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TITLE: CONGO HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
CONGO
During 1993 the Republic of Congo's young democracy was
severely tried by several episodes of violent civil unrest.
Throughout the year, President Pascal Lissouba, who was freely
elected in 1992, governed with the support of a group of
parties known as the Presidential Movement. The authority of
his Government, however, faced challenges from a changing
coalition of opposition parties. Strikes in March and tensions
following first-round legislative elections in May gave way to
armed conflict in June and July. Mediation efforts by the
Organization of African Unity and the President of Gabon
succeeded in avoiding civil war in August, but combat in the
capital, Brazzaville, again erupted in November between
opposition supporters and elements of the Government's security
forces. Fighting continued sporadically through the end of the
year.
The August agreement, known as the Libreville Accords,
stipulated acceptance of the results of the first round of
elections--with a panel of international arbiters to decide
whether new elections should be called for a limited number of
contested seats awarded in the first round--and scheduled a
rerun of the second round of elections. The opposition
alliance, the Union for Democratic Renewal-Congolese Workers
Party (URD-PCT) won 8 of the 11 seats contested in the second
round of elections held October 6. The seating of these
opposition deputies in the new National Assembly in late
October appeared to signal the success of the Accords, but was
soon overshadowed by renewed fighting between the army and
opposition militias.
The armed forces, which had played a critical role in earlier,
successful steps toward the establishment of a democratic
system, ultimately demonstrated loyalty to the chain of command
and carried out the orders of President Lissouba. However,
opposition parties continued to maintain independent militias,
and the presidentially recruited Aubeville militia, along with
the Presidential Guard, remained outside the regular military
chain of command. In December the Government acknowledged the
danger of this proliferation of irregular forces and pledged to
integrate all groups into the official security forces.
Individual soldiers, and members of the Presidential Guard and
the partisan militias, were implicated in a full range of
abuses. In November the army's strategy included firing heavy
artillery rounds into residential neighborhoods, causing many
civilian casualties.
The economy is in transition from socialism to a free market
system, and the 1992 Constitution recognizes private property
rights. In recent years, the economy has been heavily
dependent on petroleum earnings and external borrowing. Faced
with the collapse of world oil prices after 1985 and saddled
with one of the world's largest per capita debts, Congo has
been under pressure from international lending institutions to
implement strict structural adjustment measures and free market
economic policies. Despite political turmoil, Parliament began
to implement necessary austerity measures in late 1993.
Following the enormous strides achieved between 1990 and 1992,
the human rights situation seriously deteriorated in 1993.
While citizens now legally enjoy many civil and political
liberties denied them in the recent past, 1993 saw the
perpetration of widespread abuses. Militias loyal to faction
leaders held hostages from rival groups and engaged in numerous
instances of looting, burning, rape, and physical assault. In
the violence, at least 200 and perhaps many more persons died,
many homes were destroyed, and tens of thousands of people had
to flee their neighborhoods in which other ethnic groups
dominated. The Government exercised tight control over the
media and expelled a Radio France International correspondent
for failing to stick to the Government's preferred message.
Other human rights problems persisted: reports of police
brutality, deplorable prison conditions, societal
discrimination against women, and the exploitation of Pygmy
villagers in remote parts of the country.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
The death toll from the June-July unrest was probably between
35 and 50. Military actions in November, centered against
armed militias in the opposition stronghold of Bacongo, and the
fighting in December produced even more casualties. Supporters
of both the Government and the two main opposition parties were
equally implicated in politically motivated violence. Except
for the Presidential Guard, the armed forces and police in
their institutional capacity were not directly involved in
political killings, though individual soldiers and police
officers, acting in support of the President, and some members
of the President's irregular militia committed offenses while
dressed in police and army uniforms. The Government ignored
calls from international groups to investigate human rights
abuses and took no steps to identify supporters who
participated in extrajudicial killings in 1993. While the army
assault in November was directed at opposition militias, many
deaths occurred in incidents apart from that conflict, and
victims appeared to have been targeted on the basis of ethnic
and political affiliation.
