16 12 13 AI – Death threats and intimidation silencing human rights defenders

Death
threats and intimidation by armed groups and state security forces in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo over the past year have made it extremely difficult
for human rights defenders to carry out their work, Amnesty International said
today.  

 

A
new report “Better to die while
speaking the truth”: Attacks against human rights defenders in North Kivu,
DRC details
the heightened clampdown on human rights defenders by armed groups and the
national security forces since the crisis escalated last
year. 

 

“The
whole population is vulnerable to human rights abuses in North Kivu and those
speaking out to protect these people are deliberately targeted from all sides,”
says Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional
Director.

 

“Members
of armed groups and the national security services have been attempting to
silence human rights defenders throughout the country for too long. And this
cannot go on.” 

 

Since
last year, human rights defenders have faced an increased number of death
threats, visits to their houses and offices by armed men, abductions and
arbitrary detentions. They are often threatened for speaking out against armed
groups or the national army. Many human rights defenders had to stop their work,
close their offices and flee for their lives. 

 

The
M23 armed group left North Kivu in November, but human rights defenders still
face harassment and intimidation by other armed factions and elements of the
national security forces in eastern DRC.

 

One
human rights defender who has consistently spoken out about human rights abuses
told Amnesty International that he received death threats, anonymous messages
and house visits letting him know he is being watched. He also received a text
message stating: “we’re going to chop your head off” and “we know where you
live”. Some human rights defenders are directly threatened by several armed
groups simultaneously.

 

The
report highlights the difficulties of working in areas with weak, undisciplined,
and unaccountable armed forces and where there is little or no rule of
law.

 

“Victims
can’t access justice through the normal route of reporting a crime to the police
in North Kivu, so the only thing they can do is to report crimes to human rights
defenders,” added Sarah Jackson. 

 

Women
human rights defenders are particularly at risk as they are seen to be
challenging the social norms that discourage women from publicly criticizing
people in power. There have been several cases of women who, as a result of
helping victims of abuses, including of sexual violence, have been harassed or
sexually attacked themselves.

Amnesty
International is particularly concerned that there has been a longstanding
pattern of targeting human rights defenders and the perpetrators of these
attacks have very rarely been held to account. 

 

The
report details the case of Pascal Kabungulu, a leading human rights defender,
who was shot dead in his home in front of his wife and children in 2005. The men
accused of killing him, including soldiers and more senior military and
political figures, remain free.   

 

“As
long as the perpetrators of abuses against human rights defenders are at large,
these attacks will continue and violence against civilians will go unchecked. It
has to come to an end,” said Sarah Jackson.

Amnesty
International is calling for urgent reform of the security sector in the
DRC. 

 

“Creating
professional, disciplined and accountable security forces is a major priority in
DRC,” said Sarah Jackson. “The authorities have to ensure that individuals who
have committed serious human rights abuses against civilians are removed and
that any future integration of armed groups into the armed forces includes a
robust vetting process.”