COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 27 JANUARY 2009 UK BORDER AGENCY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION SERVICE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 27 JANUARY 2009 Contents_______________________________________ PREFACE LATEST NEWS EVENTS IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, FROM 15 DECEMBER 2008 TO 22 JANUARY 2009 Paragraphs Background information 1. GEOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................1.01 Map - DRC.....................................................................................1.05 Eastern DRC.................................................................................1.06 2. ECONOMY .............................................................................................2.01 Natural resources........................................................................2.09 3. HISTORY ...............................................................................................3.01 History to 1997.............................................................................3.01 The Laurent Kabila Regime 1997................................................3.02 The Joseph Kabila Regime 2001.................................................3.04 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ............................................................................4.01 5. CONSTITUTION ........................................................................................5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ..................................................................................6.01 Government..................................................................................6.05 Elections.......................................................................................6.22 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................7.01 8. SECURITY SITUATION - GENERAL.................................................................8.01 Eastern DRC.................................................................................8.19 North/South Kivu.........................................................................8.28 Ituri (North Kivu)..........................................................................8.34 Goma peace conference...........................................................8.48 Katanga.........................................................................................8.49 Kilwa October 2004......................................................................8.56 Bas Congo....................................................................................8.60 Gubernatorial elections – February 2007..................................8.60 Events of February/March 2008................................................8.69 9. CRIME .................................................................................................9.01 10. SECURITY FORCES ..................................................................................10.01 Police............................................................................................10.05 Arbitrary arrest and detention....................................................10.14 Torture.......................................................................................10.15 Armed forces................................................................................10.20 Arbitrary arrest and detention................................................10.22 Torture.......................................................................................10.23 Extra-judicial killings..................................................................10.26 11. MILITARY SERVICE ..................................................................................11.01 ii The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 14 December 2008. Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 22 January 2009. 27 JANUARY 2009 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 12. ABUSES BY NON-GOVERNMENT ARMED FORCES ............................................12.01 Disarmament of foreign armed groups......................................12.06 Torture..........................................................................................12.07 Forced conscription....................................................................12.08 13. JUDICIARY ............................................................................................13.01 Organisation.................................................................................13.01 Independence...............................................................................13.06 Fair trial.........................................................................................13.08 14. ARREST AND DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS ....................................................14.01 15. PRISON CONDITIONS ................................................................................15.01 16. DEATH PENALTY ....................................................................................16.01 17. POLITICAL AFFILIATION ...........................................................................17.01 Freedom of political expression.................................................17.03 Freedom of association and assembly......................................17.04 Opposition groups and political activists..................................17.08 18. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA ...............................................................18.01 Journalists....................................................................................18.06 Overview...................................................................................18.06 Government Actions..................................................................18.13 Violence and Harassment.........................................................18.16 Journaliste en danger................................................................18.25 Newspapers..................................................................................18.30 Newspaper articles......................................................................18.35 Radio, television and the Internet...............................................18.36 19. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS ...........................19.01 General.........................................................................................19.01 Treatment of non-government organisations (NGOs)..............19.02 Human rights activists.................................................................19.04 20. CORRUPTION .........................................................................................20.01 21. FREEDOM OF RELIGION ...........................................................................21.01 Legal framework..........................................................................21.02 Religious groups..........................................................................21.05 Bundu Dia Kongo.........................................................................21.06 Armée De Victoire (Army of Victory Church).............................21.15 Events of June 2003 and subsequently.....................................21.19 22. ETHNIC GROUPS .....................................................................................22.01 Ethnic issues................................................................................22.06 Banyarwanda/Banyamulenge/Tutsis in Eastern DRC...............22.12 Tutsis in Kinshasa.......................................................................22.30 23. LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PERSONS ................................ 23. 01 24. DISABILITY ...........................................................................................24.01 25. WOMEN ...............................................................................................25.01 Legal rights..................................................................................25.01 Political rights..............................................................................25.06 Social and economic rights........................................................25.10 Violence against women.............................................................25.15 Witchcraft ....................................................................................25.56 26. CHILDREN ............................................................................................26.01 Basic information.........................................................................26.01 Education.....................................................................................26.07 Child care.....................................................................................26.16 Child custody outside marriage..................................................26.19 Child custody due to divorce...................................................... 26.21 Divorce procedure & child custody (common law)...................26.22 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available inforrmation as at 14 November 2008. iii Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 22 January 2009. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 27 JANUARY 2009 Transfer of child custody............................................................26.23