TOWARDS A SILENT DEATH CONDITIONS OF DETENTION OF PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH TOWARDS A SILENT DEATH DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO CONDITIONS OF DETENTION OF PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH “I am astonished that I am still on death row given that on appeal I was sentenced DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO to 20 years in prison” – Antoine, detained in Angenga “I’ve been here for 4 years. This is the first time I have met people from the CAROLE BERRIH outside. Your visit gives me hope. I don’t get any visits because my family is in Kinshasa” – Gilbert, detained in Angenga LIÉVIN NGONDJI This publication is the result of a fact-finding mission conducted in Democratic Republic of the Congo between April and June 2019 by the Congolese organisation Culture pour la paix et la justice (CPJ), the Réseau des magistrats DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO congolais contre la peine de mort (Network of Congolese Judges and Prosecutors Against the Death Penalty), the Réseau des avocats congolais contre la peine de mort (Network of Congolese Lawyers Against the Death Penalty) and ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty). It was locally directed by Liévin Ngondji, lawyer and President of CPJ, coordinated by George Kishabongo, member of the Network of Judges and Prosecutors, and conducted by members of the Network of Lawyers. The fact-finding team visited 10 prisons and met with 257 death row prisoners, families of death row prisoners, prison governors and guards and lawyers. Carole Berrih, Director of Synergies Coopération and author of this report, provides a careful analysis of the testimonies gathered by the fact-finding team in the context of the criminal justice system and the prison system in the country. This report is part of the “Fact-finding missions on death row” series, which aims to provide situational analysis of the living conditions of death row prisoners awaiting implementation of their sentence in various countries around the world. The dual objective is to describe the reality of death row in these countries and to engage public opinion. – CONDITIONS OF DETENTION PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH In partnership with: ECPM 62 bis, avenue Parmentier 75011 Paris www.ecpm.org © ECPM, 2020 Price: 20 euros TOWARDS A SILENT DEATH ISBN: 978-2-491354-06-0 With the financial support of the European Union This publication was developed with the support of the European Union. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the authors 9 782491 354039 and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Author As a legal adviser specialising in public international law and a sociology graduate, Carole Berrih acted as Delegation Leader and Project Coordinator for international NGOs before founding and running Synergies Coopération, a TOWARDS A SILENT DEATH research centre and training institute aiming to promote and protect human rights. In particular, she carries out research and assessments for NGOs and UN CONDITIONS OF DETENTION OF PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH international agencies in the field of criminal justice and the prevention of torture and ill treatment in prisons. She is an auditor at the Institut des hautes études DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO de la défense nationale [Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence]. Locally directed by Liévin Ngondji Ongombe Taluhata practises as a lawyer at the Kinshasa/ Gombe Court of Appeal (Democratic Republic of the Congo), as well as at the CAROLE BERRIH International Criminal Court. Since 1999, he has been President of the human LIÉVIN NGONDJI rights abolitionist NGO Culture pour la paix et la justice and is a member of the steering committee of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. A firm supporter of abolition, he was behind the establishment of the Coalition d’Afrique francophone contre la peine de mort (Coalition of French-speaking Africa Against the Death Penalty). Liévin Ngondji is the author of a number of publications on the death penalty in the Great Lakes region, including the ECPM fact-finding mission’s report, Les « sans-voix » de République démocratique du Congo, août à octobre 2005 : Enquête dans les couloirs de la mort de Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Buluwo, Kindu et Goma. This report received the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic. Publication Director: Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan Coordinator: Marie-Lina Samuel Author: Carole Berrih Local Director: Liévin Ngondji Head of the research team: George Kishabongo Copy editors: Liévin Ngondji, Emmanuel Maistre, Nicolas Perron, Mathilde Millier Layout: Olivier Déchaud Translated from French by: Kalex Translations Sub-Editor: Caroline Izoret-About Illustrations: