Democratic Republic of Congo

A Report by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative With Support from Oxfam America, April 2010

In December 2003, members of the Congolese army (FARDC) under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Bokila Lolemi stationed in the village of Songo Mboyo mutinied over unpaid wages.  They targeted the local population and committed mass rapes across two nights with as many as 119 victims.  Lolemi was charged with crimes against humanity for rape of 32 women by forces under his command and effective control.  The court of first instance was the Military Garrison Tribunal of Mbandaka, which found 7 of the 12 defendants guilty, including Lolemi.

The DRC Constitution asserts the country’s commitment to gender equality under the law.  The preamble references the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and commitment to conventions pertaining to the rights of women, particularly toward gender equality in domestic and international institutions.  Article 14 gives legal effect to the commitment asserted in the preamble, stipulating that public authorities shall ensure elimination of discrimination against women and promote women’s rights.  More specifically, Article 14 requires authorities to take appropriate measures to en

This law requires the courts to secure the privacy and dignity, as well as physical and psychological well-being of victims of sexual violence during proceedings.  However, it does not detail any specific measures to be undertaken.  The law also stops courts from inferring sexual consent from silence or lack of resistance and prevents courts from taking into consideration a victim’s sexual history in ascertaining a defendant’s guilt.

The 2006 amendment to the Congolese Penal Code has the explicitly stated aim of bringing Congolese law relating to sexual violence in line with international standards.  The age of minority was raised from 14 to 18, the definition of rape was widened, and new types of sexual assault were criminalised.

The complainants filed suit on behalf of a 17-year-old girl who was violently attacked and raped by two men.  Local police, who allegedly knew the attackers, witnessed the beginning of the attack but did not aid the victim.  The complainants further alleged that the Kinshasa police knew that an organized gang had attacked the victim and other girls and the identities of the attackers, but refused to take action to dismantle the gang due to their limited financial resources.  The Commission held that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) had violated several articles of

Tthe “Civil Party” brought a case against his “ex-wife” and Bahige Kanywabahize “Bahige”, or together with the ex-wife, the “Accused”, for abandoning the conjugal home and adultery.  The Civil Party and his ex-wife cohabitated as a married couple until she decided to leave their home, obtained a divorce from the Tribunal for the City of Bukavu, and decided to get married to Bahige.  The Civil Party claims his ex-wife abandoned him with the intent to marry Bahige.  The Civil Party seeks customary reimbursement of the dowry he paid to his ex-wife (6,000 zaires, a goat, two case

The Civil Party brought suit on behalf of his 13-year-old daughter and sought criminal sanctions against four men whom he accused of violently raping his daughter.  The four men jumped on her, held her down and one by one proceeded to engage in sexual relations with her when she was returning home from laundering clothes with her little sister.  The case proceeded in expedited fashion as a flagrant intentional crime.  The Tribunal found the four men guilty of violent rape, noting that even if the girl consented, her mere thirteen years of age prevented any clear and free cons

Busudu Tina (“the accused”) was prosecuted by the State for having aborted her pregnancy, punishable under Articles 165 and 166 of the Congolese Penal Code.  She attempted to abort her pregnancy using different methods, including ingesting quinine, manioc infusion, and a product described as ‘cloveganol’, and admitted to the Tribunal that she had aborted a previous pregnancy in 1991.  The Tribunal became aware of the abortion when an acquaintance, worried for the accused’s health, sought assistance despite being sworn to secrecy by the accused.  The fetus was hidden in a laun

The Constitutional Court considered a challenge to the internal provincial government’s procedural rules which included, among other claims, that one Article of the procedural rules violated the gender equality requirement of Article 14 of the Constitution.  The Court found the procedural rules to conform to Article 14, provided that they must be understood and interpreted in light of line four of Article 14, which requires equitable representation of women in provincial institutions (available at pages 46-50 on linked site).