Threats against human rights defender Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua
On 14 January 2022, human rights defender Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua received a threatening phone call from an anonymous individual. The threats received were a response to a public statement that the human rights defender, as a member of a coalition of civil society organisations, released on 7 January 2022. The statement pointed out irregularities in the Cahiers des charges de responsabilité sociétale – a five year plan for local social development required by law in the DRC – of mining company Société Anhui Congo d'investissement (SACIM Sarl). The human rights defender has been hiding since.
Dieudonné 
Tshimpidimbua is the executive secretary of the Conseil Régional des ONG de Déceloppement (CRONGD) of East-Kasaï. CRONGD is a well established coalition of 66 NGOs working on development-related issues. CRONGD’s mission is to fight against poverty and human rights violations by strengthening the organisational, institutional, professional and practical capacities of NGOs in the province.
On 14 January 2022, human rights defender Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua received a threatening phone call from an anonymous individual. The threats received were a response to a public statement that the human rights defender, as a member of a coalition of civil society organisations, released on 7 January 2022. The statement pointed out irregularities in the Cahiers des charges de responsabilité sociétale – a five year plan for local social development required by law in the DRC – of mining company Société Anhui Congo d'investissement (SACIM Sarl). The human rights defender has been hiding since.
Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua is the executive secretary of the Conseil Régional des ONG de Déceloppement (CRONGD) of East-Kasaï. CRONGD is a well established coalition of 66 NGOs working on development-related issues. CRONGD’s mission is to fight against poverty and human rights violations by strengthening the organisational, institutional, professional and practical capacities of NGOs in the province.
On 7 January 2022, Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua signed a public statement that pointed out some irregularities in the Cahiers des charges de responsabilité sociétale of the mining company SACIM Sarl. SACIM Sarl is a Chinese-Congolese mining company based in Kinshasa with a project in East Kasaï which will mine diamonds in the region. According to the public statement, SACIM Sarl did not respect the revised regulations on mining projects, including the requirement for “community approval of the priority needs (identified by a local committee on development) by categories through open meetings with community members”.
On 14 January 2022, the former provincial Minister of Finance and Human Rights of East Kasaï and current spokesperson of one of the communities affected by the mining project, Placide Mukendi Kapambu, publicly threatened to sue CRONGD and Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua for ‘‘hindering development’’ in an online article. This threat was followed up the same day by an anonymous phone call to Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua, where the caller - who identified himself as a customary chief - warned him to retract the public statement on the mining project and threatened him by saying that his home and office are “well-known”. On 15 January 2022, Placide Mukendi Kapambu made another threat to sue CRONGD and Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua in another online news article.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned by the threats against human rights defender Dieudonné Tshimpidimbua and his organisation CRONGD, as it believes he is being targeted solely as a result of his peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights.
