as a liaison between the president's office and the military and security services, including the police. It often operates outside official ministerial and security force chains of communication and command.
National Security Council (Conseil national de sécurité, CNS). A civilian structure headed by the president's national security advisor responsible for coordinating national security strategy. Its role overlaps those of other security agencies.
Military Intelligence (l'Etat major général des renseignements militaires) . A specialist military intelligence agency of the Congolese army, commonly known by its former acronym DEMIAP.[1] Its central headquarters is in the Kitambo area of Kinshasa where it has a detention center. It has staff in each of Congo's 12 military regions, headed by an agent often known by the military designation T2. There are many military intelligence detention centers throughout the country where civilians are frequently illegally detained.
National Intelligence Agency (Agence Nationale de Renseignements, ANR) . Under direct control of the president, the agency is mandated to investigate crimes against the state, such as treason and conspiracy, but its officials also routinely detain persons suspected of common criminal offenses, such as theft, and have on occasion arbitrarily arrested opposition and civil society leaders. Local and international human rights monitors and Congolese lawyers have limited access to ANR detention centers across the country and in some places, like Kinshasa, have no access at all.
National Police Force (Police Nationale Congolaise, PNC). The police force, estimated at just over 100,000 officers, has suffered from years of neglect and poor command. Officers are ill-paid and have been badly trained; the force is currently being reformed with international and UN assistance. Among its specialized units is the Simba Battalion, a group of former soldiers, which is part of a counterterrorist division and operates with minimal oversight. The Simba battalion was accused by UN officials of serious human rights abuses in Bas Congo in March 2008. Another specialized unit is the Integrated Police Unit (Unité de Police Intégrée, UPI), whose role was to guard the institutions and government actors of the transitional government but was to be dissolved at the end of the transition. Its personnel are due to be integrated into other police units as part of the national reform program. The UPI was also involved in abuses in Bas Congo.
Rapid Intervention Police (Police d'Intervention Rapide, PIR). A special police unit for security and crowd control that played an important role in providing security during the elections. A number of PIR units received training funded by international donors. PIR police officers were allegedly involved in arbitrary arrests and detention in Kinshasa in March 2007 and in Bas Congo in March 2008.
Office of General Intelligence and Special Services (Direction des Renseignements Généraux et Services Spéciaux de la police, DRGS). A specialized intelligence division of the police commonly known as Special Services (Services Spéciaux), it is based at Kin-Mazière in central Kinshasa, where it operates a detention center. Special Services has the legal power to arrest and detain civilians, an authority it has been known to abuse for political purposes.
Other government agencies, including the Immigration Service (Direction Générale de Migration, DGM), also reportedly have intelligence functions.
[1] Détection militaire des activités anti-patrie, Military Detection of Anti-State Activities.