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On 17 December 2014, agents of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) arrested F. at his home, without any arrest warrant. He was immediately locked up in an ANR solitary confinement cell and tortured over a long period of time to make him “confess” to stealing a large sum of money from his former associate, who happened to be very close to the ANR Commander. Despite...

Ms H. works at Panzi Hospital alongside Dr Mukwege, helping female victims of sexual violence. Her work had already attracted several threats and, on 19 June 2013, she was abducted from her home by six armed men. Kidnapped for three days, she was raped and abused. On the night of the third day, Ms H. was dumped – handcuffed and unconscious – on the roadside. Ms H. rep...

N. was raped at her home in 2014 by a Colonel of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). He was her husband’s colleague. Like countless victims of rape, N. was place in the dock by her community, leaving her isolated and stigmatized for a crime of which she was a victim. Despite the pressure put on her, N. had the courage to file a complaint,...

Fred Bauma is one of the most prominent figures of the LUCHA (standing for Lutte pour le Changement, the Fight for Change), a well-known NGO demanding democratic change in DRC. In March 2015, Fred was arrested by State agents during a peaceful demonstration in Kinshasa. Accused of inciting violence and rebellion, he was immediately placed in detention. TRIAL Internat...

In Eastern DRC, torture is used as a widespread practice by the armed forces and particularly by agents of the National Intervention Legion (LENI), a specialist intervention unit of the Congolese National Police. From 2014 to 2015, local NGOs gathered numerous personal accounts from the population about cases of abuse, arbitrary detention and torture committed by LENI...

For 10 days in 2012, the small village of Minova was the scene of a wave of violence: the villagers were victims of acts of mass rape, murder and pillage. The perpetrators of these atrocities were all members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and the Congolese National Police (PNC). This case provoked a national outcry and 39 State of...

Sebastien Nzapali was born in 1952 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (previously Zaire). He was a member of Mobutu’s presidential guard and, in the period between 1990 and 1995, he led the death squads which spread fear and terror throughout the streets of the capital, Kinshasa. In 1996, he was Commander of the Garde Civile, stationed in Matadi. During this ti...