Iledephonse Masumbuko Sangolo teaches a seminar on women's rights at the Makobola Noyaux de Paix

Iledephonse Masumbuko Sangolo teaches a seminar on women's rights at the Makobola Noyaux de Paix

Meet Ildephonse Masumbuko Sangolo.  Mr. Sangolo is the field supervisor for Arche d’Alliance, an NGO based in Uvira that focuses on human rights and building civil society in Eastern Congo.  It is Sangolo’s job to supervise the inqueteurs, or field monitors, in monitoring the human rights situation in remote parts of Uvira and Fizi.  The UN Human Rights Commission is unable to field the staff necessary to monitor the human rights situation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), repatriating refugees from abroad, and the general civilian population in South Kivu.  Thus, they have formed a partnership with the experienced staff of Arche to go out in the field and report back on the state of human rights.

Sangolo is also is in charge of the Comite de Mediation et Conciliation (CMC) and Noyaux de la Paix (NDLP) projects.

“We promote the respect of human rights to the local authorities,” says Sangolo, “but we also educate the general population on aspects of Congolese law so that they will be able to defend themselves.”

I asked Sangolo why human rights are being violated so massively in the Congo.

“First,” he said, “We have this war that will not end.  Secondly, the state is nearly nonexistent.”

Sangolo explained that since the justice system and those tasked with enforcing it are not paid enough by the Congolese government, people with guns, money, and influence are able to get away with breaking the law and violating basic human rights.  As long as they can pay off the magistrates and police, they can literally get away with murder.

“There are certain judges who do not accept corruption,” says Sangolo, “but there are others to whom money is more important than all else.  For these people who perpetuate corruption, they must be brought to justice.”

Arche has diligently worked in the Congolese justice system, representing those whose human rights have been violated.  Sangolo cited several examples where Arche intervened on behalf of people who would otherwise be ignored: a man whose land was given away by government officials who were either corrupt or inept, a 13 year old girl who was raped, and a woman who was raped by soldiers.  In all these cases, justice was served thanks to Arche’s reporting and advocacy work.

I asked Sangolo about the situation of women’s rights in the Congo.  He told me that women’s rights are being massively violated due to a combination of repressive local traditions and Congolese laws that are unfavorable towards women.  Girls are not sent to school, or even if they are, they are expected to pay their own school fees.  Husbands will tell their wives how to vote, and if a woman expresses herself in a public forum, she may face divorce or even severe physical violence.  Women are often denied the right to inheritance.

“However, this is changing due to new laws that are being written,” says Sangolo, “which will strengthen the rights of women, starting with young girls.  Right now it is a problem of application of these new laws.”

Sangolo explained that since the justice system is still weak, Arche’s work in educating the population on women’s rights is very important, and thus far the feedback has been positive.

“There are now women who can express themselves freely, without fear of retaliation,” he says, “And they are forming associations themselves to defend the rights of other women.  These are the reactions we want: women expressing themselves, women voting their conscience, and women gaining the right to inheritance.”

What does Sangolo want to see in the future for the Congo?

“I want to see a Congo where people can express themselves freely, and without violence,” he says, “For a long time it has been that the only way someone can express themselves is by taking up a gun.  When a man can simply say something to the authorities and they will listen to him; that is what I want in a new Congo.”

Members of the Luvungi CMC

Members of the Luvungi CMC

As many refugees stream back to their home territories in Congo since the (tentative) end of major hostilities, there is a great need for legal structures that will help returning families re-integrate and repatriate.  Since the judicial system is slow and overburdened, it is very difficult for repatriating refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to find legal assistance.

