CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Human rights are universal. They are privileges inherent in every individual and are inalienable.
The Congolese constitution has captured the various human rights which the law seek to protect under sections 4-6 of the constitution which are: Right to life, Right to dignity of human person, Right to personal liberty, Right to fair hearing, right to private and family life, Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, Right to freedom of expression and press, Right to peaceful assembly and association, Right to freedom of movement, Right to freedom from discrimination, Right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in the region, Right to compensation (compulsory acquisition of property) , Restriction on and derogation from fundamental human rights, Special Jurisdiction of High court and Legal rights. (Constitution of the republic of Congo, 1992)
The above mentioned are the basic rights which the Congolese’s security services never attached any importance to safeguard rather a constant violation are been seen in the country (International covenant on Civil and Political Rights)
According to Valenzuela, J.S, 1990, some of the rights typically being violated in Congolese communities include: the right to life, the right to health, the right to freedom from discrimination, the right to freedom of associations and peaceful assembly, the right to equal protection of the law, right to the dignity of human person, right to work, right to means of livelihood or employment and the right to development. The conceptual elucidation on democratic consolidation is perhaps the operationalization of the concept of democracy itself. Therefore, democracy stands for a people-centred system of government, which entails periodic popular elections, in which the sanctity of the electoral process is strictly guaranteed. Implicit in this position is the connotation that democracy not only allows mass participation, by way of encouraging the electorate to participate in the selection of their representatives, but also that democracy is nourished by transparency and accountability in public administration. (New South American Democracies in Comparative perspective). Democratic consolidation critically refers to the growing of the defence mechanisms of democracy.
Consequently, democratic consolidation is a process and not an accomplishment. Some scholars tend to view democratic consolidation as an achievement. According to Valenzuela (1990), the building of a consolidated democracy involves in part an affirmation and strengthening of certain institutions, such as the electoral system, revitalized or newly created parties, judicial independence and respect for human rights, which have been created or recreated during the course of the transition. In this context, democratic consolidation becomes a post-transitional condition, curiously akin to some developmental fixity.(Yaboyaju, D.A, 2013)
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Extrajudicial killing/murder is the act of arbitrarily taking someone’s life, denying or violating a person’s right to life without recourse to the due process of the law. Generally, in Congo today, the sanctity and sacredness of human life has almost lost its real meaning.
State security forces committed tyrannous and illegal killings in operations against RMGs in the east and in the kasia region. According to the UN joint office of human rights, security forces were responsible for 1,176 extrajudicial killings during the year across the country. Many of these extrajudicial killings transpired in the kasias.
In December 2017, United Nations Joint Office of Human Rights reported that at least 170 women were victims of extrajudicial killings nationwide from January to October 2017.( Democratic republic of Congo 2017 human rights report). Several thousands of the inhabitants have been deprived of their fundamental and inalienable rights to life outside the prescription of the supreme law of the land and other applicable international instruments among others.
In 2009, the press international published an article entitled, “Killings at will: Extrajudicial Executions and other illicit killings by the police in the republic of Congo. The article which documented 39 cases of security force killings and enforced disappearances based on interviews and research conducted between July 2007 and July 2009. According to this report, ‘the national police conducted investigation on hundreds of extrajudicial killings, other unlawful killings, other unlawful killings and enforced disappearances each year and other cases. The police usually claim that the victims were armed robbers killed in an exchange of deprivation of right by the named force (Felix Morka, 2000).
The violation of human rights is not a strange experience in Nigeria. This sad situation has been attributed to decades of military rule in the country (Ahmadu, 2001), which had attracted sanctions and all sorts of condemnation from the international community. Sadly, however, the end of military rule, and the consequent enthronement of democratic rule has failed to eliminate, or at least reduce the cases of violations of human rights in Nigeria. The majority of cases of violations of human rights in Nigeria. The majority of cases of violations of peoples’ rights being carried out by the Nigerian police force provable incidences of extrajudicial killings, brutality of innocent citizens, use of force to elicit confessional statements from suspects, blatant corruption, et cetera continue to be the characteristic of the Congolese police in our promising democracy. ICCPR, supranote 17. 2011.
