DR Congo: Investigate Attacks on Oil Project Critics
Thomson Reuters Foundation - 17 hours ago
Source: Human Rights Watch - Wed, 4 Jun 2014 10:30 AM
Democratic Republic of Congo authorities should fully and impartially
investigate threats and violence against Virunga National Park rangers
and local activists. The government should examine whether the
incidents are linked to plans to explore for oil within and near
Virunga Park by SOCO International, a British oil company operating in
eastern Congo.
(Kinshasa) - Democratic Republic of Congo authorities should fully and
impartially investigate threats and violence against Virunga National
Park rangers and local activists, Human Rights Watch said today. The
government should examine whether the incidents are linked to plans to
explore for oil within and near Virunga Park by SOCO International, a
British oil company operating in eastern Congo. Several rangers and
activists have been arbitrarily detained by the authorities and
threatened or assaulted by unidentified people after criticizing plans
for oil exploration in Virunga, a UNESCO world heritage site that is
home to many of the last surviving mountain gorillas. On April 15,
2014, armed men shot and seriously wounded the park's director,
Emmanuel de Mérode, a Belgian national. Congolese military justice
officials and police have opened an investigation into the attack.
"The attack on the national park's director was a painful and shocking
reminder that people working to protect Africa's oldest park - its
habitat, wildlife, and local communities - do so at enormous risk,"
said Ida Sawyer, senior Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"Congolese authorities need to make sure that those responsible for
this attack and others are arrested and prosecuted." The Belgian
federal prosecutor should also consider opening an investigation into
the attack on the basis that de Mérode is a Belgian national. The
Belgian and Congolese judicial authorities could join efforts to
strengthen the investigation. De Mérode and other park rangers,
activists, and local community members have long criticized proposed
oil exploration and drilling in the park, which they contend will have
a negative impact on the park, its wildlife, and local communities.
SOCO International signed a production-sharing contract with the
Congolese government in 2006 to explore for oil within and near
Virunga Park. In October 2011, SOCO received a permit to explore for
oil in Block V, a vast area in eastern Congo, of which 52 percent lies
within Virunga Park, next to the endangered gorilla habitat. De Mérode
and other rangers have asserted that SOCO's activities in the park
violate Congolese and international law, which, as government
officials, the rangers say they have a duty to uphold. Other Congolese
government officials in Kinshasa and eastern Congo support SOCO's
plans, given the potentially large financial gains oil would bring.
SOCO has denied any role in threats, violence, or bribery, but has
said it will look into allegations of bribery, and condemned the use
of violence and intimidation. In the week following the attack on de
Mérode, at least three human rights and environmental activists
received threatening text messages from unidentified numbers, Human
Rights Watch said. One message said:
You are playing with fire [name of activist], you are going to burn
your second leg, it's useless to change your car because we know all
the cars and we're everywhere you go with your team. Don't believe
that just because we failed to get your director that we are going to
fail to get you.
Another message said: "You think that by writing you're going to
prevent us from extracting oil. You are going to die for nothing like
de Mérode." On May 3, 2014, an environmental activist in Goma received
three calls from an unknown number. The caller threatened the
activist, saying that they "wanted the head" of a staff member of the
organization who, the caller said, had bad-mouthed their interests.
The caller said: "We failed to get de Mérode, but we won't fail to get
[name of staff]." They told the employee that if he told anyone about
the calls, he would be "dealt with." "Park rangers and activists
should be able to oppose oil exploration in Virunga Park without
risking their lives," Sawyer said. "Congolese authorities need to take
steps immediately to make sure that people are safe when they try to
uphold the law, protect the park, and peacefully express their views."
