Amnesty International Report 2015/16 - Congo (Republic of)

Republic of Congo
Head of state and government: Denis Sassou Nguesso

Security forces used unnecessary or excessive force, including lethal force, against demonstrators opposing proposed changes to the Constitution. Protesters were arbitrarily arrested and freedom of expression was curtailed. Expulsions of non-nationals resumed, targeting West African citizens, while no investigations were launched into the 2014 "Mbata ya Bakolo" operation, in which more than 179,000 nationals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were expelled. The UN Committee against Torture expressed serious concern that torture and other ill-treatment occurred in most places of detention. Conditions of detention remained harsh. Presidential elections will be held in March 2016.

BACKGROUND

A referendum to amend the Constitution was held on 25 October. It was both boycotted by the main opposition coalition and the subject of major demonstrations. However, the amendment was passed on 27 October and confirmed by the Constitutional Court on 6 November, allowing the incumbent President to run for a third term in 2016.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY

Freedom of expression was curtailed. Members of opposition parties who spoke against the proposed amendment to the Constitution were particularly targeted. From July to October, there was a wave of arrests of political opponents protesting against the constitutional review.

In October, media freedom was arbitrarily restricted when mobile internet, text messaging services and some radio broadcast signals were disrupted in the capital, Brazzaville, ahead of protests organized by the opposition.

On 9 October, six activists from youth movements were arrested following a peaceful protest they had organized against the referendum. They were charged with "participation in an unauthorized protest".

On 22 October, security forces surrounded the house of opposition leader Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas in Brazzaville. He was kept under de facto house arrest for 12 days together with 25 others. No judicial warrant authorized the action.

On 23 November, Paulin Makaya, president of the political party "Unis pour le Congo" (UPC), who openly opposed the proposed changes to the Constitution, was arrested by police officers while at the office of the Public Prosecutor of the High Court of Brazzaville. He was with his lawyer to report for questioning as part of an investigation. He was kept in detention at the Central Police Station of Brazzaville from 23 November until 1 December without being brought before a court or charged and was questioned on several occasions in the absence of his lawyer. A request for bail submitted by his lawyers on 2 December was not addressed, despite a reminder on 11 December. Paulin Makaya was still in pre-trial detention at the central prison of Brazzaville at the end of the year. On 5 June, protests were organized by students in the cities of Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire and Dolisie following the revocation of the Baccalauréat exam due to massive fraud and serious irregularities. Many students were injured in clashes with the police and several were arrested.

EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE

On 17 October, in Pointe-Noire, a plain-clothes police officer fired live ammunition into a crowd demonstrating against the referendum, wounding 13 people.

On 20 October, security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition at protesters in Brazzaville demonstrating against the proposed constitutional changes. Six people were reported to have been killed. On the same day, opposition groups reported that at least 12 protesters and bystanders had been killed by military police and several others wounded in protests organized in Pointe-Noire. No investigations into these incidents had been initiated at the end of the year.

REFUGEES' AND MIGRANTS' RIGHTS

No investigations were launched into serious human rights violations committed in 2014 by Congolese security forces and others during the first phase of the Mbata Ya Bakolo operation, in which more than 179,000 DRC nationals, including refugees and asylum-seekers, were rounded up, arbitrarily detained and forcibly returned by the police. Government authorities portrayed the security operation as a response to increased criminality, which they believed was being driven by kuluna gangs (organized criminal gangs) from the DRC.

On 14 May, the second phase of the operation was launched in Pointe-Noire. It was characterized by arrests, detentions and deportations targeting West African nationals, including Senegalese, Malians, and Ivorians. Police targeted specific neighbourhoods, carrying out cordon and search operations, resulting in arbitrary arrests. Those arrested were placed in retention facilities lacking access to running water, adequate food and bedding as well as washing and sanitary facilities. NGOs were denied access to the retention sites. No official figures were issued concerning the number of people arrested and returned during the operation.

INTERNATIONAL SCRUTINY

On 7 May, the UN Committee against Torture expressed serious concern about numerous reports of torture and other ill-treatment occurring in most of the country's places of detention. The Committee highlighted the systematic use of pre-trial detention, the failure by authorities to observe statutory limits on its imposition and the failure to ensure detainees' right to legal representation and to have their relatives informed of their detention.

PRISON CONDITIONS

Detention conditions remained extremely poor, including through chronic overcrowding, inadequate food, lack of drinking water, limited medical care and personnel and sub-standard hygiene and sanitation facilities. In April, three detainees died in detention at the Pointe-Noire Central police station, including one, Batola Régis, who was held in a small, overcrowded cell and died of malnutrition. No investigation had been launched into these deaths by the end of the year.