b. Disappearance
Each stage of civil unrest throughout the year produced
numerous credible reports of kidnapings and disappearances,
both political and for ransom. Many people fled to their home
villages without notifying local friends or family, and thus
may wrongly still be reported as missing. There were also
numerous reports of varying credibility of bodies thrown into
the river or buried in the neighborhoods of Brazzaville, making
an accurate accounting for those missing at the end of the year
virtually impossible.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits the use of torture, but there were
unsubstantiated, but reliable and persistent, reports of
torture employed by partisans of both the Government and the
opposition during the crisis in June and July. These abuses
included reports of rape and mutilation, e.g., allegations of
the amputation of fingers and hands. Videotaped accounts of
abuses inflicted by both officials and civilians and interviews
with victims on both sides of the conflict lent credence to
such claims.
Military and security forces continue to employ unacceptable
interrogation methods. Army, police, and customs officials
beat detainees, particularly accused thieves and those who
resisted arrest, to extract information and as punishment.
Military and security force leaders tacitly condoned such
beatings, failing to try and punish offenders and failing to
provide effective training in the lawful treatment of suspects.
Prison conditions remained dire. Buildings are dilapidated,
security lax, constructive activities such as classes or
exercises are nonexistent, and food and medical care are
inadequate. Most prisons, built during French colonial rule
when convicted felons were sent out of the country, were never
designed for long-term prisoners. Dozens of prisoners are
often kept in the same cell for long periods of time, sleeping
on the floor and subsisting on only one meal per day.
Malnutrition and disease in prison are generally untreated, and
some deaths occur.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The new Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest, detention, or
exile. While the Code of Penal Procedure requires that all
detainees be brought before a judge within 3 days and be
charged or released within 3 months, these limits are often
ignored in practice due to official indifference and limited
resources. Delays in bringing cases to trial and arbitrary
denial of bail continued to be problems in 1993.
During the July crisis, partisans on all sides engaged in
arbitrary arrests and kidnapings, often solely to exchange
hostages. The total number of these extralegal detentions was
probably in the hundreds, but most were for very short
periods. Partisans seized many people at roadblocks, at
schools, and on the streets, including in late October two
government officials from their homes. The officials were
released on November 1, but subsequent violence led to many new
arbitrary arrests and detentions by official and unofficial
forces.
Exile is not used as a means of political control.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Modeled on French institutions, the judicial system consists
primarily of local courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme
Court. The National Conference in 1991 abolished all special
courts and secret trials. Defendants have the right to be
represented by lawyers of their choice, and the State will
cover legal fees in cases of destitution. There are credible
reports of prisoners languishing--sometimes for years--in jail
because of lost files, oversights, and bureaucratic inertia.
The judiciary is overburdened with a caseload that far exceeds
its capacity to ensure fair public trial.
In rural areas, traditional courts continued to handle many
local disputes, especially property cases and probate
functions. Dispute resolution in these traditional courts is
by extended debate, with no known instances of resort to
physical punishment. Many domestic disputes are also
adjudicated under traditional law or within the context of the
extended family.
During the state of emergency in June and July, the President
suspended constitutional guarantees, but the Government
promptly rescinded the declaration when order was restored.
The violence in November did not produce a new state of
emergency declaration.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution protects the privacy of the home,
correspondence, and telecommunications. Under current law, all
official searches of private properties and communications
require a warrant. The transitional government announced
publicly in 1992 that the police have limited powers and
encouraged citizens to insist on their rights. It also
prohibited the maintenance of security files on citizens who
had not been accused of violating the law. These measures
remained in force. However, there was a widespread--if only
anecdotally supported--belief that the Government continued to
make use of the telephone-tapping equipment remaining from the
days of East Germany's tutelage of the secret police. During
November, without first attempting to undertake lawful search,
the army responded to unconfirmed reports of weapon caches by
bombarding some houses with tank cannon fire.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Like the bill of rights that preceded it, the 1992 Constitution
provides for freedom of expression and calls for the
establishment of a special court to help safeguard freedoms of
speech and press. That court has not been established,
however, and, despite constitutional and judicial protections,
the media enjoy only limited freedom.
