Arbitrary arrest

Freedom being a principle and detention an exception this paradigm has enabled us to underpin our reflection on the global nature of detention in the Democratic Republic of Congo and more specifically at ANR Lubumbashi. Indeed it is with bitterness that we note that Congolese and foreign citizens despite committing anti-social acts are deprived of their rights of defence as provided for by articles 18 and 19 of the DRC constitution amended by Law N°11/002 of January 20 2011 revising certain articles of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo of February 18 2006 even though the pre-jurisdictional investigation remains secret. The Agence National de Renseignement does not give detainees' counsel or family members any opportunity to find out what the detainees are accused of and it turns out that the conditions under which the suspects are being held do not meet any of the criteria laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo as revised to date stipulates that: The human person is sacred...