Continued detention of five land rights defenders in Tshopo province
On 27 March 2020, land rights defenders and members of the Yalifombo community Iswetele Eswetele Mokili, Dominique Kamatinanga Zuzi, Antoine Swimbole Lingele, Robert Esumbahele and Franck Lwange Etiota were granted release on bail by the High Court of Yangambi. They are still facing charges in connection with their protests against the activities of the company Plantations et Huileries du Congo (FERONIA-PHC).
On 28 January 2020, during the first hearing of their case, the High Court of Yangambi rejected the request for provisional release submitted by five land rights defenders and members of the Yalifombo community. They have been detained in Kisangani Central Prison for five months, and are accused by the company Plantations et Huileries du Congo (FERONIA-PHC) of destroying oil palm plants and a company vehicle, breaking two windows and injuring a company agent. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 18 February 2020.
Iswetele Eswetele Mokili, one of the detained, is a Yalifombo community leader and member of the Réseau d’Information et d’Appui aux ONG nationales (Support and Information Network for National Organisations – RIAO-RDC), a network of 256 non-governmental organisations and 333 farmers' associations across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. RIAO-RDC has played a prominent role working with communities in rural areas of the DRC to defend land and resource rights.
On 27 March 2020, land rights defenders and members of the Yalifombo community Iswetele Eswetele Mokili, Dominique Kamatinanga Zuzi, Antoine Swimbole Lingele, Robert Esumbahele and Franck Lwange Etiota were granted release on bail by the High Court of Yangambi. They are still facing charges in connection with their protests against the activities of the company Plantations et Huileries du Congo (FERONIA-PHC).
The five land rights defenders were arrested on 12 and 13 September 2019, based on a warrant issued by the Kisangani General Prosecutor. They were accused by FERONIA-PHC of destroying oil palm plants and a company vehicle, breaking two windows and injuring a company agent. Their request for provisional release was first rejected by the High Court of Yangambi on 28 January 2020. The Court approved their release on bail on 27 March 2020. They had been detained in poor conditions in Kisangani Central Prison, which is located 300 km from their village, for more than six months, and are still facing charges. The next hearing of the case has not been scheduled yet.
The defenders believe they are being targeted for protesting against the violation of an agreement signed with FERONIA-PHC in November 2018 to ensure that the company would build a school, a health centre and a water borehole before starting any exploitation of the lands used by the community. They report that the company violated this agreement by expanding its oil palm plantations near the company's new palm oil mill in Lokumete, 5 km from Yalifombo, on 12 September 2019, before any construction of the promised community facilities had been completed.
While Front Line Defenders welcomes the release on bail of Iswetele Eswetele Mokili, Dominique Kamatinanga Zuzi, Antoine Swimbole Lingele, Robert Esumbahele and Franck Lwange Etiota, it remains concerned by the charges filed against them, which are believed to be motivated solely by their peaceful and legitimate work in defence of the land rights of their community. Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to drop all charges against the five land rights defenders and guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in the country are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.
On 28 January 2020, during the first hearing of their case, the High Court of Yangambi rejected the request for provisional release submitted by five land rights defenders and members of the Yalifombo community. They have been detained in Kisangani Central Prison for five months, and are accused by the company Plantations et Huileries du Congo (FERONIA-PHC) of destroying oil palm plants and a company vehicle, breaking two windows and injuring a company agent. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 18 February 2020.
Iswetele Eswetele Mokili, one of the detained, is a Yalifombo community leader and member of the Réseau d’Information et d’Appui aux ONG nationales (Support and Information Network for National Organisations – RIAO-RDC), a network of 256 non-governmental organisations and 333 farmers' associations across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. RIAO-RDC has played a prominent role working with communities in rural areas of the DRC to defend land and resource rights.
Iswetele Eswetele Mokili was arrested on 12 September 2019 along with his deputy Dominique Kamatinanga Zuzi. A local teacher, Antoine Swimbole Lingele, was arrested the next morning. Robert Esumbahele, a pastor from Yalifombo was also arrested on that day after the police accused him of hiding an individual involved in the opposition to FERONIA-PHC in his house. He was arrested after refusing to allow his house to be searched. A pastor from Lokumete, Franck Lwange Etiota, was arrested as well, after he volunteered to accompany the detainees so that he could inform the village of their place of detention and the charges against them. According to local human rights defenders, the arresting officer was accompanied by guards from FERONIA-PHC, who arrived in a vehicle with the logo of the company. The arrests were based on a warrant issued by the Kisangani General Prosecutor. The five land rights defenders were not provided with the reasons for their arrests.
The land rights defenders believe they were arrested for protesting against the violation of an agreement signed with FERONIA-PHC in November 2018 to ensure that the company would build a school, a health centre and a water borehole before starting any exploitation of the lands used by the community. The defenders report that the company violated this agreement by expanding its oil palm plantations near the company's new palm oil mill in Lokumete, 5 km from Yalifombo, on 12 September 2019 before any construction of the promised community facilities had been completed.
The land rights defenders have been held in poor conditions, with one of them being denied necessary medical treatment. The prison is located 300 km from their village.
Irregularities were reported during the first hearing. The lawyer for an employee of the company claimed his client had been injured in June 2019 by a group of people opposing the activities of the company but when asked whether the alleged perpetrators were among the five detainees, the lawyer stated that it was impossible to identify those responsible as the group was too big. He said that the five detainees were not directly involved in the incident but rather acted as instigators.
The ongoing detention of the five land rights defenders forms part of a pattern of harassment of those opposing the company plantations and supporting the work of RIAO-RDC. Alphonse Mombulu Boyama, Mwingi community leader and land rights defender who has worked with RIAO-RDC, has been arrested and detained several times, following a complaint filed by FERONIA-PHC for illegally occupying the company’s property. He was released most recently on 13 November 2019, after paying a fine.
Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned by the ongoing detention and judicial harassment of the five land rights defenders, which appears to be part of a pattern of attacks against RIAO-DRC members and the community leaders involved in highlighting violations carried out by FERONIA-PHC.
