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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