The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring tothe cases of the former members of the National Assembly Mr. Pierre-Jacques Chalupa, Mr. Eugène Diomi Ndongala, Mr. Dieudonné Bakungu Mythondeke, and those of the 29 disqualified members of the National Assembly, and to the resolutions adopted at its 191st and 192nd sessions (October 2012 and March 2013),

Having before it the cases of Mr. Roger Lumbala and Mr. Muhindo Nzangi, which were examined by the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians in accordance with the Procedure for the treatment by the Inter-Parliamentary Union of communications concerning violations of the human rights of members of parliament,

Considering that, in the case of Mr. Muhindo Nzangi, whose case has recently come before the Committee, the source indicates that on 13 August 2013 this Assembly member from the majority party was sentenced by the Supreme Court at first and last instance to three years in prison for offences against State security; that this sentence represents, according to the source, a grave violation of parliamentarians’ freedom of expression, because Mr. Nzangi was put on trial for expressing his point of view on the war in the east of the country on the radio on 11 August 2013, criticizing the policy of the government; and that the trial was not fair, according to the source, because Mr. Nzangi’s lawyer had not had the necessary time to prepare the defence, given the accelerated procedure used against him, and in the absence of any avenue of appeal against the conviction,

Considering the report (CL/193/11(b)-R.2) of the mission conducted by the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 10 to 14 June 2013,

Taking into account the 30 September 2013 communication from the Speaker of the National Assembly, setting out his observations on the mission report, and the information provided by sources from July to September 2013,

Considering the following information communicated by the sources in the time since the mission:

• On 7 September 2013, in his speech marking the opening of national consultations, the Head of State promised to obtain the release on parole or the pardon of certain prisoners, in advance of a parliamentary vote on an amnesty law. The report produced from the national consultation exercise recommends that political prisoners be released;

• In the matter of Mr. Pierre-Jacques Chalupa, the authorities have still not responded to his application for release on parole, which was filed in January 2013, although over one thousand prisoners have been so released from the prison of Kinshasa since 31 August 2013;

• In the matter of Mr. Diomi Ndongala:
  1. During the legislature’s closing session on 15 June 2013, Mr. Ndongala had his parliamentary mandate revoked on the grounds of prolonged, unsubstantiated absence without prior notice;

  2. Mr. Ndongala remains in pre-trial custody, and the Supreme Court’s orders to move him to house arrest are not being carried out;

  3. Mr. Ndongala’s health has deteriorated sharply since the end of July 2013, and yet the authorities have refused to transfer him to a hospital, despite repeated applications from the penitentiary administration to do so, and Mr. Ndongala thus remains without the necessary medical care;

  4. The majority of the hearings scheduled in the proceedings against Mr. Ndongala had to be adjourned, given procedural faults and violations of the right to a defence, which Mr. Ndongala’s lawyers have denounced, and given his poor state of health;

• In the matter of the 29 former members of the National Assembly disqualified by the Supreme Court’s decisions on 25 April 2012, the Speaker of the National Assembly has refused to see the disqualified members, despite his promise to do so, following the Committee’s mission; in the time since the mission, no progress has been made whatsoever, and the situation of the disqualified members is becoming ever more difficult; they are now prepared to settle for compensation in the form of a payment equal to twenty months of their parliamentary pay, in addition to their regular entitlements; they are increasingly apprehensive about their safety, because of the resolute stand they have taken towards the authorities responsible, and are concerned by the refusal of the authorities to engage in discussions with a view to finding a solution,

• The application for Mr. Chalupa’s release on parole filed by his attorneys is currently being examined by the competent authorities;

• Mr. Ndongala remains in pre-trial custody for the purposes of the investigation of the offences of which he has been accused by the justice system; he was brought before the judge at public hearings on 17 and 22 July and 16 September 2013; the investigation is proceeding normally, and the presumption of innocence continues to apply to him;

• Mr. Roger Lumbala abandoned his parliamentary functions and joined the M23 insurgency, whose activities have been condemned by the United Nations Security Council; the National Assembly stripped him of his mandate due to unsubstantiated and unauthorized absences, in accordance with the Constitution and with the Standing Orders of the Assembly;

