War on activists: More than 400 human rights defenders, journalists in DRC targeted within a year

UN says 387 human rights defenders and 67 journalists were either threatened or attacked in the DRC. (Glody Murhabazi/AFP)

• When militias fail to get their targeted human rights activists they go after their families.
• Between June 2023 to April this year, 387 human rights defenders and 67 journalists were either threatened or attacked, the UN says.
• DRC legislation to protect human rights defenders meets the minimum set international standards.

Last year, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) adopted a law to protect human rights defenders, putting it in compliance with minimum international standards.

But that has not stopped persecutions which – in many instances – result in murder.

Since November last year, two women (their names are being held to protect them) working with the Goma-based Youth Movement for Change (LUCHA) have been facing threats from a rebel outfit.

The Twigwaneho armed militia targeted the women after LUCHA launched protests against attacks on civilians by militias.

“When LUCHA organised public protests against recent attacks on their village in the South Kivu province, the rebel group sent armed forces to arrest them, forcing them to flee and go into hiding.

“To this day, they continue to receive death threats and live in hiding,” Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur for the UN on human rights defenders, said in Geneva this week.

Lawlor added in February this year, one of the women’s mothers was abducted and was suspected to have been killed.

READ | Pope Francis calls on world leaders to help end slaughter of civilians in the DRC

In July last year, Obedi Karafuru, who led a workers committee at a logging company, was shot dead by unidentified men in his home village in rebel-held Rutshuru territory in North Kivu province.

Karafuru had been advocating for the compensation of more than 30 000 former workers.

Both non-state and state actors have in the past been implicated in incidents of intimidation, threats of physical violence, attacks and acts of reprisals targeting journalists and human rights defenders.

Due to an international outcry in March this year, journalist Stanis Bujakera was freed from jail after six months.

He had been jailed over a story he wrote linking the country’s military intelligence to the murder of an opposition politician, Cherubin Okende.

For the period June 2023 to April this year, the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC said it recorded cases of 387 human rights defenders and 67 journalists being either threatened or attacked.

Lawlor said: 

She said her office had since sought to engage the DRC government on current and past cases, particularly executions.

“I call on authorities in the DRC to take all necessary measures to ensure a safe working space and protection for human rights defenders, as well as to guarantee the exercise of their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and to effectively and reliably investigate all cases of executions per international standards, including the Minnesota Protocol, and bring those responsible to justice,” Lawlor added.

The International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO) flags the DRC security situation as “reaching a critical stage”.

During this most recent escalation, the organisation has continued to operate out of Goma, Bukavu, Bunia, and Kalemie, offering safety and access services to 186 partners across the DRC.

Human rights defenders received operational alerts, allowing them to stay up-to-date with the most recent developments in real-time, alongside tailored advice regarding evacuations, contingency plans, and safe access routes, INSO said.The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.