Democratic Republic of Congo
22.08.03
Urgent Interventions
DRC: death of Mr. José Mukenge, Vice-President of the UDPS
CHILD CONCERN/VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Case COD 210801 EE/VAW
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your URGENT INTERVENTION in the following situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Brief description of the facts
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has been informed by La voix des sans voix des droits de l'homme ("The voice of those without a voice for human rights - VSV"), member of the OMCT network, that the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has carried out a wave of arbitrary arrests of street children.
According to VSV, at least 420 street children aged 2 to 17 years, were arrested by the Congolese police in Kinshasa in the night of 15 August and locked up at the police station known as the Inspection provinciale (Provincial Inspection Centre). There were several girls in the group and it is alleged that they have been subjected to sexual harassment, and that some of them may even have been raped by members of the police force.
It is alleged that in the night of Thursday 16 August 2001, some 260 of these children may have been taken to a private residence in Kinshasa/Ngaliema while awaiting their transfer to a detention centre. The other children, considered dangerous by the Congolese authorities, are still being held at the Provincial Inspection Centre.
This wave of arrests was in response to events which took place on 15 August 2001 on the main market place in Kinshasa. A young man aged approximately 18 years was killed by a policeman who shot him with a firearm. The young man was being chased because he was suspected of having stolen some money. He had tried to ward off the policeman by spraying him with hot water.
Because of this death, the street children mobilised and attacked the police. They ransacked the police station at the central market place and wounded a local police officer on the head, as a result of which he died. The children threw bottles in all directions, provoking general panic among the vendors and customers at the market.
Action requested
We request you kindly to write to the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo asking them :
i. to issue individual rulings as soon as possible on the plight of each of the children who have been arrested, while respecting the principle of priority for the welfare of the child;
ii. to immediately release children who are being held without having had valid charges brought against them;
iii. to take all measures necessary to protect, educate, rehabilitate and reintegrate street children so as to prevent them from being criminalised;
iv. to take all the necessary measures to safeguard the physical and psychological integrity of all child prisoners;
v. to ensure that any child deprived of his/her freedom is treated humanely and with all the respect due to the dignity of the human being, and in a manner commensurate with the age and respective needs of the child according to Article 37 of the Convention on the rights of the child and the United Nations Rules for the protection of minors deprived of their freedom;
vi. to order an immediate investigation into the allegations of rape of the girls who were arrested, to identify those responsible, to try them before a competent and impartial civil court and to apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as foreseen by the law;
vii. to order an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the death of the young man killed by a policeman on the central market place in Kinshasa on 15 August, to try the agent responsible before a competent and impartial civil court and to apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions foreseen by the law;
viii. to guarantee respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all children all over the country, according to national laws and international standards, and in particular to the Convention on the rights of the child.
Addresses
· President Joseph Kabila, Présidence de la République, Kinshasa-Ngaliema, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Fax : (+243) 880 02 120
· Ministry of Justice, POB 3137, Kinshasa Gombé, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Fax (+243) 880 55 21
Please also write to the diplomatic representation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in your country.
Geneva, 21 August 2001.
Kindly inform us of any action you may take, citing the code of this appeal in your reply.
Case COD 210801 EE/VAW
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your URGENT INTERVENTION in the following situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Brief description of the facts
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has been informed by La voix des sans voix des droits de l'homme ("The voice of those without a voice for human rights - VSV"), member of the OMCT network, that the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has carried out a wave of arbitrary arrests of street children.
According to VSV, at least 420 street children aged 2 to 17 years, were arrested by the Congolese police in Kinshasa in the night of 15 August and locked up at the police station known as the Inspection provinciale (Provincial Inspection Centre). There were several girls in the group and it is alleged that they have been subjected to sexual harassment, and that some of them may even have been raped by members of the police force.
It is alleged that in the night of Thursday 16 August 2001, some 260 of these children may have been taken to a private residence in Kinshasa/Ngaliema while awaiting their transfer to a detention centre. The other children, considered dangerous by the Congolese authorities, are still being held at the Provincial Inspection Centre.
This wave of arrests was in response to events which took place on 15 August 2001 on the main market place in Kinshasa. A young man aged approximately 18 years was killed by a policeman who shot him with a firearm. The young man was being chased because he was suspected of having stolen some money. He had tried to ward off the policeman by spraying him with hot water.
Because of this death, the street children mobilised and attacked the police. They ransacked the police station at the central market place and wounded a local police officer on the head, as a result of which he died. The children threw bottles in all directions, provoking general panic among the vendors and customers at the market.
Action requested
We request you kindly to write to the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo asking them :
i. to issue individual rulings as soon as possible on the plight of each of the children who have been arrested, while respecting the principle of priority for the welfare of the child;
ii. to immediately release children who are being held without having had valid charges brought against them;
iii. to take all measures necessary to protect, educate, rehabilitate and reintegrate street children so as to prevent them from being criminalised;
iv. to take all the necessary measures to safeguard the physical and psychological integrity of all child prisoners;
v. to ensure that any child deprived of his/her freedom is treated humanely and with all the respect due to the dignity of the human being, and in a manner commensurate with the age and respective needs of the child according to Article 37 of the Convention on the rights of the child and the United Nations Rules for the protection of minors deprived of their freedom;
vi. to order an immediate investigation into the allegations of rape of the girls who were arrested, to identify those responsible, to try them before a competent and impartial civil court and to apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as foreseen by the law;
vii. to order an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the death of the young man killed by a policeman on the central market place in Kinshasa on 15 August, to try the agent responsible before a competent and impartial civil court and to apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions foreseen by the law;
viii. to guarantee respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all children all over the country, according to national laws and international standards, and in particular to the Convention on the rights of the child.
Addresses
· President Joseph Kabila, Présidence de la République, Kinshasa-Ngaliema, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Fax : (+243) 880 02 120
· Ministry of Justice, POB 3137, Kinshasa Gombé, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Fax (+243) 880 55 21
Please also write to the diplomatic representation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in your country.
Geneva, 21 August 2001.
Kindly inform us of any action you may take, citing the code of this appeal in your reply.