Letter regarding the Detention of Youth Activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo

SUMMARY

The Committees on African Affairs and International Human Rights prepared a letter to the Minister of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) expressing grave concern over the arrest and continuing secret detention, without formal charges or access to lawyers or visits from their families, of youth activists who were peacefully assembling in civil society events. These actions violate the DRC’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that the DRC acceded to in 1976, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights that the DRC ratified in 1987, and the Constitution of the DRC. The letter urged that the Justice Minister take all necessary measures to ensure that these detainees are afforded full due process and released immediately if no charges are warranted.