PUBLICATION

Voix du Congo: Artisanal miners and surrounding communities, victims of the security and justice services in South Kivu, eastern DRC

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See our series: VOIX DU CONGO

 

 

This publication, by the non-profit organisation “Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l’Homme” ASADHO, focuses on human rights violations carried out by members of the DRC’s armed forces in the mining sector in the South Kivu Province.

Several violations are regularly committed by the Congolese armed forces, either in operation or when deployed in or around artisanal, small-scale, or industrial mining exploration sites.

Some soldiers, having themselves become direct or indirect mining operators, under the powerful cover of their hierarchy, enjoy strong protection guaranteeing them impunity. Barriers are erected on all roads in South Kivu by commanders of military regiments  not only for security but more importantly for illegal actions.

The main victims of these violations are miners, researchers, passers-by or travellers, people living around the sites, or actors who are members of Congolese civil society organisations in the exercise of their duties.

This article presents, in concrete ways, the dynamics on the ground and those responsible for such practices in four regions of South Kivu : Fizi, Mwenga, Shabunda and Kalehe.

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The “Voix du Congo” series

IPIS supports non-governmental organisations in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and provides the support and platform to disseminate their research results, within the framework of the project “Voix du Congo”.

The opinions and facts reported in these reports do not, in any way, reflect IPIS’ or IPIS’ researchers’ positions but give an insight into the way Congolese civil society organisations work and analyse the problems and realities they face.

Other publications of this series are available here: Voix du Congo”.