‘75-carat diamond’ case: communities appeal to the Human Rights Commission

Kinshasa, August 25^th, 2026 (CPA). – The communities of the Lomami province, in the centre of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have appealed on Tuesday to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) to request its involvement in their efforts to secure the return of a 75-carat diamond belonging to one of their members, which was seized by a government agency. “We demand justice for the communities of Lomami and Mr. Albert Ngoy; the immediate return of the green diamond, as identified, to its owner, or payment of its equivalent value, estimated at 100 million US dollars (USD); the guarantee of safety for Mr. Ngoy, his family members and those accompanying him, as well as the compensation for the harm suffered over the past four years,” has declared Sylvain Bashizi, secretary-rapporteur of a member organization of the human rights groups, reading out the memorandum handed to Paul Nsapu, president of the CNDH-DRC. According to Mr. Bashizi, Secretary-Rapporteur of the Environment, Natural Resources and Development (ERND), the memorandum handed to President Nsapu has also been addressed to the President of the Republic, Felix Tshisekedi, to seek his involvement as well, in order to enable the diamond merchant Ngoy and his team to have their rights upheld. He has reminded out that since August 22^nd, 2022 – that is, for four years – Mr. Ngoy, a mining operator and member of civil society in Lomami Province, who is well known to the mining authorities, has been the victim of the illegal seizure of his precious stone, known as the ‘75-carat green diamond’, valued at over 100 million USD, according to a report by experts in Antwerp, Belgium. Representatives of the Lomami communities outside the headquarters of the CNDH-DRC in Kinshasa. This diamond, according to the explanations, has been discovered in August 2022 in the Luwashi Lualu River, in the Kaba group, Kabinda territory, Lualu sector, in the Lomami province, he has said, adding that this gemstone had undergone technical identification, which was carried out and confirmed by a specialist department of the Ministry in charge of Mines. The Secretary-Rapporteur Bashizi has also maintained that all the identification documents for the stone in question exist and were kept in the provincial strongbox, under the control of the then Deputy Governor of Lomami Province. “Mr.Ngoy has since been arrested and detained at Lumbishi Prison for two weeks on charges of illegally possessing precious materials, yet he has always been recognized as a legitimate miner by that very same department,” has explained Mr Bashizi. At present, the owner of this diamond is enduring all manner of hardships. He has, in fact, left his province with his entire family (wives and more than 34 children) and is living in precarious conditions in Kinshasa, has affirmed the ERND’s secretary-rapporteur. The president of the CNDH-DRC, who has received the memorandum from the Lomami communities, has explained that experts from his institution would look into the matter and explore how a solution might be found to this case. ACP/