Victims of abuses and witnesses to these incidents allege that
Congolese government, military, and intelligence officials who support
oil exploration in the park were responsible for previous threats and
acts of violence against activists and park staff. Activists and park
rangers alleged that SOCO representatives and security contractors
attempted to bribe them to gain their support or to discourage them
from speaking out against oil exploration in the park and to
facilitate the company's activities in the park. One environmental
activist alleged that SOCO representatives offered him US$20,000 and
told him he would be able to hire five people to work for him if he
accepted the money. An investigation by park authorities found that a
SOCO representative paid a senior park official several thousand
dollars over several months to support SOCO's activities. The official
participated in meetings with park rangers at which they were told
that they would be fired if they did not support SOCO. Findings from
this investigation, which lasted over three years, were submitted to a
Congolese prosecutor in Goma on April 15, hours before the attack on
de Mérode. In a meeting with Human Rights Watch on May 23, North Kivu
Governor Julien Paluku acknowledged that certain government and
security officials seem to have been "manipulated." He said that he
did not know who was manipulating them, but that it appeared they had
been paid and "instrumentalized" to support oil exploration. He said
there had been numerous allegations about threats and assaults against
activists and park rangers opposed to oil exploration, and that he had
asked the police and military justice officials to investigate. In a
May 30 response to a letter from Human Rights Watch regarding
allegations that SOCO representatives were involved in bribery, SOCO's
Deputy Chief Executive Roger Cagle wrote:
There have been a substantial number of false and inaccurate
allegations levelled against SOCO International plc in recent years
and particularly in the last month. Sadly, a number of these
allegations have arisen as a result of inaccurate, false, distorted
and/or exaggerated accounts of our activities in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (the 'DRC'). It also increasingly seems to be the
case that anyone engaging in alleged questionable and unethical
conduct are immediately branded 'SOCO representatives' and 'SOCO
supporters' even when they simply are not and have nothing to do with
our company. ... We operate on a strict Code of Business Conduct and
Ethics (our "Code"). ...We are fully committed to conducting our
business in an honest and ethical manner and we expect and require
that our contractors, suppliers and agents will conduct themselves in
the same manner. Moreover, the Company operates in accordance with the
UK Bribery Act 2010 and as part of our required Bribery Risk
Governance, we have a formal process to mitigate risks of corruption.
Regarding the specific allegations of bribery raised by Human Rights
Watch, Cagle wrote that company officials "have no information as to
whether or not the incidents actually took place, and if so, what
happened. However, based on the information available, we have
instigated the procedures in our code." SOCO should act in accordance
with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights,
international guidelines that place responsibilities on companies to
take specific steps to safeguard rights whenever they rely on public
or private security forces to guard their operations, Human Rights
Watch said. In addition, the company should adhere to the United
Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which call on
all companies to identify any possible human rights risks in their
operations and address any problems that might occur. Human Rights
Watch urged the British government to investigate SOCO's activities in
eastern Congo under the United Kingdom's Bribery Act. Any inquiry
should examine alleged acts of corruption or bribery that may have led
to attacks and threats against park rangers and activists at Virunga
Park. "The allegations that SOCO representatives offered bribes in the
volatile climate in Virunga Park should be taken seriously," Sawyer
said. "SOCO should investigate their representatives, agents, and
contractors and make sure that none are involved in harassment of
activists and park personnel." Attack on Park Director de Mérode
Emmanuel de Mérode was driving alone in the park about 10 kilometers
from the Virunga Park headquarters in Rumangabo in an area that is
controlled by the Congolese army, when at least three men in military
uniform fired at him. He was in a staff vehicle of the Congolese
Institute for the Conservation of Nature (Institut Congolais pour la
Conservation de la Nature, ICCN), a Congolese government institution
that oversees national parks. A civilian on a motorcycle later found
de Mérode on the road and drove him toward Goma. He was then
transferred to two Congolese army vehicles and an ICCN vehicle before
reaching the hospital in Goma, where he was treated for bullet wounds
to his chest and abdomen. The Congolese army has a position 500 meters
off the main road from where de Mérode was attacked and usually has
soldiers posted along the road. The Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda (Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du
Rwanda, FDLR), a largely Rwandan Hutu armed group, some of whose
members participated in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, have also
operated in this area in the past. The FDLR are active across eastern
Congo and are involved in lucrative, illegal charcoal trading in