While people speak freely and opposition newspapers are
permitted to circulate, censorship became pervasive in 1993.
Prime Minster Yhombi-Opango declared on June 24 that "only
information emanating from state organs" would be broadcast by
state radio and television and that news and declarations of
political parties and associations would not be carried. Since
the state media have a monopoly on local radio and
television--the main means of communicating with the
public--opposition parties were effectively excluded from
official broadcast and print media, having only indirect access
to radio and television through broadcasts from neighboring
Zaire.
The Government announced but did not implement its statement
that ll parties would have equal access to radio and television
during the October elections. Actual coverage of the
opposition was nearly nonexistent, and accusations of
censorship remained unanswered. The opposition's attempt to
establish its own radio station was one of the precipitating
events leading to the outbreak of hostilities in November. In
a November 9 speech, President Lissouba committed to providing
radio and television time to opposition parties. At year's
end, however, no steps had been taken to implement the proposal.
During November's disturbances, the Government objected to the
reporting of a Radio France International journalist,
Frederique Genot, the only resident foreign correspondent in
Brazzaville. After she failed to change her reporting despite
several reprimands, the Government took Genot into custody for
2 days and then expelled her from the country.
Academic freedom is respected.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution also provides for freedom of assembly and
association. In practice, any group wishing to hold a public
assembly must inform the Minister of the Interior, who reserves
the right to forbid assemblies which threaten, in the
Government's view, public peace or welfare. There were no
reports of government denials of such requests in 1993.
However, the Government placed strict limits on the time period
during which campaigning was permitted before elections, and
some opposition gatherings were broken up by uniformed and
armed military shortly before the opening of the
September-October legislative campaign.
c. Freedom of Religion
There is no state religion; people are free to join any church
and practice any religion. Denominations not already
established must register with the State, a sometimes
cumbersome process. Many different creeds were represented in
President Lissouba's administration.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution declares the right of all citizens to
circulate freely within the country and specifically prohibits
roadblocks and barricades. Barricades were nonetheless
widespread during civil disturbances, erected by army troops,
members of the Presidential Guard, and opposition supporters.
The National Conference Charter of Rights gives all citizens
the right to leave the country and to return.
The country maintained its traditional hospitality toward
refugees and asylum seekers. The U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) has registered over 8,000 refugees from
Cabinda, Angola, and almost 3,000 Cabindans live in a camp run
by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red
Crescent. The UNHCR also list over 2,200 Chadian refugees in
1993, as well as over 400 Zairians, and 300 Central Africans.
A large number of other Zairians--mostly economic
refugees--currently live in Congo.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens have this right, but disagreement between the
political groupings over the constitutional powers of the
Presidency and the National Assembly led to near civil war in
1993. After disagreements with the National Assembly, the
President dissolved Parliament in November 1992 and called for
new elections in 1993. The opposition disputed his right to
form an interim government, charged that the first round of
legislative elections on May 2 were fraudulent, and refused to
participate in the second round of elections on June 6,
provoking the civil disturbances. During this period, the new
125-seat National Assembly opened on June 22--despite a boycott
by the 49 URD-PCT members--and the President appointed the
former army head, General Joachim Yhombi-Opango, as the
country's new Prime Minister.
Subsequently, in the Libreville Accords, the parties, inter
alia, recognized the published results of the first round of
elections and stipulated that the second round of elections
would be rerun. In the new second round of elections held
October 6, the opposition won 8 of the 11 National Assembly
seats at stake, thereby reducing the Presidential Movement's
majority. A College of International Arbiters is considering
claims that results for 56 seats in the first-round elections
were tainted. The disputed seats include 22 now held by
Government supporters and 34 held by the opposition.
Women are poorly represented in the political process. The
Lissouba Government includes 2 women as part of its 28-member
Cabinet. Women also represent only a tiny minority in the
security forces. While not officially prohibited, the
indigenous Pygmies, living in remote regions, are largely
excluded from the political process (see Section 5).
