The Chebeya Case: Persistence in the Pursuit of Justice
Enough Project (blog)
Posted by Enough Team on Jun 13, 2014
Editor's Note: This post was written by Enough Project intern Tomas
Husted and Policy Associate Holly Dranginis.
On June 2, the family of murdered Congolese human rights activist
Floribert Chebeya filed a lawsuit in Senegal accusing a Congolese
police officer of participation in the 2010 killing of Chebeya and his
driver, Fidele Bazana. The new charges, filed on behalf of the
victims' relatives by the International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH), a Paris-based NGO, are a welcomed development in an otherwise
troubling series of events following Chebeya's death. Congolese
authorities should properly investigate and prosecute these crimes and
ensure the families and supporters of the case are protected from
intimidation and attack.
Before his murder, Chebeya served as director of the Voix des Sans
Voix (Voice of the Voiceless), one of Congo's leading human rights
organizations, regularly exposing abuses committed by the Congolese
government and security forces. According to Human Rights Watch, his
heroic efforts to seek truth on issues like prison conditions and
military corruption were often met with threats from Congolese
authorities. On June 1, 2010, Floribert Chebeya was summoned to the
office of the Inspector General of the National Police, General John
Numbi, for a meeting. He left for Numbi's department office at the end
of his workday and was last heard from at 9 P.M., when he alerted his
wife that he was still waiting to meet with the general. His body was
found in the back seat of his car the following morning. An
independent autopsy conducted by Verilabs, a Dutch firm, could not
establish cause of death. The body of Chebeya's chauffeur, Fidele
Bazana, was never found.
The international community immediately pressed for a thorough inquiry
into the deaths and the United Nations even offered to provide
technical investigation assistance to Congolese authorities. But with
very little action, international advocates have become suspicious.
"Floribert Chebeya was killed in circumstances which strongly suggest
official responsibility," U.N. investigator for extrajudicial
executions Philip Alston said in a speech to the United Nations Human
Rights Council in Geneva in 2010. Last month, independent sources in
eastern Congo told the Enough Project that prosecutors tried to summon
General Numbi to give testimony, but protocol didn't allow it because
his rank was higher than those administering the trial. Over 50 human
rights organizations along with the United Nations, Britain, and the
US Department of State have called for an independent investigation.
Widespread demands for justice were temporarily answered with the
arrest of several officers in the days following the discovery of the
body. After a lengthy stall, prosecutors finally secured convictions
in July 2011 for five of the eight accused. Those were soon appealed
and the review process has not progressed since November 2012, when
the families of the victims demanded that three of the officers,
previously charged in absentia, be present for the appeal process. A
May 2013 request by the civil parties to refer the case to the
Constitutional Court was met with yet more delays, and the case has
remained dormant ever since.
Now delayed for two years, a new development in the case hit headlines
last Monday: families decided to file a criminal complaint against one
of the accused in Senegal. Taking advantage of a Senegalese law which
allows current residents to be tried for crimes committed in other
countries, the families in tandem with the FIDH are pursuing charges
against Paul Mwilambwe, a senior officer who fled the Democratic
Republic of the Congo for Senegal following Chebeya's death.
According to Reuters, this law was first used last year to begin
prosecuting former Chadian president Hissene Habre for war crimes
committed during his rule from 1982-1990.
According to news sources, Mwilambwe's trial is already progressing.
On Saturday, June 7, Congolese radio network Radio Okapi reported that
a Senegalese judge declared the officer fit to stand trial in Senegal.
In light of these developments, the international community must renew
its calls for justice for the murders of Chebeya and Bazana. In
addition to supporting criminal proceedings against Mwilambwe in
Senegal, advocates should press for prosecution within the Congolese
judicial system and adequate protection for victims and witnesses.
Four years after the death of a leading human rights defender, the
pursuit of justice for his murder must not be allowed to stall yet
again.
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&wsc=yh&source=s&u=http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/chebeya-case-persistence-pursuit-justice&hl=en-CA&ei=R2-cU_L0Co6ssgf_sICQDg&ct=np&whp=3329
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SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
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