Congo government must prioritise human rights, says former UN envoy
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Version 0 of 1. The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) new unity government should use its fresh political start to “fully embrace” human rights, end impunity and foster a culture of public service, according to a senior UN official who was ordered out of the country following the publication of a report on abuses perpetrated by Congolese security forces. After promising the change for more than a year, President Joseph Kabila this week named a government including several opposition members. While the new administration will still be dominated by Kabila’s ruling People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) and headed by the incumbent prime minister, Augustin Matata Ponyo, it will incorporate former political opponents from the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), which fought against Kabila and his late father, Laurent, during the second Congo War. Despite being declared persona non grata and told to leave the DRC when the UN report was released in October, Scott Campbell said the announcement could yet provide grounds for optimism. “My hope would certainly be that this would be a government that will fully embrace human rights, fully engage with the UN on human rights, and engage constructively even on the stickiest issues – including those we report publicly on, such as deaths in places of detention, mass rape by the army, killings and disappearances by the police,” he said. “It’s an opportunity and there’s always hope that a new government will tackle these things head on and transparently.” Campbell, who was the director of the UN joint human rights office in Congo until August, had returned to the country for a three-week mission when the report came out. The UN had already shared with the Congolese government the findings of its investigation into the killing of at least nine civilians and the enforced disappearance of at least 32 others by Congolese National Police agents, but Campbell said the report’s publication seemed to anger “certain elements – not all of them – within the government [who] were sensitive to public reporting by the UN in general”. He stressed that his relations with the vice-minister of human rights, the chief of police and officials working on military justice had been excellent, adding: “It was a cumulative effect and I think it does not necessarily reflect the view of all within the government.” Campbell said that, while the country had moved forward enormously over the past 10 to 20 years, bolstered by the recent high rates of economic growth, the DRC was still hobbled by its size and its past. “This is a country of about 75 million people and it’s the same size, give or take, as western Europe,” he said. “The challenges are immense after decades of authoritarian rule under Mobutu Sese Seko. A culture of impunity and a lack of accountability have become ingrained in the day-to-day way of doing business. It’s about geography and mentality - and the significant lack of a culture of public service.” He said many police officers, teachers and politicians did not understand that they were meant to be serving the public rather than themselves. “Because public servants are poorly paid and the state won’t serve them, they serve themselves,” he said. “Many of the systems in the Congo, whether it’s education, health, justice, are basically pay-as-you-go.” Campbell said that good governance and an end to the culture of impunity among some army and police officers should be prioritised by the new government. “If you can do that and link it with public service, then you’ve cracked it,” he said. “If you have more accountable governance structures, you’ll vote a better budget for police, for judges, for teachers, for the army, and people will get decent paycheques.” Despite urging the new regime to focus on social, human and economic rights, Campbell noted that a large and lawless part of the eastern DRC remained at the mercy of armed groups that raped, murdered and abducted people as they pleased. “Like it or not, there’s still just not enough government control over significant parts of those areas,” he said. “Both the armed groups and the army are still committing far too many human rights violations: rape, extra-judicial killings, various forms of violations against minors, arbitrary arrests and torture and abductions.” With local, provincial and presidential elections scheduled to be held over the next two years, Campbell warned the DRC’s commitment to human rights would only attract increasing international attention. “In the 2011 elections, we saw many serious human rights violations that really compromised free and fair elections,” he said. “The [UN] report looked in particular at killings and disappearances by the Congolese police and this will be very sensitive in the run up to elections, when police will be largely in charge of electoral security. From a UN point of view, their role should be under a great deal of scrutiny.” |