Human Rights Division / MONUC
Summary: Germain Katanga, warlord and leader of the Force de Résistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI) militia was transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for trial; In Kisangani, Province Orientale, two military magistrates were subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by FARDC soldiers acting on the orders of the Commander of the 9th Military Region; The UN Independent Expert on the human rights situation in the DRC addressed the UN General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (third) Committee.(1)
In Katanga Province, an attempted prison break in Buluwo resulted in five deaths; The "Gédéon" trial continued before the Kipushi Military Tribunal, Katanga Province; MONUC and Congolese military justice officials conducted a second investigative mission into allegations of mass rape perpetrated in Lieke Lesole, Opala territory, Orientale Province; FARDC and PNC elements were responsible for a huge number of violations of the rights to life and physical integrity, including rape.
Main developments
1. On 30 September 2007, two military magistrates attached to the Office of the Military Prosecutor in Kisangani, Orientale Province, were subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by FARDC elements acting on the orders of the Commander of the 9th Military Region. The men were arrested at their residence located in the Makiso commune at around 5:00 p.m. by General Kifwa himself, accompanied by twenty members of his security detail.
They were undressed, severely beaten in the presence of members of their respective families and subsequently taken to the Katele military camp, almost naked and with their hands tied behind their backs where they were again subjected to severe beatings. On the morning of 1st October, they were further humiliated by being exposed during the weekly military parade presided over by General Kifwa. The victims were admitted to a local clinic in a serious condition.
2. In reaction to the above incident, all civilian and military magistrates operating in the city of Kisangani went on strike and subsequently, on 2 October 2007, addressed a memorandum to the President of the Republic in which they condemned the recurrent intrusion and interference in the independence of the judiciary by senior military commanders, in violation of the Congolese Constitution and international norms and standards as well as the use of torture, cruel , inhumane or degrading treatment by the Commander of the 9th Military Region.
The signatories to the memorandum also recommended that the perpetrator should be suspended, replaced and brought to justice, sine qua non condition for the end of the strike; the clarification of the type of relationship that should exist between the military leadership and the judiciary and an end to interference of high-ranking officers in the administration of justice. MONUC condemned the illegal arrest and mistreatment of the magistrates in a press release issued on 4 October 2007. MONUC also supported the demands expressed in the memorandum signed on 2 October by Magistrates of Kisangani; recommended that the Commander of the 9th Military Region and his subordinates should be immediately suspended and brought to justice; and urged the relevant authorities to take all necessary measures to guarantee the independence of the judiciary in the DRC.
Note
(1) Some of the incidents under investigation took place in August and September 2007.