On December 23, 2004, Golden Misabiko and his children were followed and threatened in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mr. Misabiko is a prominent human rights activist and honorary president of the Katanga branch of the African Association for Human Rights (ASADHO), an organization that works for democracy, accountability, and respect for human rights in the DRC.
Mr. Misabiko recognized one of the men who had been following him as an intelligence agent who had abducted him and participated in his torture during seven months of detention in 2001. The agent told Mr. Misabiko that this time his order was to “neutralize” him and that his life was in grave danger.
In June 2004, Human Rights First awarded the Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award to ASADHO for its outstanding contribution to human rights throughout the DRC.
Join Human Rights First in demanding that the government of the DRC investigate death threats against Golden Misabiko and the staff of ASADHO.
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The African Association for Human Rights (ASADHO) was founded on January 10, 1991, by a group of young lawyers, doctors and journalists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The nonprofit organization was formed in response to the Mobutu government’s announcement that it would begin a process of democratization.
The main activities of the organization include: campaigning against torture and other cruel, degrading and inhuman punishments; guaranteeing – by all legal mechanisms – the defense of victims of human rights violations; working towards the development of the Congolese legislature; encouraging the DRC’s government to ratify and respect all international treaties relating to human rights; and providing free legal and medical assistance to those in need. In June 2004, Human Rights First awarded the Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award to ASADHO for its outstanding contribution to human rights throughout the DRC.
The staff of ASADHO carries out its work at great risk. On December 31, 2004, after issuing a press release with other human rights groups about a mineral treatment plant that was polluting local drinking water, members of ASADHO Katanga received anonymous threats saying that they and their family members would be killed if they did not cease their human rights work. The messages referred to several staff members by name, including Golden Misabiko.
In the four year period between 1998 and 2002, approximately 3.3 million people died in the DRC in a bloody conflict, largely ignored by the international community, in which the parties showed little respect for human life and dignity. Most of those who died were civilians, killed as a result of war, starvation or disease. Among the violations alleged to have been committed by the various parties are killings of civilians, forced recruitment of child soldiers, destruction of villages, internal displacement, cannibalism, rape, and torture.
Human rights defenders in the DRC face death threats, arrest, detention, prosecution and torture for monitoring and reporting on human rights abuses. In the last two years, a number of human rights workers have been threatened, arrested, detained and tortured based on trumped up charges or no charges at all. In April 2004, for example, Mr. Dieudonne Been Masudi Kingombe, Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (CHD) was arrested, tortured and detained without warrant. Mr. Freddy Kitoko, Vice-President of ASADHO’s Katanga branch, was among more than 16 other human rights defenders who were put on a “blacklist” and targeted for harassment and intimidation to inhibit their work to promote and protect human rights. Staff members of ASADHO, like other defenders working in the DRC, perform their critical work despite the risk of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, death threats, and other forms of intimidation.
The treatment suffered by human rights defenders constitutes violations of their rights under international human rights treaties by which the DRC is bound. In particular, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights prohibit torture and arbitrary detention and uphold basic rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression. The actions of government agents also violate Article 6b of the 1998 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others; as provided in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
The government of the DRC has a duty to act in accordance with the 1998 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which requires states to “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action” as a consequence of their work to promote and protect human rights.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo should:
Letter from DAN members:
His Excellency Joseph Kabila
President of the Republic
Kinshasa – Ngaliema
Democratic Republic of the Congo
c/o Faïda Mitifu
Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United States
1800 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington DC 20009
Telephone: (202) 234-7690
Fax: (202) 234-2609
January 12, 2005
Dear President Kabila,
I am concerned about reports I have received that the authorities in Katanga Province are committing human rights violations – including death threats, harassment, arbitrary arrests, abductions and torture – against human rights defenders. I urge the Congolese authorities to investigate these acts of intimidation and to uphold the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s obligation to protect human rights defenders.
I am informed that members of the human rights organization Association Africaine de Defense des Droits de l’Homme (ASADHO) have been arrested, tortured, and illegally detained. Recently, on December 23, 2004, a car followed prominent human rights activist and honorary president of the Katanga branch of ASADHO, Golden Misabiko, and his children in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mr. Misabiko recognized one of the men who emerged from the car as an agent of the National Information Agency (ANR), who had abducted him in February 2001 and participated in his torture during seven months of detention. The agent told Mr. Misabiko that this time his order was to “neutralize” him and that his life was in grave danger.
On December 31, 2004, soon after issuing a joint press release with other human rights organizations about the non-compliance of a local mineral treatment plant with a government order to stop polluting local drinking water, members of ASADHO received anonymous messages threatening their lives – and the lives of their families – and urging them to cease their human rights work. The messages explicitly referred to several staff members, including Jean-Claude Katende, president of ASADHO-Katanga, Freddy Kitoko, Golden Misabiko, Marc Walu, George Kapiaka, and Timothy Mbuyia.
The staff of ASADHO faces imminent danger to their lives if they continue their human rights work. The treatment suffered by these human rights defenders constitute violations of their rights under international human rights treaties to which the DRC is bound. In particular, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s rights prohibit torture and arbitrary detention and uphold basic rights and freedoms for human rights defenders. The treatment also violates Article 6b of the 1998 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which states that “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others; as provided in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
I would like to remind the Government of the DRC to act in accordance with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which requires states to “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action” as a consequence of their work to promote and protect human rights.
To this end, I ask that the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Thank you for your time and consideration,