Virunga Park - a practice that de Mérode and other park rangers have
sought to stop. Arrest and Intimidation of Virunga Park Central Sector
Chief On September 19, 2013, army soldiers and intelligence officials
arrested the warden of Virunga Park's central sector, Rodrigue
Mugaruka Katembo. He had attempted to stop the construction of a
telephone antenna in the park because, he said, the SOCO officials who
financed the construction did not have the authorization required by
Congolese law to build in the park. Katembo told Human Rights Watch
that on September 3, Dr. Guy Mbayma Atalia, the technical and
scientific director for the ICCN and the agency's focal point with
SOCO at the time, had warned him that if he continued to oppose SOCO's
activities in the park, he would be killed. In an interview with Human
Rights Watch on April 23, 2014, Mbayma denied this allegation and said
he had nothing to do with Katembo's arrest. Katembo said that soldiers
arrested him in Kanyabayonga, North Kivu, where he had been visiting
family, and severely beat him and his younger brother. They told
Katembo he was against the government because he did not want SOCO in
the park. "What hurt me the most was how they tortured my young
brother in front of me," Katembo told Human Rights Watch. "I said,
'What did he do? He's not even in the ICCN.' I was crying, and they
had tied me up so I couldn't do anything." The soldiers took Katembo
to Rwindi, where they further humiliated him, paraded him in front of
his home, and burned cigarettes on his head. He was then detained at
the provincial headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency
(Agence Nationale de Renseignements, ANR) in Goma and released on
October 7, 2013, after international pressure. Katembo told Human
Rights Watch that officials involved in his arrest and ill-treatment
told him that they had been promised money to kill him, rather than
arrest him. Katembo said he also learned that intelligence officials
had told prisoners that they would pay them if they beat him to death
while he was in detention. Officials privately informed Katembo and
his family about other plans to ambush or kill him. After his release,
Katembo was told to report to the intelligence agency daily and pay
5,000 Congolese francs (about US$5.50) every day. Several months
later, a sympathetic intelligence agent warned him that there were
plans to kill him in Goma, and he was advised to leave the city. The
North Kivu provincial director of the intelligence agency at the time,
Jean-Marc Banza, told Human Rights Watch on April 17, 2014, that
Katembo was "detained legally" because he had insulted the country's
president, Joseph Kabila. Banza denied allegations of mistreatment by
the security forces. Threats Against Other Park Rangers and Activists
In many of the cases Human Rights Watch documented, Congolese
government, military, and intelligence officials were implicated in
the threats and attacks on human rights and environmental activists
and other community leaders. Some had allegedly received money from
SOCO. On January 31, 2014, a local farmers' cooperative in Rutshuru
organized a march of over 300 people opposing SOCO's activities. The
cooperative had informed local authorities about the demonstration in
advance, as Congolese law requires. Soon after the march began,
policemen went to the cooperative's office, confiscated a computer and
other materials, and tore down a banner that said: "No exploitation of
oil in our fields and our lake." The police detained and beat some of
the demonstrators and later released them. During a public meeting on
February 19 in Nyakakoma, a fishing village on Lake Edward in Rutshuru
territory, SOCO representatives told residents that exploration work
could cause parts of the lake to be closed to fishing for up to three
months. The closure could affect 80,000 people whose livelihoods
depend on the lake, according to community leaders. A local fisherman
and environmental activist voiced his concern at the meeting,
questioning how residents would support themselves during this time.
On February 26, the activist received a letter from the National
Intelligence Agency (Agence Nationale de Renseignements, ANR), asking
him to come to their office in Rutshuru. He told Human Rights Watch
that when he went to their office on March 3, "They told me I was
behaving badly, and they said it was a matter of the state. I
shouldn't act like a hero, and I risk having my head cut off." The
activist was released after paying the intelligence official $20. On
April 2, another public meeting was held in Nyakakoma, with SOCO
representatives, government officials, and residents. After residents
protested SOCO's plans to close parts of the lake during seismic
testing, people who were at the meeting later told Human Rights Watch
that the Rutshuru territorial administrator, Justin Mukanya, had said
that SOCO's plans for oil exploration would go forward: "The train has
already left," he said. "Whoever wants to try to stop the train will
be crushed." Several human rights activists who opposed SOCO's
activities in the park told Human Rights Watch that, for the past
three years, they had received threatening text messages and phone
calls. Following are some examples of these messages, in addition to
the more recent cases mentioned above:
On February 26, 2011, two human rights activists received the
following text message: "Leave our oil alone. If you continue, you
will suffer the same fate as the park." On the same night, three
unidentified men went to the home of one of the activists in Goma; he
was not home at the time. Two days later, the activist received the
following message: "If you continue to talk about oil, you will see.
