Transition and Human Rights Violations in Congo

In its bid to monopolize power, the government of the Congo severely cracked down on those political parties with any credible claim of popularity and national presence. Police and a plethora of security agencies attacked their meetings, public and private, and arrested their supporters and often subjected them to torture and ill-treatment. The attacks were strategically targeted to cripple the infrastructure of these parties, and frighten away their militants, particularly those in the youth branches and the student movement who to a large extent give the opposition its vitality and credibility. Human rights defenders who stepped forward to denounce the abuses themselves became the targets of arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment.The Congolese government's promise to organize elections within two years appears to have been accepted uncritically by certain members of the international community as democratic credential, deserving immediate international recognition.