AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

130
ing their detention, soldiers commanded by Major Jose Mopia Agaga beat both
Kalonji and his wife, who was 5 months pregnant. Kalonji was released on February
8.
On January 13, security forces arrested, detained, and tortured for 5 days Union
for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) activist Crispin Ipondo Banda, reportedly
for distributing brochures on the Lusaka Accords published by the NGO
LINELIT. Police held Banda at the Inspection Provinciale de la Police de Kinshasa
before transferring him to another ANR facility. He was accused of committing offenses
against President Kabila but all charges subsequently were dropped, and he
was freed on February 2. On February 29, rapid intervention police arrested seven
members of the UDPS in Kinshasa, near the home of UDPS president Etienne
Tshisekedi, and detained them at a jail in the Kasavubu district of Kinshasa where
security agents reportedly lashed the detainees with whips until their release the
following morning (see Section 1.d.).
On January 21, in Inongo, Bandundu Province, Iyela Mokolo died in detention
from injuries he had sustained while being tortured (see Section 1.a.). He had been
detained in December 1999 on accusations of illegal possession of weapons and
poaching.
There were many recorded instances of torture, harassment, and theft committed
against the residents of villages that surround Dingi-Dingi, the location of a FAC
airfield that was under construction during the year. On February 19, FAC soldiers
beat Makengo Mbila Mbua, a resident of the village of Kinsala, and stole his money,
chickens, and sacks of corn. On February 20, FAC soldiers lashed Godet Hiemba,
a resident of Ingidi village, 50 times with a whip and confiscated his belongings because
he did not respond properly to the Commandant of the Presidential Protection
Unit (PPU) at the airfield. The same day, soldiers lashed Mawete Mbiyavanga 10
times with a whip and confiscated all of the food and money that she had in her
possession. Also on February 20, FAC soldiers beat Manianga after he prevented the
Commandant of the PPU from sexually exploiting Manianga’s daughter. The soldiers
also confiscated his belongings and money.
On the night of March 10, security forces reportedly abducted and detained five
Congolese refugees from Angola’s enclave of Cabinda. The refugees were registered
with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Angola and reportedly were
associated with an Angolan independence movement. Security officials released
three of the detainees; however, two remained in detention at a Conseil de Securite
d’Etat facility in Kinshasa at year’s end. Security forces reportedly beat and tortured
the two who remained in detention, Macario Romao Lembe and Vosso Fuila.
One of the detainees reportedly is in poor health as a result of torture.
In March a police commandant severely beat the president of the Front for the
Survival of Democracy (FSD) after he inquired at the police station about the arrests
of FSD supporters who gathered for a FSD demonstration on March 16 (see
Section 2.b.).
On March 20, police officers publicly raped a young girl in the town of Pusuku,
Bandundu Province, after villagers intervened on behalf of a young man named
Kituku who had an altercation with another officer (see Section 1.d.). There was no
known action taken against the officers.
On April 7, government security forces under the command of Faustin Numbi arrested
and tortured Freddy Lomboto wa Lomboto, the second vice president of the
opposition party FONUS (Forces Novatrices pour l’Union et la Solidarity or New
Forces for Unity and Social Progress). Lomboto’s interrogators smashed his fingers
with metal bars and beat him until he lost control of his bodily functions in order
to extract information regarding the party and its president, Joseph Olenghankoy.
The Government released him after 4 days of questioning and further abuse; however,
on June 9, Commandant Numbi’s soldiers returned to Lomboto’s house and interrogated
his wife when they could not find him; she later fled.
On April 30, members of the Special Presidential Security Group allegedly beat
Koyagialo Ahonzima Wasana for ignoring government restrictions on movement
within the vicinity of the Marble Palace, President Kabila’s residence (see Section
2.d.).
On May 25, near the village of Kimbiolongo, FAC soldiers killed Nsiala Nkia
Mbiyavanga for unknown reasons (see Section 1.a.). The soldiers then beat his parents
severely, raped his 13yearold sister Mirielle, and stole numerous items from
their home.
On May 25, there were unconfirmed reports that a man known as Mukoko died
from injuries inflicted during a severe beating by FAC soldiers (see Section 1.a.).
The soldiers later allegedly tortured his family members when they sought justice
from village authorities.
VerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:09 Sep 19, 2001 Jkt 073776 PO 00000 Frm 00130 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.003 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1