Case History: Georges Kapiamba
Mr Georges Kapiamba received a summons to appear on 25 June 2014 before the Bar Council of Lubumbashi. The summons is in relation to allegations that the human rights defender, along with six other lawyers cited, were involved in “a series of actions intending to discredit the Bar Council and put it at risk, in particular by signing a petition addressed to the Katanga Provincial Governor published in the journal 'Guide No. 314' in its publication of Thursday 22/05/2014.”
Georges Kapiamba is the President of Association Congolaise pour l'Accès à la Justice – ACAJ (Congolese Association for Access to Justice), which promotes security and justice reform. Specifically, the organisation has advocated for justice in the case of Mr Floribert Chebeya, a Congolese human rights defender murdered in June 2010.
Mr Georges Kapiamba has received a summons to appear on 25 June 2014 before the Bar Council of Lubumbashi. The summons is in relation to allegations that the human rights defender, along with six other lawyers cited, were involved in “a series of actions intending to discredit the Bar Council and put it at risk, in particular by signing a petition addressed to the Katanga Provincial Governor published in the journal 'Guide No. 314' in its publication of Thursday 22/05/2014.”
The allegations are in connection with the actions undertaken by Georges Kapiamba and a number of his colleagues to vindicate the fundamental rights of Honorary Bar Council President, Mr Ntoto, one of the key lawyers working on the case of Floribert Chebeya. Georges Kapiamba and his colleagues have been exposed to disciplinary sanctions as a result of signing a petition aiming to uphold the rights of a fellow lawyer. The petition was signed by over 280 lawyers in Lubumbashi, but only Georges Kapiamba and six colleagues were targeted in the summons.
The summons to appear was preceded by an email sent by the National Bar Council President on 2 June 2014, criticising Georges Kapiamba for having “reported falsehoods” about him, and declaring that the actions were “unworthy for a lawyer and human rights defender.” The fact that the summons comes such a short time after this email raises the concern that recourse will be made to the Bar Council in order to punish Georges Kapiamba and his colleagues for the alleged “falsehoods”, and to discourage them from continuing their human rights advocacy work.
Front Line Defenders expresses its concern at the summons and the harassment of Georges Kapiamba and other human rights lawyers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are reprisals for their activities in the defence of human rights.
