Case History: Pascal Byumanine
On 2 December 2015 Mr Juvin Kombi Narcisse and Mr Pascal Byuanine, two members from the movement Lutte pour le changement - LUCHA (Fight for Change), were indicted by the Public Prosecutor's Office (Parquet) before the High Court of Goma (Tribunal de Grande Instance), in the North Kivu province.
The two human rights defenders are being charged with criminal association, rebellion and incitement to rebellion. All human rights defenders are being detained at the Central Prison of Munzenze, in Goma.
On 10 March, Mr Juvin Kombi Narcisse and Mr Pascal Byuanine were released after having been sentenced to 3 months in jail and a 100,000 Congalese Francs (about $100 USD) fine. Having already spent more than 3 months in detention, Juvin and Pascal were released the same day.
Pascal Byumanine is a member of LUCHA. LUCHA is a non-violent and non-partisan youth civil society movement founded in June 2012 in Goma, the capital of North Kivu. The movement advocates for social justice and accountability in the DRC through campaigns and encourages Congolese citizens to fight for the promotion and respect of human rights.
On 25 January 2016, the High Court in Goma denied bail for human rights defenders Mr Juvin Kombi Narcisse and Mr Pascal Byuanine, stating that their release would jeopardize public order and security in the DRC.
In their request for bail, the human rights defenders' lawyers argued that the presumption of innocence should be respected in the case of Juvin Kombi Narcisse and Pascal Byumanine. They called for bail to be granted for the two human rights defenders given that they had been detained without trial for two months, and without any substantial evidence being presented against them.
The two human rights defenders were formally indicted on charges of criminal association, rebellion and incitement to rebellion on 2 December 2015. Police arrested them in the aftermath of a demonstration held on 28 November 2015 to urge the authorities to continue investigating killings in the city of Beni, in North Kivu. The demonstration was violently disrupted by police. The human rights defenders are detained at the Central Prison of Munzenze, in Goma.
On 2 December 2015 two members from the movement Lutte pour le changement - LUCHA (Fight for Change) were indicted by the Public Prosecutor's Office (Parquet) before the High Court of Goma (Tribunal de Grande Instance), in the North Kivu province.
The two human rights defenders are being charged with criminal association, rebellion and incitement to rebellion. All human rights defenders are being detained at the Central Prison of Munzenze, in Goma.
On 2 December 2015 the two human rights defenders were charged with criminal association, based on claims that LUCHA is not a registered movement. Both of them are facing additional charges of rebellion and incitement to rebellion linked to a peaceful demonstration held on 28 November 2015, the goal of which was to urge the authorities to continue investigating killings in the city of Beni, in North Kivu. The human rights defenders were arrested in the aftermath of the demonstration, after it was violently disrupted by government forces, and they are now detained at the Central Prison of Munzenze, in Goma.
This is not the first act of harassment that members of LUCHA have suffered. Messrs Fred Bauma and Yves Makwambala have been under arbitrary detention since 15 March 2015 when they were arrested by security forces during a workshop organized to launch “Filimbi,” a platform to encourage Congolese youth to peacefully and responsibly perform their civic duties. The human rights defenders are being accused of planning to violently overthrow the government, even though there is no evidence to back up the charges.
