Democratic Republic of Congo : the rapes and deaths in Makala prison should be independently investigated

Mr. President

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and its members in the DRC welcome the work carried out by the team of international experts on the DRC in the search for sustainable solutions in the fight against impunity. The work carried out on the implementation of transitional justice is promising, even if massive human rights violations, in particular torture, persist in conflict zones and in places where people are deprived of their liberty.

The government has still not adopted the national transitional justice policy two years after the publication of its draft by the scientific committee in charge of drafting it. Yet violence is becoming widespread in the country, particularly against human rights defenders. Between June 2023 and April 2024, 387 human rights defenders and 67 journalists were victims of intimidation, threats of physical violence, attacks and acts of reprisal, including incommunicado detention in ANR and DEMIAP cells.

Yet living conditions in the official prisons are inhuman, with overcrowding of up to 1000% in the Makala central prison, where last month between 128 and 300 people were killed and around 300 women raped during an escape bid.

Mr. President

We invite the Human Rights Council to recommend :

- The acceleration of the implementation of transitional justice to try all the perpetrators of serious crimes, including sexual violence, and the reparation of the victims ;
- Investigations into the rapes and deaths in Makala prison and other places of detention in the DRC;
- The release of all human rights defenders and people detained arbitrarily;
- the creation, as a matter of urgency, of a National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in line with international standards.

The World Organisation Against Torture

AFIA MAMA

Alliance pour l'Universalité des Droits Fondamentaux (AUDF)

La Voix des Sans Voix pour les Droits de l'Homme (VSV)