Congo: Arrest of Human Rights Defender

URGENT ACTION  THE OBSERVATORY

RDC 002 / 9712 / OBS 019
Harassment/ detention
Democratic Republic of  Congo (ex-Zaire)
1 December 1997


The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint
programme of the FIDH and  OMCT request your  urgent intervention in
the following situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Brief description of the events:

The  Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders is
gravely concerned over actions against Human Rights organisations in
the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Observatory has been informed by the Voice of the Voiceless for
Human Rights "Voix des Sans Voix", of the arrest of Mr Roger Sala Nzo
Badila, Secretary General of the National Centre for Human Rights
(CENADHO) at home, on Sunday November 23rd.  Three  inspectors
accompanied by military personnel, made an exhaustive search of his
home on  the pretext that they were searching for "subversive
documents". They confiscated numerous documents, recording them in
record of  seizure proceedings.

Mr Roger Sala was initially detained in the private residence of one
of the military, situated on the premises of the National Security
Council (CNS) in Kinshasa. On Tuesday November 25th, he was then
transferred to the prison cell of the Naval Information Agency on
Avenue 3Z, in Gombe. A member of the Voice of the Voiceless, who was
able to visit him the following day, reported that the detention
conditions of Mr. Roger Sala are extremely worrying (the Prison is
extremely overcrowded and absence of  light), but that he had not
suffered physical violence.

The Voice of the Voiceless for Human Rights states that Mr Roger Sala
had on previous occasions been abducted and manhandled by armed
military groups.  In the face of this repeated harassment he was
forced to flee from his home for several months. It would appear that
this recent arrest is connected with the publication in July 1997, of
an issue of "le Messager" - a publication dedicated to the Human
Rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. clothes turned
up in the name of the "Presidential Security Service" and have
systematically searched the premises of his organisation on November
21st. Fearing for his own safety Mr N'sii Luanda Shandwe has since
been living in hiding.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo
asking them to:

i.	guarantee respect for the physical and psychological integrity of
Roger Sala and N'sii Luanda Shandwe;

ii.	order the immediate release of Roger Sala in the absence of valid
charges;

iii.	 urgently adopt appropriate measures to  guarantee to non
governmental human rights organisations and their members the means to
act free of hindrance in order to promote the defence of fundamental
rights and liberties;

iv.	guarantee in all circumstances the respect of human rights and
fundamental liberties in accordance with regional and international
instruments that the Democratic Republic of Congo is bound  by.

Addresses :

Monsieur le Président Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Présidence de la
République Démocratique du Congo, Kinshasa - Gombé

Monsieur le Ministre de la Justice, Ministère de la Justice,
République Démocratique du Congo, Kinshasa - Gombé

Monsieur Mwenze Kongolo, Ministre de l'Intérieur, Ministère de
l'Intérieur, République Démocratique du Congo, Kinshasa - Gombé


Geneva, Paris, 1 December 1997

The Human Rights Action Network, a part of Derechos Human Rights, distributes appeals on behalf of victims of human rights violations. You are invited to join the network. Please check the date of the present action and do not write if it's over a month old.