The Democratic Republic of the Congo
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December 1997 Vol. 9, No. 9 (A) THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO UNCERTAIN COURSE: Transition and Human Rights Violations in the Congo ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................................................................3 SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................................................................4 RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................................................................6 Democratic Republic of the Congo................................................................................................................6 International Community...............................................................................................................................7 Canada, E.U. member states, Japan, Norway, the OAU member states, and the United States.....................9 BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................................................9 The End of the Mobutu Era ...........................................................................................................................9 The New Order ............................................................................................................................................11 The ADFL=s Charter ......................................................................................................................11 General Policy Directives ...............................................................................................................12 ADFL=s ATakeover Declaration@ ....................................................................................................12 Constitutional Decree No. 97-003 ..................................................................................................13 Kabila=s Inauguration Statement.....................................................................................................13 What Transition? .........................................................................................................................................15 DENIAL OF RIGHTS..............................................................................................................................................16 The Right to Life .........................................................................................................................................16 Legal Standards ..............................................................................................................................16 Arbitrary Arrest and Detention ....................................................................................................................17 Legal Standards ..............................................................................................................................17 Detention of Mobutists ...................................................................................................................18 Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment .................................................................................18 Legal Standards ..............................................................................................................................18 Independence of the Judiciary .....................................................................................................................19 Freedom of Association ...............................................................................................................................21 Legal Standards ..............................................................................................................................21 Rewarding Accommodating Parties................................................................................................23 Crippling Opposition Parties ..........................................................................................................24 Human Rights Activists and Organizations ....................................................................................27 Freedom of Assembly..................................................................................................................................30 Legal Standards ..............................................................................................................................30 The Uvira Demonstration, June 1997 .............................................................................................31 Students= Demonstrations, Lubumbashi, August 1997 ...................................................................31 UDPS Demonstrations, Kinshasa ...................................................................................................33 Attack on PALU=s March and the Ransacking of the Home of its Leader......................................35 Freedom of Movement.................................................................................................................................36 Legal Standards ..............................................................................................................................36 Restrictions on Movement ..............................................................................................................36 Freedom of Expression and the Press ..........................................................................................................37 Legal Standards ..............................................................................................................................37 Attacks on the Press........................................................................................................................38 INTERNATIONAL POLICIES................................................................................................................................40 Conditionality, Engagement, and Human Rights.........................................................................................41 United States................................................................................................................................................43 Europe .........................................................................................................................................................45 Africa...........................................................................................................................................................46 United Nations and Multilateral Institutions................................................................................................48 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................................................49 Human Rights Watch 3 December 1997, Vol. 9, No. 9 (A) ABBREVIATIONS ADFL: Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo, Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo ANR: Agence Nationale de Renseignements, National Intelligence Agency AZADHO: Association Zaïroise de Defense Des Droits de l=Homme, Zairian Association for the Defense of Human Rights BEI: Bureau d=Etude et d=Investigation, Office of Study and Investigation CDH: Centre des Droits de l=Homme et du Droit Humanitaire, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law DEMIAP: Détection Militaire des Activités Anti-Patrie, Military Detection of Anti-Motherland Activities DGM: Direction Générale de Migration, DGM DGSE: Direction Générale de Sécurité Extérieur, General Direction of External Security DSIR: Direction Spéciale d=Investigations et de Renseignements, Special Investigations DSP: Division Spéciale Présidentielle, Special Presidential Division Ex-FAR: Forces Armées Rwandaises, former Rwandan Armed Forces FAZ: Les Forces Armées Zaïroises, Zairian Armed Forces MPR: Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution, Popular Movement for the Revolution, Mobutu=s party PALU: Parti Lumumbiste Unifié, Unified Lumumbist Party RPA: Armée Patriotique Rwandaise, Rwanda Patriotic Army SARM: Service d=Action et de Renseignements Militaires, Service for Action and Military Intelligence SNIP: Service Nationale d=Intelligence et de Protection, National Service of Intelligence and Protection. UDPS: Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social, Union for Democracy and Social Progress UFERI: Union des Fédéralistes et Républicains Indépendents, Union of Independent Federalists and Republicans USORAL: Union Sacrée de l=Opposition Radicale et Alliés, Sacred Union of the Opposition and its Allies VSV: La Voix Des Sans Voix Pour Les Droits de l=Homme, Voice of the Voiceless for Human Rights Human Rights Watch 4 December 1997, Vol. 9, No. 9 (A) SUMMARY Barely seven months after the establishment in October 1996 of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFL), its troops toppled the corrupt and dictatorial rule of President Mobutu Sese Seko over what was then known as Zaire. Moves by the Mobutu government to strip of their nationality the Banyamulenge, ethnic Tutsi with deep roots in the province of South Kivu, and to deport them triggered the conflict which gathered momentum as other groups joined in. Violence became a means of political change only after people=s expectations for