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Zaire: HRW Report
Zaire: HRW Report
Date distributed (ymd): 970503
Document reposted by APIC
Human Rights Watch, 485 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10017-6104
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Zaire -- Transition, War and Human Rights
(28 Apr 97) The failed transition to democracy and internal government
policies that incited ethnic hatred set the stage for the bloody conflict
that has caused civilian massacres and widespread human rights abuses in
Zaire. In Transition, War and Human Rights, released today, Human Rights
Watch/Africa denounces civilian massacres in eastern Zaire by both the
government and the rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation
of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) and exposes human rights violations that are taking
place throughout the country as demonstrated by regional case studies.
Rampant abuses by the military and the police, and the breakdown of the
rule of law are undermining the government's legitimacy and its military
effort everywhere. Human Rights Watch/Africa exposes both the government's
failure to adhere to the agenda of democratization and the dubious record
of the ADFL in establishing civilian administrations and regional governments
in areas it came to control.
Human Rights Watch calls on the government of Zaire and the ADFL to
prohibit attacks on civilians and civilian targets in military operations
and strongly urges the international community to pressure both sides of
the conflict to permit full, unhampered international investigations of
the allegations of widespread civilian massacres in eastern Zaire. "A
return to the rule of law is essential for the future. If peace is really
to be established, those responsible for ethnic slaughter and other abuses
must be brought to justice," declared Peter Takirambudde, Director
of Human Rights Watch/Africa.
Human Rights Watch/Africa offers detailed recommendations to the international
community and to both sides in the conflict in Zaire.
Among them:
To the Government of Zaire:
1. Abide by the binding norms of international humanitarian law applicable
to the current situation of armed conflict, and in particular:
-prohibit targeting civilians and civilian objects in military operations
and indiscriminate attacks, looting, raping, and destruction of civilian
property;
-ensure humane treatment for all persons detained or otherwise hors
de combat in connection with the conflict; torture and extrajudicial execution
should never be tolerated;
-permit and facilitate access by relief assistance programs so that
noncombatants in war-affected areas may receive food, medicine, and other
relief. Relief assistance programs of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
and other agencies should be allowed to proceed in accordance with humanitarian
need and their respective missions, without hindrance. Provide safe land,
river and air access for the provision of humanitarian aid;
-permit the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit persons
detained in connection with the conflict;
-investigate the violation of international humanitarian law by members
of the government's military and security forces and to hold them criminally
accountable for such abuses; government forces that have obstructed the
delivery of relief supplies, attacked relief workers or otherwise obstructed
the work of humanitarian agencies should be the object of investigation
and prosecution;
2. Abide by the international human rights treaties to which Zaire is
a party, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, taking action to
this effect to:
-repeal provisions in Zairian law in violation of international standards;
-amend Decree No. 0021 of August 2, 1996 (concerning the identification
of nationals, the census and the electoral roll), so that no Zairian will
be disenfranchised by reason of their language, ethnicity or for other
arbitrary and discriminatory reasons;
-address on an urgent basis inhumane treatment in police cells and prisons.
Ill-treatment, in the form of beatings, exposure to the elements or threats,
should be stopped. Those responsible for the inhumane treatment of prisoners
should be subject to criminal investigation and prosecution;
-institute safeguards against torture, including by bringing all detainees
before a judicial authority without delay; ending routine incommunicado
detention; providing for prompt and regular access to detainees by relatives,
doctors and legal counsel;
-institute further safeguards against "disappearance" and
extrajudicial execution, including provisions that no one ever be held
in secret detention, prisoners only be held in places publicly acknowledged
as places of detention, relatives be promptly informed of the whereabouts
of prisoners, and prisoners be held only under the supervision of the courts;
-respect freedom of expression, lifting arbitrary restrictions on the
print media and public broadcasting and ceasing harassment and arbitrary
detention of journalists, political commentators and others solely for
the expression of their opinions;
-recognize the rights of human rights defenders in Zaire to monitor,
investigate, and speak out on human rights concerns and freely to associate
with others nationally and internationally in the promotion and protection
of human rights;
To the ADFL:
Abide by the binding norms of international humanitarian law applicable
to the current situation of armed conflict, and in particular:
-prohibit targeting civilians and civilian objects in military operations
and indiscriminate attacks;
-ensure humane treatment for all persons detained or otherwise hors
de combat in connection with the conflict; torture and extrajudicial execution
should never be tolerated;
-permit and facilitate access by relief assistance programs so that
noncombatants in war-affected areas may receive food, medicine, and other
relief. Provide safe land, river and air access for the provision of humanitarian
aid;
-permit the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit persons
detained in connection with the conflict;
-investigate the violation of international humanitarian law by members
of ADFL and allied forces and hold them accountable for such abuses in
procedures that meet the minimum standards of due process established in
international humanitarian law:
-cooperate with measures undertaken by the United Nations, the Organization
of African Unity and international humanitarian and human rights organizations
to monitor, investigate and provide remedies for human rights and humanitarian
emergencies in Zaire.