Watch out." On April 24, 2011, three activists received calls from an
unidentified person who asked them to come to the executive provincial
government office. When they arrived, they were asked to sign a
document saying that they had attended a meeting with SOCO on August
13, 2010. The three activists refused to sign. Three days later, one
of them received the following message: "You refused to sign. You are
arrogant. We've already identified your residence." On May 7, 2011,
another activist received a phone call as he was leaving an Internet
café in Goma. The caller, who did not identify himself, said: "You
think you are hidden, but we can see you. You just stopped a bus. You
thought that we didn't know you but we're following you." On February
27, 2012, three intelligence agents went to the same activist's house
in Goma and told his wife he was "inciting the population about things
the head of state has already decided. If he continues, he will lose
his life." The activist had already been threatened multiple times by
phone and had been summoned to court after he sent a letter to
government authorities detailing the behavior of a government security
agent in Nyakakoma who claimed he was in charge of "security and
mobilization for SOCO." In December 2013, a fisherman told Human
Rights Watch that he had been harassed by the Naval Force after rowing
his boat in front of the SOCO office. He was summoned to the office of
a major in the Naval Force. There he was accused of spying and taking
pictures of the SOCO office. The fisherman asked the major, "On what
legal basis are you accusing me of this?" The major allegedly replied:
"You come here with your human rights. Here, we don't do the law. We
do the army." The major seized the fisherman's camera but did not find
any pictures of the SOCO office, and released him after two hours.
After several human rights activists publicly denounced threats and
intimidation by agents working on behalf of SOCO, Mbayma, the ICCN's
focal point with SOCO at the time, wrote a letter, seen by Human
Rights Watch, to the ICCN director general in early 2014, in which he
accused the activists of inciting the population against the
government:
From the moment that these structures pride themselves with the
freedom to stand up against the sovereign State that is the DRC and to
call the peaceful population to civil disobedience, there is good
reason for the Director General of the ICCN to take adequate
preventative measures. These should take the path of suspending all
collaboration, be it direct or indirect, with these NGOs. Otherwise,
the ICCN risks being qualified as an accomplice to these NGOs in their
proven attempt to break up the authority of the state for the
purposes, perhaps, of creating new armed groups.
In a letter to the president of North Kivu's Provincial Assembly,
dated May 13, 2014, and on file at Human Rights Watch, the ICCN
director general said that Mbayma had been removed from his position
as technical and scientific director, that he was no longer the ICCN
focal point with SOCO, and that he no was no longer authorized to
speak on behalf of the ICCN. Allegations Against SOCO International In
December 2010, a Congolese court in Goma authorized park authorities
to investigate allegations of illegal activities by SOCO
International, including unauthorized entry into the park by vehicle
and plane, unauthorized construction in the park, and attempts to
bribe and harass park staff and members of the Congolese security
forces. As part of the investigation, a park warden secretly filmed a
security officer linked to SOCO and the Congolese army's liaison
officer with SOCO as they offered the warden money. The warden told
Human Rights Watch that he refused an offer of "a large stack of cash"
to allow SOCO representatives to move freely within the park. Several
months later, the same warden said he was offered $50 up front and
then $3,000 at the end of every month if he agreed to give SOCO
information about the zone where they wanted to enter the park, and to
allow them free movement in the park without informing the warden's
supervisor, de Mérode. Another park warden told Human Rights Watch
that Mbayma had instructed him to come to Nyakakoma village with five
park guards to work with him at SOCO's camp. "We were each paid $20 a
day for 35 days," the warden said. "Their objective was for us to go
with them to meetings with the population in order to convince the
population to support SOCO's activities and to try to show they had
the full support of the ICCN." The warden said they were paid by
Mbayma in the presence of a SOCO agent. He said that Mbayma warned him
that if he informed his direct supervisor about what they were doing,
"it will fall on your head, and you will be arrested." When the warden
eventually refused to work with Mbayma and returned to his base, he
received at least four threatening calls from Mbayma between November
2013 and February 2014, trying to convince him to work with them
again. Mbayma warned him that if he refused to join, he would lose his
career with the ICCN and be arrested.
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