Kinshasa, August 7th, 2021 (CPA).- The president of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), Mwamba Mushikonkwe Mwamus revealed Thursday, during the ceremony of the presentation by his structure, of the semi-annual report of the visits prisons and places of detention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a slight improvement in the human rights situation of detainees this year compared to the previous year, despite the deplorable and worrying prison conditions of the latter.
Mwamba Mushikonkwe Mwamus who was speaking in the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the CNDH carried out visits to detention facilities in 6 provinces, namely: Kinshasa, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami, Kasai, Tshopo, South Kivu as well as central and eastern Kasai. During these visits, he underlined, this institution of support for democracy deplored some bad practices in particular, the non-respect of the legal deadline and the procedure of detention, arrests and detentions of people without file. judicial process, the practice of brutality and the stripping of arrested persons of all their property as well as many other acts linked to the violation of the human rights of detainees. The president of the CNDH specified that the victims who seize its structure against the officers of the public prosecution argue that the latter abuse their power, thus inviting the prosecution to play a decisive role in the repressive policy within the framework of its attributions. The prosecution, he added, is called on to the policy of decongesting prisons and other detention centers by limiting the excessive use of preventive detention. Mr. Mwamba has, for the occasion, recommended to the Minister of State in charge of justice, Rose Mutombo, to present to the next parliamentary session a program on the construction of new prisons and the rehabilitation of others. The containers are not suitable places for those arrested, he said, before pleading with the Congolese state for the improvement of the rights held, since they do not lose all their rights. For her part, the rapporteur of the CNDH, Me Belinda Luntadila recalled that the visits to detention facilities took place in a particular context marked by the Coronavirus pandemic which led the government to take preventive measures to avoid the spread of this pandemic in prison settings. She noted, however, that different teams had been created in order to become familiar with the condition of detainees in the field through direct observations, documentary reviews, interviews and focus groups.
The CNDH for the appointment of new magistrates in the prosecution
The technical secretary in charge of administrative matters of the CNDH, Me Bienvenu Tshiala proposed some possible solutions in order to remedy this situation decried above, in particular the appointment by the president of the Republic, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, new magistrates recruited by the Superior Council of the Magistracy. In the same vein, he, on the one hand, asked the parliament to increase the level of the budget for the running costs of the prisons and on the other hand, the parliament and the government to allocate a substantial budget. for the judiciary and to mechanize the new units. ACP/
