AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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war, the Government has stopped its former practice of involuntarily repatriating
Hutus to Rwanda.
UNHCR cooperated with NGO’s and antigovernment forces in voluntarily repatriating
Rwandan Hutus to Rwanda. There was no independent confirmation of
news reports from May 1999 that antigovernment forces were repatriating Rwandan
Hutus involuntarily; there were no known reports of such forced repatriation during
the year.
Antigovernment forces also imposed travel restrictions on NGO’s (see Section 4).
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change their Government
Citizens do not have the right to change their government peacefully. Citizens
have not been able to change their government through free elections since independence
in 1960.
In his May 1997 inaugural address, President Kabila promised a constitution and
elections by 1999; however, the 1998 outbreak of war effectively prevented the holding
of national elections. The President used the pretext of war to suppress the activities
of political opposition parties and continued to rule by decree. The war also
provided a reason for security forces to arrest persons at will on charges of subversion
or being in league with the rebellion (see Sections 1.d. and 1.e.).
The Government did not pursue the ratification of the proposed constitution drafted
in 1998; after it was disseminated in 1998 to the press, many leaders of political
parties, NGO’s, and religious organizations criticized it as insufficiently democratic.
The cease-fire accords signed in July and August 1999 at Lusaka, Zambia, between
the Government, progovernment, and antigovernment forces called for an
open national dialog among all political parties and civil society groups. However,
the Government repeatedly used its power to stifle any meaningful dialog. In March
church groups attempted to hold a National Consultation, an initiative that the
Government seized to carry out its own agenda; it filled meetings with its own supporters.
Despite the Government’s effort to control the National Consultation, the
body did not accept the Government’s agenda. In April the delegates presented
President Kabila with a list of recommendations. The delegates urged the Government
to release political prisoners, open the political process, abolish the CPP’s, and
free jailed journalists. The Government ignored these recommendations and instead
turned to the guidance provided by its own delegates, which in essence urged the
President to ignore key provisions of the Lusaka Accords. The Government subsequently
reaffirmed during the year its commitment to participate in a national dialog
under the control of a neutral facilitator; however, it continued to obstruct and
frustrate facilitator Sir Ketumile Masire. Throughout the year, the Government attempted
to divert the national dialog by using a variety of political maneuvers designed
as substitutes for real political discussion and sought to create a forum that
the Government intended to control. The Government created the Constituent and
Legislative Assembly to draft a new constitution, prepare a national budget, and approve
decrees and motions handed down by the President. The Government also appointed
members of the Assembly based on past services to President Kabila and
loyalty to the Kabila regime.
In June President Kabila and government authorities prevented the departure of
a number of opposition and civil society leaders, including Joseph Olenghankoy
(president of FONUS), Francois Lumumba (president of the MNC/L), and Catherine
Nzuzi wa Mbombo (president of the MPR) who were invited to participate in a preparatory
meeting of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue in Benin, as authorized by the
Lusaka Accords (see Section 2.d.).
Although the Government did not ban political parties, it continued to impose severe
restrictions on their activities, and to enforce these restrictions with numerous
arrests and detentions (see Sections 1.d. and 2.b.). On occasion authorities tortured
opposition activists, including UDPS activist Crispin Ipondo Banda and FONUS second
vice president Freddy Lomboto wa Lomboto (see Section 1.c.). In practice the
Government continued to restrict operations of political parties to internal administrative
functions only. At various times, government security forces put opposition
political party members under surveillance, and police also raided party headquarters
and homes (see Section 1.f.). Authorities at times denied exit visas to opposition
political leaders (see Section 2.d.).
Hundreds of political activists were arrested for engaging in political activity and
detained for prolonged periods (see Sections 1.d. and 2.b.). For example, on February
17, ANR agents arrested four members of the PALU opposition political party for
engaging in political activities (see Section 1.d.). They were released on February
25.
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