COD 260607
Arbitrary arrest and detention/ Incommunicado detention/ Risk of torture
Geneva, 26 June 200
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Comité des observateurs des droits de l’homme (CODHO ), member of the SOS-Torture network, of the arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Loki Hilaire, integrated police lieutenant, on 13 June 2007.
According to the information received, Mr. Loki Hilaire, lieutenant in the national police, native of the province of Equateur and former member of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (Mouvement de libération du Congo- MLC) army lead by Jean-Pierre Bemba, has been kidnapped on the road Wednesday 13 June 2007 by elements of the Republican Guard (Garde républicaine, GR) apparently because of his origin of the province Equateur and his status of former element of Jean-Pierre Bemba’s army.
Some members of Mr. Loki Hilaire’s family have reportedly tried to contact him on his cell phone but have talked to another person, who allegedly has demanded a thousand phone recharge units in exchange of information concerning his place of detention. The family did not pay the recharge units.
According to the information, the place of detention has been later revealed to the family by one of Mr. Loki Hilaire’s acquaintances, a military of the GR. He is apparently detained in Kinshasa in the basement of a building located in the second city of OUA, in the commune of Ngaliema, where the GR camp is located. However, Mr. Loki Hilaire is reportedly not granted any exterior contacts.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned with the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of Mr. Loki Hilaire and the risks of torture he faces and requests the launch of a thorough, independent and impartial investigation onto the events. OMCT recalls that the Democratic Republic of Congo is a State Party in the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it must comply, especially article 9.1, which stipulates that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention”. Finally, the International Secretariat of OMCT expresses again its greatest concern regarding the multiplication of human rights violations due to the political climate of the country.
Actions requested
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Loki Hilaire and his access to a lawyer, a doctor and the members of his family;
ii. Order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
iii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
- President of the Republic, H.E. Joseph Kabila, Presidency of the Republic, Kinshasa-Ngaliema, Democratic Republic of Congo, E-mail: upp@ic.cd
- Minister of Human Rights President’s Cabinet, Boulevard du 30 juin, Kinshasa/Gombe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fax: 00 243 12 20 664, Email: min_droitshumains@yahoo.fr or mindroits_humains@yahoo.fr
- National Human Rights Observatory (ONDH), President’s Cabinet, avenue Sendwe, Kinshasa/Kalamu, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tel: +243 98313740 / + 243 98271199 / + 243 98407633, Email : info@ondh-rdc.org
- Ambassador, Antoine Mindua Kesia-Mbe, Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Avenue de Budé 18, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, e-mail : missionrdc@bluewin.ch, Fax : +4122 740.16.82
- Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Brussels, Avenue Foestraets, 6, 1180 Brussels. Tel : + 32 2 375 47 96, Fax : + 32 2 372 23 48
Please also write to the embassies of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Genève, 26 June 2007
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
appeals@list.omct.org