Promulgated on June 15, 2023, the law relating to the protection and responsibility of the human rights defender in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not reassure environmental activists who demand that articles 2, 7, 11 coupled with articles 26, 27 and 28 where a special criminal regime is established against human rights defenders be revised as soon as possible, in order to guarantee them a good working environment.
These articles require them to identify themselves to the National Human Rights Commission and set out in detail the penalties they may incur in the event of a “dispute” with the law.
“We want the law to also include an obligation to investigate. This means that when a human rights defender or environmental rights defender is assassinated or arrested, that investigations are carried out, and this is mandatory,” says Ndoole Bahemuke, a member of the organization Alerte congolaise pour l’Environnement et les Droits de l’Homme (ACEDH).
In its report published in September 2023, the non-governmental organization Global Witness ranked the DRC as the 8th country with the most murders of environmental defenders in the world.
This human rights NGO indicates that between 2012 and 2022, at least 72 defenders were killed in the country, most of these killings were linked to land conflicts or poaching, and they often took place in nature reserves.
This is why ACEDH is fighting for certain articles of the law on the protection and responsibility of human rights defenders to be revisited by the Congolese legislator, in order to create a healthy, secure and conducive environment for their work.
According to Ndoole Bahemuke, quoted by the Mongabay website, the current law is contradictory with the current fundamental law. “The fact that the right is an obligation should not oblige a Congolese to register or submit a report to defend the environment. The law must comply with this provision,” he says.
To achieve his goal, Ndoole Bahemuke initiated a petition which has already received more than 20,000 signatures for the cause, and said he has also contacted the Constitutional Court as well as certain elected national deputies to obtain the modification of the law on the protection and responsibility of the defender of human rights in the DRC.
According to ACEDH, from January to June 2024, nearly 26 cases of violation of the rights of human rights defenders, environmental rights and rights of access to land were reported, including 7 assassinations.
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