Thus, the lack of trust and confidence in the police by the Congolese citizens continues to exist irresponsible of the hypocritical posters and television advertisements by the police authorities to create a positive image for the Congolese police, as the force has become more of an instrument of oppressions and coercion against innocent citizens, and a willing tool in the hands of the rich and powerful in society to intimidate and victimize the common man. (Greenpeace U.K, 2013).
1.3 Objectives of Study
The central aim of this study is to examine the human rights violation and its implication for democratic consolidation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Other specific objectives are to:
Examine the extent and nature of human rights violations in the republic of Congo.
Investigate the failure of democratic rule to address the problem of human rights violations in the republic of Congo
Evaluate the effects of human rights violations on the democratic process of the republic of Congo.
Suggest what can be done to preserve and uphold the dignity of human rights in the Republic of Congo
1.4 Research Questions
Fundamentally, this study would attempt to answer the following questions.
What is the extent and nature of human rights violations in the republic of Congo?
Why has democratic rule failed to address the problem of human rights violations in the republic of Congo?
What effects do human rights violations have on the victims, the democratic process and the Congolese’s police?
How do citizens react to the violations of their human rights in the republic of Congo?
What can be done to preserve and uphold the dignity of human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study will assist in minimising the police force and other institutional torture of suspects and criminals in police cells, maltreatment of prisoners and individuals confined in state institutions, deliberate executions by the military police, and death squads. It would also establish the fact that human rights violations is as a result of lack of regime maintenance and negligence of democratic tenets and would suggest the solutions to remedy increased human right violations in Congo
The research would also contribute to the existing body of knowledge by adding some gaps. It would also serve as a starting point for future researchers who may choose to study the same topic and others who are interested in the increased rate of human right violation in the republic of Congo and would serve as a basis for The study would point out various aspects of human rights violations and bring to the fore the implications of human right violation in democratic consolidation in respect to un effective control of other research.
The uniqueness of the study stems from the fact that the problem of democracy has seen to be prominent in African countries but the rise of extrajudicial killings in Congo has been of utmost concern. The study will assist to beam a search light on these vices to arouse international attention,
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study is limited to human right violations in the republic of Congo with the purpose of examining the effect human rights violations has on the democratic consolidations in the republic of Congo. The Study would expose the inability of the Congolese government to halt the violations of the rights of its citizens and the danger that the practice portends for its democracy. The timeframe for this study would be from 2015-2019
A major limitation of this study would be the myriad of challenges of human right violations plaguing the republic of Congo since independence which would be problematic in terms of coverage. Therefore, we would work with a timeframe of 2015 to 2019. Another limitation could include level of accuracy of data and outdated data.
1.7 Methodology
The qualitative research design is employed for this study which will rely on the secondary data and would be collected to provide relevant data for the purpose of this study: The secondary data sources would include those gotten from the united states country’s report on human right practice (Congo), 2015-2019, the Human Right watch and police reports. This study would make use of secondary data with open ended questionnaires. Others would include Newspapers, Journals and Magazines. Articles.
1.8 Definition Of terms
Human Rights: Human rights are rights which all human beings have by virtue of their humanity. They are the basic rights every human is entitled to from the moment he or she is born. They are rights without which we cannot function as human beings.
Human Right violations: these refer to the denial of individuals their fundamental and moral entitlement.
Democratic consolidation: Democratic consolidation is about regime maintenance and about regarding the key political institutions as the only framework for political contestation and adherence to democratic principles
1.9 Chapter Outline
Chapter one- Introduction: chapter 1 gives an introduction to the research, which also includes the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, scope and limitations of the study, methodology and operational definition of terms
Chapter two- chapter two consists of the literature review and theoretical framework of the study which has to do with the review of scholars work on the subject matter
Chapter three: This deals with the Democratic Republic of Congo and constitutional provisions for human rights and political history of Democratic Republic of Congo and human rights.
Chapter 4; this deals with the analysis of findings and cases of human right violations in Congo
Chapter 5; Summary, conclusion and recommendations.