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Several local human rights organizations remained active in
1993. These included the National Committee on Human Rights,
the Congolese Human Rights League, and a committee of the
Congolese Association of Women Lawyers. Other special interest
organizations included groups representing the rights of
prisoners, women, children, and the handicapped. All freely
criticized past government human rights violations as well as
abusive and discriminatory aspects of some traditional local
customs.
In addition, the Government actively encouraged and even
solicited the presence of international and nongovernmental
(NGO) observers for elections held during the year. However,
it refused to establish a committee to investigate past human
rights violations, including torture and extrajudicial
executions, as requested by international groups.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The new Constitution specifically forbids such discrimination,
but much traditional discrimination persisted, particularly
against women and Pygmies.
Women
Although the new Constitution prohibits discrimination based on
gender and specifically endorses the right of women to earn
equal pay for equal work, discrimination against women is
endemic. Inequities persist in salaries as well as in
employment opportunities and access to education. According to
one 1991 U.N. study, females receive only 33 percent of the
schooling provided to males. While traditional inheritance
customs favor maternal links, marriage and family laws overtly
discriminate against women; for example, adultery is considered
illegal for women but not for men, and polygyny is accepted.
Women in rural areas are especially disadvantaged in terms of
education and wage employment and are confined largely to
family farm labor and child-raising responsibilities.
Nonetheless, educated women are increasingly finding pay equity
and promotion opportunities more in consonant with their
individual abilities, notably in white-collar and government
jobs. Their qualifications are often enhanced by scholarships
and foreign-sponsored studies. Women are also filling jobs
once reserved only for males, such as magistrates and customs
inspectors.
Violence against women occurs frequently. In particular, wife
beating is an accepted practice, and cases are usually handled
within the context of the extended family. Only in extreme
instances of abuse are cases prosecuted in the courts. The
issue of violence against women is largely ignored by the
general population, including the media. The police rarely
intervene in domestic disputes.
Children
The Constitution states that the Government must protect
children in accordance with international conventions. Child
labor is illegal, and education is mandatory to age 16. In
practice, limited state resources prevent achievement of these
objectives, particularly in rural areas.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The Pygmies, an ethnic minority numbering about 7,000 persons
and living primarily in the northern forest areas, are
theoretically provided by the Constitution with the same rights
as other citizens. However, in practice--in a society in which
Bantu Congolese predominate in all respects--they do not enjoy
equal treatment. In particular, they are exploited as a source
of cheap labor. Pygmy workers are generally underpaid for
their work relative to others, with compensation often being in
the form of clothing, food, or other goods instead of wages.
This practice is reinforced by an ancestral tradition of Pygmy
slavery by Bantus, and in 1993 there were still reports that
this practice continued in isolated locations. One human
rights monitor reported "incontrovertible evidence" that Bantus
in the north exploit Pygmies in slave-like conditions. In the
past, Pygmies were denied access to public education, health,
and other basic services and to the right to own property.
Pygmies have traditionally also been excluded from the
political process.
People with Disabilities
The Constitution provides the handicapped "specific measures of
protection in relation to their needs." In practice, this
means very little, though the Government has provided
handpowered tricycles to some polio victims, and some special
education is provided to the handicapped. The Government has
an office charged with the welfare of handicapped persons, but
its efforts in this area are limited by severe resource
constraints. A Congolese NGO works actively to better
conditions for the handicapped. There is no law mandating
accessibility to buildings.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Both the Constitution and the Labor Code affirm the right of
workers to associate freely, allowing no restrictions on the
formation of trade unions or on the right of workers to join a
union. Nearly all workers are union members in the formal
(wage) sector, and efforts have been made to unionize the
informal sector. There is a small agricultural union.