• The National Assembly continues to respect the principle of the separation of powers in the case of the Assembly members disqualified by the plenary of the Assembly pursuant to the decisions of the Supreme Court; the Bureau of the National Assembly has received claims from the former members for payment of the installation allowance, back pay and the removal allowance; conscious of the need to restore political calm, the Bureau partially acceded to the demands, and accepted the principle that the following payments should be made: an installation allowance equal to six months’ salary, full payment of the salary due up to the date on which the plenary of the Assembly disqualified them, and reimbursement of the expenses they incur in returning to their constituencies, along with spouses and dependent children duly declared to the registry of the National Assembly; the Bureau has commenced with a part payment of these benefits; however, drawing a lesson from the challenges that were raised against the process by which the electoral disputes of 2006 and 2011 were managed and the concerns voiced at that time, the parliament intends to amend the electoral law with a view to not only strengthening the eligibility conditions and improving the mechanisms for resolving electoral disputes, but also, and above all, ensuring that electoral disputes are dealt with before the electoral mandates are confirmed, for both chambers of the parliament,

1. Thanks the authorities for having hosted and cooperated with the mission delegation; takes note with interest of the comments by the Speaker of the National Assembly and welcomes the announcement of the parliament’s plan to amend the legal provisions relating to electoral disputes and the confirmation of the electoral mandates; wishes to be kept informed of progress with the announced changes and to receive a copy of the draft legislation prepared to this effect;

2. Further thanks the mission delegation for the work done, and endorses its overall conclusions;

3. Reiterates its serious concerns about the cases under investigation and notes with alarm that the 34 former members concerned were all expelled from the National Assembly, and certain members were taken into custody and prosecuted, after they had expressed political opinions deviating from those of the presidential majority and the Head of State, and points out that depriving a member of parliament of the mandate because of a political opinion he or she expressed is a violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the DRC is a signatory;

4. Laments the lack of significant progress since the Committee’s mission and reiterates its call for the authorities to work towards a settlement of the cases with all available means, including, wherever appropriate, release on parole, pardons and amnesties, as promised by the Head of State and recommended in the report that emerged from the national consultations; urges the National Assembly, too, to fulfil as soon as possible the commitments it undertook towards the 29 disqualified members in the matter of their entitlements, and to reinitiate and pursue the dialogue with them so as to arrive at an agreement on the compensation to be paid;

5. Deplores the worrying deterioration in Mr. Ndongala’s situation; notes with consternation that he is being denied access to medical care, and urges the competent authorities to transfer him rapidly to an appropriate medical care facility; notes that, according to the sources, the start of his trial was marred by faults, and requests that the Committee continue to follow the judicial proceedings closely and investigate the possibility of sending an observer to the hearings;

6. Further notes with concern that, in all of the cases investigated, serious doubts have been cast on the independence of the judiciary and respect of international fair-trial standards; urges the competent authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure that the independence of the judiciary is protected, in particular by setting up rapidly the high courts for which the Constitution makes provision, to replace the Supreme Court; emphasizes that the possibility of appeal is one of the most important guarantees of a fair trial, and once again invites the parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to create a separate avenue of redress in the judicial process that applies to parliamentarians so as to give them full protection of their rights of defence in any judicial proceedings against them, as for any citizen of the DRC;

7. Points out that parliamentarians have their mandate from the people, and the revocation of a mandate in the middle of a legislature should be an exceptional occurrence, limited strictly to cases determined by the Constitution and following a procedure that protects the rights of defence; wonders, accordingly, about the large number of parliamentary mandates recently revoked on grounds of prolonged absences; cautions the competent authorities against the misuse of this practice, and if the intention is to reduce absenteeism in the parliament, to apply it in an impartial and not a selective manner, with due regard to the rights of defence;

8. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the Speaker of the National Assembly and to all competent authorities, including the Head of State, the Justice Minister and the Prosecutor General;

9. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case.

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* The delegation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo expressed its reservation regarding the resolution.

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