HRDs working with the Réseau d’aide aux Femmes et Enfants Nécessiteux (RAFEN)
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2019-031-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2019
- 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
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 12 April 2019
- Type of record
- Named organization
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Type of rights defended
- Children’s rights
- Women’s rights
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
reprisals for cooperation with the World Bank; Defenders reportedly documented and denounced to the World Bank and its Inspection Panel acts of gender-based violence and the use of child labour by employees of the Zhengwei Technical Cooperation Company (SZTC) in charge of building the Bukavu- Goma road, as part of the High-Priority Roads Reopening and Maintenance Project in the DRC (ProRoutes).
- Engagement with UN body
- World Bank
- Dates of engagement
- Unclear
- Type of attempted engagement
- Submission of information to UN
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- between September and November 2017; early 2018
- Reprisal information
Death threats reportedly took place between September and November 2017, after a request for an evaluation of the ProRoute project to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel was made public confirming that violations had occurred and announcing the suspension of reimbursements for all civil engineering works in the ProRoutes project. Kidnapping attempts were reported in early 2018 when the defenders accompanied survivors to court. It is reported that the World Bank is in regular contact with threatened stakeholders, including civil society actors.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Physical attack: Attempted kidnapping
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- Non-state actor(s)
- 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
Responses by Chinese gov. and World Bank reported.
- 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?
- 0