Congo (República Democrática)

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to education in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Children in Beni (North Kivu) still face difficulties accessing education due to conflict and insecurity, despite highly publicised protests in 2021 calling for the central government's intervention
• Children fleeing conflict and internally displaced people are unable to access regular education; many are unable to go to school for more than a year at a time, especially Téké and Yaka people in Mai Ndombe
• People who are in conflict zones or are fleeing war, people in refugee camps, street children, and people with low socio-economic status have no access to education
• Everyone in the country faces difficulties accessing education, especially in Masisi, Kwamouth, North Kivu, Maniema, Tanganyika, and South Kivu
• Insecurity causes schools to close, and children have to travel far to access education, often unable to access it at all
• Teachers strike regularly due to unpaid salaries, causing much of the school year to be missed, and the quality of education to deteriorate, as they have no means nor motivation
• Agreements signed by the government, such as the Mbudi and Mbwela agreements to protect teachers and public servants, are not respected in practice
• Many parents try to provide education to their children directly due to barriers to accessing formal education
• Education is not free and the cost of living is very high
• People with low socio-economic status and street children are unable to access education because it is expensive
• Schools are often used as shelters for rebel groups

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to food in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• People who are in conflict zones or are fleeing war, people in refugee camps, street children, and people with low socio-economic status have no access to food
• All people face difficulties accessing sufficient healthy food, especially in Eastern DRC, North Kivu, conflict and war zones, and mining zones where the presence of armed groups is strong
• People in Eastern DRC leave their homes and their livelihoods because of security risks, and their new locations do not have the workforce nor means of food production causing malnutrition, especially in children, pregnant or breastfeeding women
• People in Goma due to supply routes in the province being blocked by rebels
• Cultivating land is and has been practically impossible due to decades of wars, armed aggression, massive displacement, and political instability. The government takes no responsibility to address this
• The cost of living is high and incomes are very low
• The food that people are able to find has little nutritional value
• Street children forage for food

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to health in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• People who are in conflict zones or are fleeing war, people in refugee camps, street children, detainees, and people with low socio-economic status have no access to quality healthcare
• Everyone in the country faces difficulties accessing quality healthcare due to insecurity, lack of infrastructure, and high costs, especially in Eastern DRC
• Women have to travel long distances to access health facilities
• Children’s vaccination schedules are disrupted
• People with HIV/AIDS face difficulties accessing anti-retroviral treatments
• Health facilities get burned down and doctors are kidnapped
• Health facilities do not have the means nor the infrastructure to operate normally; many lack essential medication for treatment
• Doctors flee insecurity in rural areas, leaving some health facilities without doctors
• People in North Kivu
• There are reports of detainees dying from the lack of healthcare

When asked to provide more context about who was particularly unlikely to enjoy their right to housing in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• People who are in conflict zones or are fleeing war, people in refugee camps, street children, detainees, and people with low socio-economic status have no access to housing
• Everyone in the country faces difficulties accessing housing, especially in North Kivu
• People whose jobs require them to travel around the country
• People living in regions with conflict between local and foreign armed groups, and the government’s armed forces (FARDC), due to constant insecurity and villages being burned to the ground; the government takes no responsibility for people who lose their houses
• Indigenous people are driven out of their customary land
• There are no policies in place to protect housing or renters who are at the mercy of landlords
• Many families live in overcrowded environments due to the lack of housing

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to arbitrary or political arrest and detention by government agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Members of political parties in opposition to the ruling government and people suspected of collaborating with armed groups, including members of the military, are arrested and held in detention centres
• Human rights defenders (HRDs) and members of citizens’ movements or lobby groups are arrested and mistreated; many are still imprisoned
• HRDs in rural areas, particularly in areas that are under a state of emergency
• Anyone advocating for democracy or opposing the government’s opinions, particularly people criticising rights abuses, political manipulation, and other regional conflicts such as those related to customary power, livestock migration (transhumance), or between communities
• People are often arrested at checkpoints, peaceful protests, traffic stops, and in war and crisis zones, for not having identification papers and for being accused of obstructing government interests
• Pygmee and Banyamulenge people

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to disappearance by government agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Civil society activists, human rights defenders, and members of citizens’ movements or lobby groups, especially in North Kivu and South Kivu
• People who oppose the government
• Hutu and Tutsi people, particularly in the East of the country
• There are reports of children, especially girls, being kidnapped for ransom from their parents
• The general context of insecurity in the country makes disappearance a common occurrence and the government fails to provide help to victims of disappearance

Expert respondents did not provide any specific information about who is especially vulnerable to violations of this right.

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to extrajudicial killing by government agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• People suspected of theft or robbery are reportedly killed by police or community mobs
• Human rights defenders and members of citizens’ movements or lobby groups
• Prisoners often die from negligence in prisons and detention centres
• People who oppose the government
• There are reports of protesters being shot and killed
• There are reports of young boys being shot and killed by police at traffic stops
• People fleeing war are killed by armed groups, such as the M23, especially in Masisi, Rutshuru, and Kwammouth
• Internally displaced people, especially those fleeing war and conflict, are often suspected of terrorism because they do not have identification papers, and face abuse and killings
• There are reports of houses and villages being burned down in conflict areas

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to restrictions on their rights to assembly and association by the government or its agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Members of doctors’ unions protesting working conditions are targeted by police
• Human rights defenders, members of citizen’s movements, and lobby groups, especially when protesting peacefully in North Kivu and Ituri
• People protesting insecurity and poor living conditions, and for democratic ideas
• There were reports of police preventing meetings that were deemed to be in favour of potential candidates for the presidential elections
• There were reports of people being arrested and treated violently by police in Kananga for protesting against the central and provincial governments
• Assembly was strictly prohibited under the state of emergency in North Kivu and Ituri
• Tutsi and Rwandan people living in the country are restricted from gathering and are often labelled as terrorist groups
• Tribal groups in North Kivu are targeted by police to prevent them from protesting
• LGBTQIA+ people are unable to meet publicly without risking their lives
• Internally displaced people requesting better living conditions, especially improved access to water and basic resources in camps
• Government agents prevent groups from protesting or mobilising to protect their own interests

When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to restrictions on their rights to opinion and expression by government agents in 2022, our respondents mentioned all of the following:

• Human rights defenders, journalists, and members of citizens’ movements and lobby groups are under constant threat of arrest or persecution for their free expression, especially in North Kivu
• Members of pro-democracy and social movements
• Hema and Nande people in Ituri and North Kivu
• There are reports of radio and news segments being censored or prevented from being aired