Jeanne Hirschberger Cover photograph: October 22nd 2015. Goma Central Prison, Democratic Republic of the Congo. © Ben Houdijk/Shutterstock In partnership with With the financial support of the European Union ECPM 62 bis, avenue Parmentier 75011 Paris www.ecpm.org © ECPM, 2020 ISBN : 978-2-491354-06-0 List of abbreviations TABLE OF CONTENTS ABAKO Alliance des Bakongo (Alliance of Bakongo) ACHPR African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights • Foreword 9 ADF Allied Democratic Forces AFDL Alliance des forces démocratiques pour la libération du Congo Introduction 13 (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo) ANC Armée nationale congolaise (Congolese National Army) • General context 13 ASADHO Association africaine de défense des droits de l’homme • Conditions of detention of people sentenced to death (African Association for the Defence of Human Rights) little change in fifteen years 13 CCPM-RDC Coalition contre la peine de mort en République démocratique • Background on the situation du Congo (Coalition Against the Death Penalty in DRC) in Democratic Republic of the Congo 14 CMO Cour militaire opérationnelle (Operational Military Court) • Methodology 16 CNDH Commission nationale des droits de l’homme • Research sample 17 (National Human Rights Commission) • Data collection methods 18 CNS Conférence nationale souveraine (Sovereign National Conference) • Profiles of death row prisoners interviewed 20 COM Cour d’ordre militaire (Military Order Court) • Overview of the death penalty CPJ Culture pour la paix et la justice (Culture for Peace and Justice) in Democratic Republic of the Congo today 22 • The legislative framework of the death penalty 22 DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo • Evolution of death sentences in DRC 25 ECPM Ensemble contre la peine de mort (Together Against the Death Penalty) FARDC Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo History of the death penalty in Democratic Republic of the Congo 29 (Armed Forces of Democratic Republic of the Congo) FAZ Forces armées zaïroises (Armed Forces of Zaire) • The death penalty before colonisation of the country 31 ICC International Criminal Court • The death penalty in the colonial period (1885-1960) 32 ICCN Institut congolais pour la conservation de la nature • The Independent State of Congo and the first criminal law texts 33 (Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature) • The legal framework of the death penalty in Belgian Congo 34 ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights • Death sentences and executions during the colonial period 35 ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross • Independence and the first Constitution 38 MNC Mouvement national congolais (Congolese National Movement) • The road to independence 38 • Rebellions and the assassination of Lumumba 39 MONUSCO United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo • The death penalty in the Luluabourg Constitution 40 NPM National Preventive Mechanism • The reign of Joseph Mobutu (1965-1997) 41 OPCAT Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture • A power takeover marked by executions of political opponents 41 • Constitutional reform, political reform, legislative reform 43 OIF International Organisation of La Francophonie • The plots of 1975 and 1978 44 PNC Police nationale congolaise (Congolese National Police) • Democratic opening (1990-1996) 46 PNRJ Politique nationale de la réforme de la justice (National Policy • The First Congo War of Liberation and the fall of Mobutu on Reform of the Justice Sector) (1996-1997) 47 RADHOMA Réseau des associations de défense des droits de l’homme • The presidency of Laurent-Désiré Kabila (1997-2001) 49 et des militants abolitionnistes de la peine de mort • Emergence and rise of the Military Order Court: (Network of Human Rights Organisations and Activists more than 150 executions in less than two years of existence 49 for the Abolition of the Death Penalty) • Initiation and interruption of the process UPR Universal Periodic Review for a moratorium on the death penalty 51 Towards a Silent Death Conditions of Detention of people sentenced to death ECPM 4 Democratic Republic of the Congo 2019 5 • The Joseph Kabila era (2001-2018) 53 • Virtually non-existent access to health care 113 • The trial of those accused of Laurent-Désiré Kabila’s • Serious shortcomings in the health care system 113 assassination 53 • Complete lack of consideration for mental health 114 • Legislative and constitutional reform • Limited contact with the outside world 116 of the military justice system: from the COM to the CMO 55 • Most families located far away from detention facilities 116 • New steps towards the abolition of the death penalty: • Absence of contact with consular representation hopes, disappointments, hesitations 58 for foreign nationals 117 • The ascension to power of Félix Tshisekedi (2019-) 65 • Essential presence