DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

World Report 2001 Entry

World Report 2000 Entry

World Report 1999 Entry

World Report 1998 Entry

Eastern Congo Ravaged: Killing Civilians and Silencing Protest
The Rwandan army and its Congolese allies have massacred and raped civilians in eastern Congo, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Their opponents, Hutu and Mai Mai armed groups, are also committing atrocities against the civilian population.The RCD launched a rebellion against the government headed by Laurent Kabila in August 1998. They vowed to restore democracy and respect for human rights within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but the RCD-Goma and its Rwandese allies have regularly slaughtered civilians in massacres and extrajudicial executions. In cases where the RCD or its allies admit that the killings took place, they often seek to justify them as unintended consequences of combat with armed groups, but they seem in many cases to have committed the abuses deliberately to punish civilians for their supposed support of enemies of the RCD. Opposition armed groups, known generally as Mai-Mai or Interahamwe, fight against the RCD, sometimes with apparent support from the Kabila government. These armed groups have targeted civilians in massacres and extrajudicial executions and have engaged in widespread pillage and rape. In many cases, they perpetrate abuses against those whom they believe are supporting the RCD or its allies.
(A1203), 5/00 40pp, $5.00
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Democratic Republic of Congo -- Casualties of War Civilians, Rule of Law, and Democratic Freedoms
With the disintegration of the rule of law in Congo and elsewhere in the region, Congo hasbecome the battle ground for the interests of its neighbors and a Congolese political and militaryelite—all at the expense of Congolese civilians. In this context, neither the Congolesegovernment and its allies, the RCD and its backers, nor the myriad of militia and rebel groups inCongo have made respect for human rights a priority. Without firm action from internationalplayers in the region and elsewhere, the results for the Congolese are likely to be more abusesand a further degradation of the situation. This report is based on Human Rights Watch fieldinvestigations in November and December of 1998 to eastern and western Congo as well as othercountries in the region.
(A1101) 2/99, 32pp., $5.00
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Democratic Republic of Congo-Transition and Human Rights Violations in Congo
In its bid to monopolize power, the government of the Congo severelycracked down on those political parties with any credible claim of popularityand national presence. Police and a plethora of security agencies attacked their meetings, public and private, and arrested their supporters and oftensubjected them to torture and ill-treatment. The attacks were strategically targeted to cripple the infrastructure of these parties, and frighten away their militants, particularly those in the youth branches and thestudentmovement who to a large extent give the opposition its vitality and credibility. Human rights defenders who stepped forward to denounce the abuses themselves became the targets of arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment.The Congolese government's promise to organize elections within two years appears to have been accepted uncritically by certain members of theinternational community as democratic credential, deserving immediateinternational recognition.
(A909) 12/97, 52pp., $7.00
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Democratic Republic of Congo-What Kabila is Hiding: Civilian Killings and Impunity in Congo
The Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) and the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) carried out massive killings of civilian refugees and other violations of basic principles of international humanitarian law during attacks on refugee camps in the former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) that began in late 1996, and in the ensuing seven months as war spread across the country. The war pitted the ADFL, used here to mean all forces under the nominal command of Laurent-Desiré Kabila, with important backing from Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola and other neighboring states, against a coalition of then President Mobutu Sese Seko's Zairian Armed Forces (FAZ), former Rwandan Armed Forces (ex-FAR), Rwandan Interahamwe militia, and mercenaries. In addition to overthrowing former Zairian President Mobutu, the RPA and ADFL sought to disperse the refugee camps in Eastern Zaire, home to hundreds of thousands of civilian refugees as well as the ex-FAR and Interahamwe. Since the beginning of the war in the former Zaire gross violations of international humanitarian law have been committed by all parties to the conflict.
(A905) 10/97, 42pp., $5.00
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