Unions are now free to join or form new federations or
confederations. However, the Congolese Trade Union
Confederation (CSC), formerly the only officially recognized
union confederation, is still a powerful force and in 1993
remained the only umbrella labor organization. After the 1991
National Conference revoked CSC's monopoly status and abolished
the checkoff system, which gave CSC much of its power
advantage, numerous small competing unions organized. The
Secretary General of the CSC is also a member of the National
Assembly.
Unions are free to strike but must file a letter of intent to
strike with the Ministry of Labor beforehand, which starts a
process of arbitration. In theory, a strike may not take place
until after both parties have submitted to a process of
nonbinding arbitration under the auspices of a regional labor
inspector from the Labor Ministry. The letter of intent must
also include notification of a strike date, at which time the
strike can legally begin even if arbitration is not complete.
Employers theoretically may fire workers if no notification is
given before a strike. In practice, these aspects of the Labor
Code are seldom enforced, and many strikes have occurred
without prior attempts to resolve disputes through arbitration.
There were a number of strikes in 1993, including actions
against oil companies, oil-related service firms, and
state-owned companies employing railway and electrical
maintenance workers. The public sector was particularly hard
hit by labor disputes which erupted in strikes at the
Ministries of Agriculture, Mines and Energy, Commerce, Culture,
and Finance. Strikers most often sought increases in pay or
other monetary benefits or, in the case of civil servants, back
wages now overdue for 8 months. Public workers' strikes in
March 1993 were resolved with relatively little civil
disturbance, and unions remained relatively quiet as more
serious unrest erupted later in the year.
Unions are free to affiliate with international trade unions.
Exercising this new freedom, some trade unions signed
cooperative accords with other African, European, and American
trade union organizations. Although the CSC has not formally
disaffiliated from the formerly Soviet-controlled World
Federation of Trade Unions, the relationship has all but
dissolved due to lack of interest or funding.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Still adapting to the new freedom of trade union pluralism, the
old Labor Code, dating from 1975, remains unreformed. Neither
have laws been adopted to create a new legal framework for
collective bargaining. In the past, many benefits were legally
mandated and industry-specific wage scales or "conventions"
were determined by negotiated agreement between representatives
of the union, the employer or employers' association, the
Ministry of Labor, and the ruling Congolese Workers Party.
Independent unions may now negotiate freely on their own or in
cooperation with other unions, federations, or confederations.
Under the Constitution, employers are forbidden from
discriminating against employees who exercise their
constitutional right to organize or join a union. There have
been no reported recent cases of firings for union activities.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited by law, and there is
no evidence of its practice in the formal economy. (See
Section 5, however, for a discussion of allegations of the
slave-like exploitation of Pygmies.)
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Constitution specifically prohibits children under the age
of 16 from working. The Ministry of Labor is responsible for
enforcing child labor laws but concentrates its efforts on the
formal wage sector. Children often work at younger ages on
small family subsistence farms in rural areas and can be seen
working in the informal economic sectors of the cities without
government intervention.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Government sets a minimum wage of about $80 a month (23,500
FCFA), a level which in theory allows for "human dignity." In
those trades still subject to "conventions" (see Section 6.b.),
the negotiated minimum wages are without exception considerably
higher than the legal minimum. Yet, even these preferential
salary scales often set minimum wages quite low relative to the
exorbitant cost of living. To make ends meet, many workers are
obliged to hold second jobs, practice subsistence agriculture,
or receive help from the extended family. During 1993, this
was particularly true for government workers, who were forced
to cope with salary backlogs of several months.
The Constitution provides for not only reasonable pay, but also
paid holidays, periodic paid vacations, and legal limits on
allowable hours of work. The standard legal workweek is 42
hours. There is no specific requirement for a 24-hour rest
period. The Labor Code stipulates that overtime must be paid
for all work in excess of 40 hours per week and that regular
days of leisure must be granted by employers.
Although health and safety regulations require twice-yearly
visits by enforcement officers from the Ministry of Labor, in
practice such inspections occur on a much less regular basis.
There is no specific regulation granting workers the right to
remove themselves from hazardous situations, but unions are
generally effective in protecting members. (###)
[end of document]
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