COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 21 MAY 2008 UK BORDER AGENCY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION SERVICE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 21 MAY 2008 Contents PREFACE LATEST NEWS EVENTS IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, FROM 2 MAY 2008 TO 21 MAY 2008 REPORTS ON DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO PUBLISHED OR ACCESSED BETWEEN 1 MAY 2008 AND 21 MAY 2008 Paragraphs Background information 1. GEOGRAPHY....................................................................................... 1.01 Map - DRC ..................................................................................... 1.05 Eastern DRC ................................................................................. 1.06 2. ECONOMY........................................................................................... 2.01 3. HISTORY............................................................................................. 3.01 History to 1997.............................................................................. 3.01 The Laurent Kabila Regime 1997 ................................................ 3.02 The Joseph Kabila Regime 2001................................................. 3.04 Events of 2007 .............................................................................. 3.05 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ..................................................................... 4.01 5. CONSTITUTION.................................................................................... 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ............................................................................. 6.01 Government .................................................................................. 6.06 Elections ....................................................................................... 6.27 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................... 7.01 8. SECURITY SITUATION - GENERAL ......................................................... 8.01 Eastern DRC ................................................................................. 8.20 North/South Kivu.......................................................................... 8.27 Ituri (North Kivu)........................................................................... 8.30 Goma peace conference ........................................................... 8.42 Katanga ......................................................................................... 8.43 Kilwa October 2004 ...................................................................... 8.58 Bas Congo .................................................................................... 8.52 Gubernatorial elections – February 2007 .................................. 8.52 Events of February/March 2008 ................................................ 8.74 9. CRIME................................................................................................ 9.01 10. SECURITY FORCES............................................................................. 10.01 Police............................................................................................. 10.08 Arbitrary arrest and detention .................................................... 10.23 Torture ....................................................................................... 10.27 Armed forces ................................................................................ 10.35 Arbitrary arrest and detention .................................................... 10.46 Torture ....................................................................................... 10.47 Extra-judicial killings .................................................................. 10.50 Other government forces ............................................................ 10.56 11. MILITARY SERVICE ............................................................................. 11.01 ii This Country of Origin Information Report contains the most up-to-date publicly available information as at 21 May 2008. Older source material has been included where it contains relevant information not available in more recent documents. 21 MAY 2008 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Treatment of deserters and conscientious objectors............... 11.25 12. ABUSES BY NON-GOVERNMENT FORCES ............................................ 12.01 Disarmament of foreign armed groups ...................................... 12.11 Torture........................................................................................... 12.25 Forced conscription..................................................................... 12.26 13. JUDICIARY ......................................................................................... 13.01 Organisation ................................................................................. 13.01 Independence ............................................................................... 13.07 Fair trial ......................................................................................... 13.12 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 ................................................. 17.07 Letters of support from political parties .................................... 17.08 Freedom of association and assembly ...................................... 17.09 Opposition groups and political activists.................................. 17.16 18. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA....................................................... 18.01 Journalists .................................................................................... 18.07 Overview.................................................................................... 18.07 Government Actions .................................................................. 18.14 Violence and Harassment.......................................................... 18.18 Journaliste en danger ................................................................ 18.31 Newspapers .................................................................................. 18.36 Newspaper articles....................................................................... 18.42 Radio, television and the internet............................................... 18.48 19. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS........... 19.01 General .......................................................................................... 19.01 Treatment of non-government organisations (NGOs) .............. 19.03 Human rights activists................................................................. 19.05 20. CORRUPTION ..................................................................................... 20.01 21. FREEDOM OF RELIGION...................................................................... 21.01 Legal framework........................................................................... 21.01 Religious groups .......................................................................... 21.06 Bundu Dia Kongo ......................................................................... 21.08 Armée De Victoire (Army of Victory Church)............................. 21.15 Events of June 2003 and subsequently..................................... 21.18 Religious freedom ........................................................................ 21.22 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 Female Genital Mutilation ........................................................... 25.19 Violence against women.............................................................. 25.20 Witchcraft ..................................................................................... 25.61 26. CHILDREN.......................................................................................... 26.01 Basic information ......................................................................... 26.01 Education ...................................................................................... 26.08 This Country of Origin Information Report contains the most up-to-date publicly available information as at 21 May 2008. iii Older source material has been included where it contains relevant information not available in more recent documents.