Human Rights Watch accused the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) and the government of President Laurent Kabila of stepping up their harassment of Congolese human rights defenders.
"Both the Kabila government and the rebels have stepped up their harassment of Congolese human rights activists in recent days," said Suliman Baldo, a senior researcher at the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "The parties fighting in the Congo do not want witnesses to their abuses." Baldo said that activists who are forced to flee the Congo unfortunately encounter increasing risks in neighboring countries. He called on governments throughout the region and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide safe asylum for them."
In response to a denunciation of government abuses by Voice of the Voiceless, Congolese government agents have cracked down on this leading monitoring group, ransacking its offices on June 25 and forcing its leadership to go into hiding to escape imminent arrest and abuse.
On May 29, the police arrested Laurent Kantu Lumpungu, chairman of the Association of Prison Officials, while he was visiting the capital's central prison and took him to the police station where he was abused. He continues to be arbitrarily detained at the same prison he was inspecting on behalf of his organization.
The rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy has also cracked down on activists in areas it controls. Groupe Jérémie, an independent monitoring and civic education group based in Bukavu, recently criticized the deterioration of educational and other social services following the rebels' takeover of the region. On June 15, 1999, rebel soldiers broke into and ransacked its offices, confiscating all the records of the organization. The next day, the governor of south Kivu accused the organization in a radio broadcast of distributing subversive leaflets to the population, an act which he equated with treason.
The organization called on the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy and the Kabila government to end all forms of harassment and intimidation aimed at human rights defenders and their organizations, and to release the activists who have been arbitrarily detained.
Human Rights Watch expressed grave concerns about the security of Congolese asylum seekers throughout the region, and called on the concerned host governments and the UNHCR to provide safe asylum for those forced into exile. The organization urged the Ugandan government to investigate the disappearance of Medi Djuma-Bihira, a Congolese activist who went missing on June 16, and to put in place measures to guarantee the security of asylum seekers and refugees in Uganda. Human Rights Watch urged the UNHCR to make the protection of those most at risk, including human rights activists who face persecution at home, a key priority.
For Further Information:
Suliman Baldo 212-216-1297 (New York)
Peter Bouckaert 212-216-1252 (New York)
Jean Paul Marthoz 32-2-732-2009 (Brussels)
