AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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and two colleagues, Richard Tshivuadi and Tabu Kalala, were released from an
ANR facility in Kinshasa on April 6.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.—There is no legal protection for
freedom of assembly, and the Government continued to restrict this right severely.
The Government considers the rights to assemble and associate subordinate to the
maintenance of ‘‘public order.’’ The Government requires all organizers to apply for
permits, which are granted or rejected at the Government’s discretion. Public activities
generally are dispersed by government security services. However, the Government
sanctioned pro-Kabila demonstrations, including demonstrations against foreign
embassies and the offices of the U.N., which included rock throwing and
threats.
On January 7, military security officials arrested seven members of the opposition
political party PALU when they attempted to hold a meeting in the commune of
Lemba. Authorities filed no formal charges, and the matter never was presented to
a civil court for arbitration. The seven were released on January 11.
On March 16, security agents prevented a planned demonstration by the FSD in
the Ndjili district of Kinshasa. Immediately prior to the event, police arrested some
FSD members who had gathered for the demonstration (see Section 1.d.); all were
released that evening or the following morning. The police commandant severely
beat the president of the FSD, Eugene Diomi, when he arrived at the precinct in
Ndjili to inquire about the arrests.
On May 17, police dispersed a demonstration by Kinshasa University students to
demand that the University repair restrooms that had not functioned properly for
almost a year. On May 25, security agents arrested student Placide Nkoso, allegedly
for organizing the demonstration (see Section 1.d.). Police also arrested another student,
Jean-Pierre Mofila Mboma, and detained both students for collaborating with
MLC rebels (see Section 1.d.). On July 18, there were unconfirmed reports that security
force agents arrested a Kinshasa University student known only as Kosso,
in connection with a student demonstration on July 17 (see Section 1.d.); the protest
also was directed against poor sanitation. Kosso remained in detention at year’s
end.
On July 19, security forces arrested 10 members of the UDPS opposition party
who had gathered at the home of a party member. They remained in detention
pending trial at year’s end; two members reportedly are in poor health.
On November 17, approximately 800 students at the Institut Pedagogique National
(IPN) in Kinshasa reportedly demonstrated to protest the arrest and beating
of 10 classmates the previous night. The incident reportedly started on November
16 when police arrested two students carrying their lunches on campus, because the
police wanted the food. Police beat 10 students who intervened on the others’ behalf,
and several students were arrested. Allegedly FAC forces briefly detained a journalist
covering the protest and confiscated her recordings (see Section 2.a.). The
commander of the police detachment reportedly was arrested following the incident.
On April 6, two UDPS party members, who were arrested for attending an ‘‘illegal’’
political meeting in May 1999, were released from detention. The two activists,
Professor Alidor Muamba Ntita and Raymond Kabala, were detained without
charges.
Freedom of assembly sometimes was respected in rebel-held areas in the country.
On January 31 in Bukavu, and on February 7 in Goma, citywide strikes (‘‘villes
mortes’’) were held to protest the occupation of the cities by rebels and Rwandan
and Ugandan forces. The Bukavu strike was enforced strictly by organizers who
threatened those who tried to go to work.
On July 19, approximately 4,000 Banyamulenge reportedly demonstrated in
Bukavu and Uvira against the presence of RCD/Goma and Rwandan troops in the
Kivu Provinces (see Section 1.g.).
On August 29, RCD/Goma soldiers arrested and detained for a month four South
Kivu Province civil society members in connection with the bombing of an outdoor
festival in Bukavu, after the four reportedly blamed Rwandan and RCD soldiers for
the bombing (see Section 1.d.). On August 29, Bukavu students demonstrated to
protest their arrest. In their effort to disperse the demonstrations, RCD soldiers
fired into the air and reportedly shot and killed one student (see Section 1.a.). RCD
forces arrested several students but released them the following day (see Section
1.d.).
The law provides no protection for freedom of association, and the Government
severely restricted this right. Upon assuming power in 1997, the Government suspended
political party activities but not political parties themselves. In 1999 President
Kabila issued a decree that partially lifted the ban on political party activities;
however, the decree allows the Interior Minister to ban parties arbitrarily, and requires
that legally recognized parties have members from all provinces, a require-
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