To all opposition forces:
The ADFL and other opposition forces should pledge that upon forming
a government they would:
-abide by the international human rights instruments to which Zaire
is party and ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and Protocol II Additional to the
Geneva Conventions;
-support as an urgent priority the development of an independent judiciary;
-ensure that anyone detained is brought promptly before a judicial authority
after arrest;
-ensure that no one will be detained without being charged with a recognizable
criminal offence and being brought promptly to trial before an independent
court;
-implement programs to train law enforcement agents and the military
about human rights standards and protection while instituting procedures
through which violations of human rights are the subject of effective investigation
and criminal prosecution.
-repudiate arbitrary measures to strip Kinyarwanda-speaking Zairians
the Banyarwanda or other minorities of their Zairian nationality.
-investigate and facilitate independent investigations of violations
of human rights or humanitarian law by forces of the current government
as well as rebel forces with a view to public disclosure of the findings
and accountability before the law of those responsible for gross abuses;
-take immediate steps to create conditions conducive to free and fair
elections, such as ensuring civilian control over the military and the
national gendarmerie, rendering the regional and local administration non-partisan
and nationally representative, and affirming the respect of basic political
freedoms including freedom of expression, association and assembly;
To all Members of the International Community, including the United
Nations, the European Union and its member states, the United States, and
the Organization of African Unity:
-Call upon both sides of the conflict to permit full, unhampered international
investigations of the allegations of widespread civilian massacres in eastern
Zaire.
-Insist that the need for accountability of the government of Zaire
and the ADFL for human rights abuses committed in territories under their
respective control not be set aside in the name of easing a negotiated
settlement of the current conflict in Zaire.
-Hold all parties to the conflict responsible for attacks by their combatants
against civilians.
-Make any commitment of aid to the present or any future government,
including election assistance, dependent on concrete steps toward respecting
human rights and creating the conditions for free and fair elections, including:
-reforming the army and the national gendarmerie as non-partisan and
nationally-representative forces under civilian control;
-establishing basic political freedoms, including freedom of speech,
particularly making public radio and television available to all points
of view; and
-reforming the regional and local administrations into non-partisan
and nationally-representative institutions.
-Monitor closely and make public reports regarding the actual progress
toward implementation of programs to prepare for elections. Specific Recommendations
to the United Nations:
To the Security Council:
-Immediately appoint a commission to investigate allegations of widespread
civilian massacres in eastern Zaire by all parties and make public the
commission's report.
To the U.N. Center for Human Rights:
-Ensure that the U.N. Human Rights Office in Kinshasa is able to perform
its important monitoring function. Support the office's budget with sufficient
resources for extensive internal travel and improved communications.
Copies of Zaire: Transition, War and Human Rights are available
from the Publications Department, 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York
10017 for $8.40 (domestic shipping) and $10.50 (international shipping).
Human Rights Watch/Africa Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization
established in 1978 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally
recognized human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East
and among the signatories of the Helsinki accords. Kenneth Roth is the
executive director and Robert L. Bernstein is the chair of the board. Its
Africa division was established in 1988 to monitor and promote the observance
of internationally recognized human rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Peter
Takirambudde is the executive director and William Carmichael is the chair
of the advisory committee.
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups and individuals.
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