Thomas Fessy
Human Rights Watch
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Past articles by Thomas:
Congo Expels Renowned Journalist
Democratic Republic of Congo authorities on Tuesday expelled French reporter Sonia Rolley after her application for journalistic accreditation was rejected. → Read More
Fighting in Eastern Congo Puts Civilians at Risk, Again
Last weekend, M23 rebels captured new territory in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province. → Read More
Congo’s Indigenous Rights Bill Stalls
Four months ago, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s parliament sent a bill to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples to President Félix Tshisekedi for his signature. But he has yet to sign the bill into law. → Read More
Wanted Ex-Intelligence Chief Returns to Congo
Last week Kalev Mutond, the former director of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s National Intelligence Agency (Agence nationale de renseignements, ANR), emerged from the shadows. → Read More
Congo Jails 12 Activists as Repression Intensifies in the East
Last Friday, a military court in Beni, North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, sentenced 12 activists from the citizen movement Lucha (Lutte pour le Changement or Struggle for Change) to one year in prison for having participated in a peaceful demonstration last November. → Read More
Congo Investigation a Chance to Fight Corruption
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed last week that they had opened an inquiry following allegations of high-level corruption reported by a consortium of media and international groups. → Read More
Congo First Lady’s Foundation Accuses Activists
Today marks three months since Congolese authorities detained Parfait Muhani, a 31-year-old pro-democracy activist, in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, following a complaint brought by a foundation established by the wife of Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi. → Read More
Congo Promotes Ex-Rebel Leader to Top Position
Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi recently announced the launch of a long-awaited Disarmament, Demobilization, Community Recovery and Stabilization program, meant to encourage thousands of fighters from more than 100 armed groups to lay down their weapons. → Read More
Intimidation, Threats Against Congolese Whistleblower
Last week, Jean-Jacques Lumumba, former banker and well-known whistleblower from the Democratic Republic of Congo, believed that he was being followed while en route to Brussels’ main train station. → Read More
Hasty, Harsh Sentence for Congo Critic
The arrest and summary trial came after Jacky Ndala told party members last week in the Lingala language to stand ready to “go protest at the People’s Palace ” in case a controversial draft law was debated. → Read More
Martial Law in Eastern Congo No Pretext for Abuse
Under the martial law orders, military authorities are now able to search people’s homes day and night, ban publications and meetings deemed against public order, restrict people’s movements, and arrest anyone for disrupting public order. → Read More
Youth Activists Acquitted in Congo
On Wednesday, a military court in Beni territory, DR Congo, acquitted eight members of the citizens’ movement Lucha. The youth activists had spent a month in detention. While news of their acquittal is a relief, they should never have been arrested in the first place. → Read More
DR Congo’s Yumbi Massacre Survivors Desperate for Justice
In late December 2018, Father Nestor, a Catholic priest, returned to Bongende, his home village in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo. “What I saw was unimaginable,” he said. Two years after the massacres, investigations are ongoing. → Read More
Renew EU Sanctions Against Congo Officials
Carbone Beni did not sleep the night of December 17, 2016. The pro-democracy activist had spent the previous four days naked in a dark Kinshasa jail cell before being beaten by six soldiers. → Read More
Justice at Risk in Democratic Republic of Congo
Addressing the nation on the eve of Independence Day last week, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, pledged to fight proposed laws that would undermine the country’s justice system. → Read More