chairperson of an NGO based in North Kivu province
Cases- Case status
- Unknown
- Location of case in SG report
- 2023-034-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2023
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: -4.038333
Longitude: 21.758664
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Congo, Democratic Republic of the
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- OHCHR: OHCHR Field office
- UN Peace Operation / Political mission
- Dates of prior UN action
- 10 August 2022
- Type of record
- Unnamed individual/group/organization
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Type of rights defended
- Accountability & impunity
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
shared information with the Mission on the police officer’s alleged collusion with an armed group that was committing abuses against civilians.
- Engagement with UN body
- OHCHR: OHCHR Field office
- UN Peace Operation / Political mission
- Dates of engagement
- June 2022
- Type of attempted engagement
- Submission of information to UN
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- June 2022
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- North Kivu Province, DRC
- Reprisal information
- Specifically, in June 2022, the chairperson of an NGO based in North Kivu province was reportedly alerted that a police officer had instructed members of the 23 March Movement (M23) to kill him for having shared information with the Mission on the police officer’s alleged collusion with an armed group that was committing abuses against civilians. The officer had reportedly started sending death threats to the chairperson’s phone, which intensified over time despite UNJHRO’s intervention with the relevant authorities. The police officer reportedly sent a group of armed men to the chairperson’s house three times, also threatening to kill the family members.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Family/friends/acquaintances targeted
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- Both state and non-state actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Further case development
The individual and their family were relocated by UNJHRO for fear of further reprisals against them.
- Was the case raised by a State at the UN?
- No
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2024
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
-
The case of the chairperson of an NGO based in North Kivu Province threatened with death by a police officer for allegedly having shared information with the United Nations, was included in the 2023 report of the Secretary General.80 According to information received by OHCHR, in September 2023 the threats against the chairperson resumed from the same officer. The officer indicated via text messages that he would “Take his [the chairperson’s] head off any time”. In December 2023, two unidentified persons assaulted the chairperson on a road and took away his computer and telephones, while threatening to kill him.
-
On 17 July 2024, the Government responded to the note verbale sent in connection to the present report.
-
- Followup Trends 0
- Deterioration/further reprisals
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes