Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Assessment of the Democratic Republic
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO FINAL REPORT NOVEMBER 2012 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Tetra Tech ARD. This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development by Tetra Tech ARD, through Task Order 002 under the Analytical Services III Indefinite Quantity Contract No. AID-OAA- TO-12-00016. This report was prepared by: Tetra Tech ARD 159 Bank Street, Suite 300 Burlington, Vermont 05401 USA Telephone: (802) 658-3890 Fax: (802) 658-4247 Tetra Tech ARD Contact: Maria Echevarria, Project Manager Tel: (802) 658-3890 ext. 2319 Email: [email protected] DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO FINAL REPORT NOVEMBER 2012 DISCLAIMER The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... v 1.0 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 A Colonial Experience Built on Violence ................................................................ 3 1.2.2 Chaos and Authoritarianism Follow Independence .............................................. 4 1.2.3 Mobutu’s Long Fall......................................................................................................... 6 1.2.4 A Second War Followed by a Political Transition ................................................ 7 1.2.5 A Gradual Concentration of Executive Power ...................................................... 8 1.2.6 Links Between Poor Democratic Governance and Insecurity ........................... 9 1.2.7 Links Between Poor Democratic Governance, Insecurity, and Economic Stagnation....................................................................................................................... 10 2.0 DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GOVERNANCE VARIABLES .......... 12 2.1 CONSENSUS ............................................................................................................................. 12 2.2 INCLUSION ............................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 COMPETITION AND POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY ............................................. 15 2.3.1 Flawed Elections Undermine Legitimacy ............................................................... 15 2.3.2 A Troubling Concentration of Executive Power ................................................. 17 2.3.3 Strong Civil Society and Media, Weak Political Parties ..................................... 18 2.4 RULE OF LAW .......................................................................................................................... 20 2.4.1 From Laws to Reality .................................................................................................. 20 2.4.2 Corruption as a System of Rule ............................................................................... 22 2.4.3 A Fragile Human Rights Regime ............................................................................... 22 2.4.4 Lack of Effective Access to Justice .......................................................................... 23 2.4.5 Impunity .......................................................................................................................... 23 2.5 ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY AND EFFECTIVENESS ............................... 23 2.5.1 Poor Administration and Service Delivery............................................................ 24 2.5.2 Governance by Asphyxiation .................................................................................... 24 2.5.3 Governance of Natural Resources .......................................................................... 28 2.5.4 Impact of Poor Governance ..................................................................................... 29 2.6 DISTILLING THE DRG PROBLEMS .................................................................................... 30 3.0 KEY ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS .................................................................... 32 3.1 THE EXECUTIVE ...................................................................................................................... 32 3.2 THE LEGISLATURE .................................................................................................................. 33 3.3 THE JUDICIARY AND LEGAL PROFESSIONS ............................................................... 34 3.3.1 The Missing Physical Stock of Justice ...................................................................... 34 3.3.2 Corruption and Asphyxiation ................................................................................... 35 3.3.3 The Lack of Judicial Autonomy ................................................................................ 36 3.4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ........................................................................................................ 36 3.4.1 Legal and Constitutional Provisions ........................................................................ 36 3.4.2 Recentralization and Asphyxiation .......................................................................... 36 3.4.3 Fiscal Burden ................................................................................................................. 37 3.4.4 Decentralization without Accountability ............................................................... 38 3.5 POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTORAL INSTITUTIONS .......................................... 38 3.5.1 Political Parties ............................................................................................................. 38 3.5.2 The National Independent Electoral Commission .............................................. 39 3.6 THE SECURITY SECTOR ...................................................................................................... 40 DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT OF THE DRC i 3.7 CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE MEDIA ..................................................................................... 42 3.8 RELIGIOUS GROUPS .............................................................................................................. 43 3.9 FILTERING IN ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS ............................................................. 43 4.0 CONSIDERING USAID’S OPERATIONAL AND PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................................ 45 5.0 STRATEGIC APPROACH AND PROGRAMMATIC RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................ 47 5.1 STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................. 47 5.1 PROGRAMMATIC RECOMMENDATIONS: BALANCING POWER, INCREASING ACCOUNTABILITY, AND IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY WILL STRENGTHEN THE SOCIAL CONTRACT..................................................................... 48 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 52 ii DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT OF THE DRC ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ACAS Association Congolaise pour l’Acces à la Justice AFDL Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire AIDS Auto-Immune Deficiency Syndrome AMP Alliance pour la Majorité Présidentielle ANR National Intelligence Agency (Agence Nationale de Renseignements) ASADHO African Association for the Defense of Human Rights ATEA Agir pour des Elections Transparentes Appaisées CEI Independent Electoral Commission CENI National Independent Electoral Commission CIAT International Committee for the Support of the Transition CNDP Congress for the Defense of the People CPIA Country Policy and Institutional Assessment CSM High Council of Magistrates ECC Church of Christ in Congo ETD Decentralized Territorial Entity DFID Department for International Development (UK) DIILS Defense Institute for International Legal Studies DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo DRG Democracy, Human Rights and Governance EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative FARDC Armed Forces of the DRC FCN Common Front of Nationalists FDLR Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda FRF Forces Républicaines Fédéralistes GDP Gross Domestic Product GIZ German International Cooperation Agency HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus ICC International Criminal Court M23 Movement named to highlight the promises of the March 23 Agreement MLC Movement for the Liberation of Congo (Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo) MONUC United Nations Observer Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo MONUSCO United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC MP Majorité Présidentielle MPR Popular