Amnesty International Report 2017/18

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

There were reports of killings of Afro-

descendant leaders. On 8 June, Afro-

descendant human rights defender Bernardo 

Cuero Bravo of the National Association of 

Displaced Afro-Colombians in Malambo, 

Atlántico, was killed. He had been threatened 

and attacked many times on account of his 

work for the community and as a defender of 

those who had been forcibly displaced. 

Despite his repeated requests, he had not 

been granted any protection measures by the 

National Protection Unit.

In November and December, two land 

claimant leaders from collective Afro-

descendant territories were killed by 

paramilitaries from the Gaitanistas Self-

Defence Forces of Colombia. There were 

reports of at least 25 other leaders being 

threatened by paramilitaries in these areas 

during the year.

Many death threats against human rights 

defenders and other activists were attributed 

to paramilitary groups, but in most cases of 

killings it was difficult to identify which groups 

were responsible. However, the nature of the 

work carried out by the victims, many of 

whom were community leaders or land and 

environmental rights activists, suggested that 

several of them may have been killed 

because of their human rights work. 

Moreover, it appeared that denouncing 

abuses was perceived as a threat by regional 

and local economic and political interests, as 

well as by various armed groups, including 

paramilitaries.

7

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

The efforts of women’s organizations ensured 

that the Peace Agreement established that 

people suspected of committing crimes of 

sexual violence would be required to appear 

before transitional justice tribunals. In 

addition, the Agreement confirmed that such 

crimes would not be subject to amnesties or 

pardons, although human rights groups had 

serious reservations as to whether this 

provision would be genuinely implemented.

Official statistics showed no progress in 

access to justice for women survivors of 

sexual violence, despite repeated allegations 

by women’s organizations of serious cases of 

sexual violence perpetrated during the year. 

According to the organization Sisma Mujer, 

between 1 January 2016 and 31 July 2017, 

the Ombudsperson issued 51 statements 

warning of the risk of sexual violence, 

including six reports and notes associated 

with women defenders/leaders, in which he 

highlighted the extraordinary risks faced by 

women leaders and human rights defenders.

Due to weak protection mechanisms, there 

was a heightened risk of gender-based 

violence, particularly domestic violence 

against women, in the context of the 

transition towards peace. Official figures 

recognized that following the demobilization 

of the United Self-Defence Forces of 

Colombia (AUC) in 2005 there was a 28% 

increase in cases of sexual violence in the 

communities where ex-combatants from the 

AUC were reintegrated. However, the 

government had yet to implement 

mechanisms for prevention and for ensuring 

care, assistance, protection and access to 

justice for women survivors of sexual 

violence, notably in communities where 

FARC guerillas were to be reintegrated during 

the year. There were also weaknesses in 

mechanisms to ensure that survivors of 

sexual violence are heard and can participate 

equally in all bodies responsible for 

implementing the Peace Agreement.

1. Colombia: Paramilitary build-up in peace community (

AMR 

23/5614/2017

); Colombia: Spike in attacks against peace community 

shows conflict still alive (

News story

, 21 March)

2. Colombia: Paramilitary incursion in humanitarian zone (

AMR 

23/5685/2017

)

3. Colombia: Over 300 displaced due to paramilitary incursion (

AMR 

23/5826/2017

)

4. Colombia: Further information: Continued paramilitary presence in 

Chocó (

AMR 23/6082/2017

)

5. Colombia: Wounaan Indigenous community in danger (

AMR 

23/6774/2017

)

6. Colombia: Recent collective displacements and violence indicate the 

lack of non-repetition guarantees for Chocó’s Indigenous Peoples and 

Afro-Colombian communities (

AMR 23/6946/2017

)

7. The human rights situation in Colombia – Amnesty International’s 

written statement to the 34th Session of the UN Human Rights 

Council (27 February-24 March 2017) (

AMR 23/5573/2017

)

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

135

CONGO (REPUBLIC 

OF THE)

Republic of the Congo

Head of state: Denis Sassou Nguesso

Head of government: Clément Mouamba

Dozens of political opponents remained in 

detention; some were prisoners of 

conscience. There were no investigations 

into allegations of torture and other ill-

treatment by security forces and prison 

guards. Armed conflict between security 

forces and armed groups continued in Pool; 

around 81,000 internally displaced people 

(IDPs) from the area continued to live in 

appalling conditions; and the rate of acute 

malnutrition reached alarming levels.

BACKGROUND

The government conducted military 

operations, including air strikes, in the 

southeastern department of Pool. 

Government restrictions and the continuing 

armed conflict limited access to the area.

The Congolese Labour Party won 90 of the 

151 National Assembly seats in legislative 

elections in July while elections in Pool had 

been postponed indefinitely due to the 

conflict. On 23 December, the government 

and armed groups led by Frédéric Bintsamou 

(also known as Reverend Ntumi) signed up 

to a ceasefire in Pool.

On 31 March, the Republic of the Congo 

ratified the International Convention on the 

Protection of the Rights of All Migrant 

Workers and Members of Their Families.

FREEDOMS OF ASSEMBLY AND 

EXPRESSION

The authorities used restrictive legislation, 

relating to public gatherings and assemblies, 

to curtail the right to freedom of assembly. On 

23 March, the Prefect of Brazzaville, the 

capital, rejected a request to hold a peaceful 

demonstration from the Congolese 

Observatory of Human Rights, the 

Association for Human Rights and Prison 

Conditions, and the United Forces for 

Freedom and Democracy. The organizations 

had intended, during the demonstration, to 

give the Prime Minister a letter raising 

concerns about the human rights situation.

The right to freedom of expression was 

restricted. On 11 January, Ghys Fortuné 

Dombé Bemba, editor of the Talassa

newspaper, was summoned by the judicial 

police in connection with charges of 

“complicity in undermining state security”. 

This followed his publishing a statement by 

Reverend Ntumi, leader of the “Ninjas”, an 

armed group operating in the Pool 

department.

PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

In November Paulin Makaya completed a 

two-year prison sentence for participating in 

an unauthorized protest. However, he 

remained in prison at the end of the year as a 

result of additional charges brought against 

him on 6 January 2017 which included 

“undermining national security, complicity in 

a plan to escape from detention, and 

complicity in the unlawful possession of arms 

and munitions of war”. The charges related 

to a shooting in Brazzaville central prison in 

December 2016 in which, according to 

witnesses, he played no part.

POLITICAL PRISONERS

Little progress was made in judicial 

proceedings involving opposition leaders and 

members detained since 2015 for opposing 

changes to the Constitution, or the 

presidential election results.

The opposition Initiative for Democracy in 

the Republic of Congo – Republican Front for 

the Respect of Constitutional Order and 

Democratic Change (FROCAD-IDC) – said 

that over 100 political prisoners remained in 

detention in Brazzaville central prison at the 

end of the year. Local human rights 

organizations compiled a list of names of 90 

political prisoners held during the year. They 

included opposition leaders Okouya Rigobert 

of the Convention for Action, Democracy and 

Development (CADD); Jean-Marie Michel 

Mokoko, a presidential candidate and retired 

army general; and Jean Ngouabi, a member 

of the latter’s campaign team. In January, 

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