Congolese Human Rights Defenders Receive Death Threats

Democracy Alert

[February 2, 2011]

Congolese Human Rights Defenders Receive Death Threats

Africa
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According to the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT), Jean Claude Katende and Georges Kapiamba, president and vice president of l'Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l’Homme (ASADHO) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have received death threats via SMS and phone calls. These threats come after ASADHO held a press conference on February 1 denouncing the constitutional amendments adopted by Parliament and the government’s intolerance against oppositions as the presidential elections approach.
 
FIDH and OMCT call on concerned individuals and organizations to write to and urge the Congolese authorities to guarantee the safety and security of Jean Claude Katende, Georges Kapiamba, all ASADHO members, and other human rights defenders in DRC; to conduct an independent investigation into the threats described above; and, to comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly Article 6 that guarantees the right to disseminate ideas, information, and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
 
Letters should be sent to the following offices:
  • HE Mr. Joseph Kabila, President of the Republic, Office of the President of the Republic, Palais de la Nation, Kinshasa / Gombe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fax +243 88 02 120
  • Mr. Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Minister's Office, Building Department of Foreign Affairs, Kinshasa / Gombe, Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Mr. Luzolo Bambi, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, BP 3137, Kinshasa Gombe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fax: + 243 88 05 521
  • Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the United Nations, 18 Avenue de Bude, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Email: missionrdc@bluewin.ch, Fax: +41 22 740.16.82
FloribertLeading Congolese human rights defender and World Movement participant, Floribert Chebeya (in photo), was murdered last June. Over the last few years, other leaders of human rights groups, such as Dismas Kitenge of Groupe Lotus, Golden Misabiko of ASADHO, and Robert Ilunga Numbi of les Amis de Nelson Mandela pour la défense des Droits Humains (ANMDH), have also been the victims of intimidation and harassment.
 
To read the FIDH/OMCT statement (in French), go to: www.wmd.org/sites/default/files/02022011.pdf