Thus, in order to combat these problems facing marginalized peoples in the rural milieu, Arche d’Alliance has created Comités de Médiation et Conciliation, or CMCs, in 24 different towns across the territories of Uvira and Fizi.  The CMC, a committee of ten, consists of local municipal leaders, representatives from women’s groups, a representative from the FARDC, a representative from the police, and other notable community and tribal leaders.  The CMC functions as an alternative resolution center for minor disputes involving property, harvests, debts, inheritances, and domestic quarrels.  An individual can bring their grievance to the CMC, which then investigates the matter from both sides and renders a non-binding, reasoned decision that it asks both parties to follow.  If one or both of the parties refuses to follow the decision, the CMC will pass the case off to Arche d’Alliance to be heard in court in Uvira.  An important aspect of a CMC’s decision is that it follows the letter of the law, since Arche d’Alliance trains the CMC on Congolese law and the rights guaranteed marginalized peoples (such as repatriating refugees and women) by the Congolese Constitution.

In addition, the CMC acts as an information distribution center; the CMC will help provide citizens of the community with information on public health, security, the constitution, and, if they are refugees, how they can go about reclaiming their land and reintegrate.

This past week I had the opportunity to visit the CMC in Luvungi, a small town about 40 minutes drive from Uvira, near the border with Rwanda.  I was visiting with Jean Mushaho and Martin Masumbuko, two Arche inqueteurs who make weekly visits to Luvungi.  The CMC in Luvungi is managed by Givernal Twaibu, a locally-based Arche d’Alliance inqueteur.  Givernal and the Luvungi CMC explained to me that they have heard 80 cases since the beginning of the year.  They also told me that nine times out of ten parties agree to the decision of the CMC; people in Congo are not opposed to well-reasoned conflict resolution, it is just that structures that facilitate such resolutions have long been absent.

Since the CMC is required to have several woman representatives, there is balance and justice for women.

“Respecting women’s rights is very important,” said Luvungi CMC member Nestorine Seremba, a nurse at a local dispensaire, “In Congo, the woman is the center of the family.”

One crucial service that Arche provides to returning refugees is assisting them in obtaining birth certificates for their children that were born abroad, in refugee camps in Tanzania, Burundi, and Zambia.  Acquiring proper documentation is necessary if repatriating refugees want to send their children to school or make sure their children inherit their property someday.  Using the CMC as a local base, Arche helps refugees gain birth certificates for their children.  Arche will visit a CMC once a week, collect the necessary information, file for the documents in Uvira, and then bring them to the CMC once they are completed.

A repatriating refugee (left) signs for documents for his children

A repatriating refugee (left) signs for documents for his children

The day I was in Luvungi, a group of villagers from Katubota, a small village 10 km away, came to collect birth certificates for their children. Jean Mashaho explained to me that it would be very difficult for these villagers to get birth certificates without assistance from Arche.  Normally, obtaining a birth certificate would require a trip to Uvira, filling out lots of forms, paying lots of fees, and waiting around for the notoriously slow Congolese bureaucracy.

Birth certificates for children born in refugee camps

Birth certificates for children born in refugee camps

In something as small and simple as helping refugees get documents for their children, Arche is helping re-weave civil society in Eastern Congo.  This goes a long way in preventing conflict in the long run.

The CMC in Luvungi has been around since 2006, and its services attract people from villages as far as 30 km away.  In creating CMCs across South Kivu, Arche d’Alliance has laid down the foundations for justice and peaceful conflict transformation in a region that is desperately trying to escape chaos.  Even though Eastern Congo can sometimes feel like the Wild Wild West, the CMC is like the Lone Ranger, an example of justice and peace that everyone can follow and admire.

Secretary and one of the woman representatives of the Luvungi CMC

Secretary and one of the woman representatives of the Luvungi CMC

The Tribunal de la Paix of Uvira, with the chief justice at the center

The Tribunal de la Paix of Uvira, with the chief justice at the center

Arche d’Alliance is an NGO based in Uvira, Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Arche d’Alliance’s work focuses on human rights and rebuilding civil society, and it has a legal department that focuses on advocacy for people marginalized by the effects of armed conflict.

Since the war in Eastern Congo has all but evaporated civil society and basic respect for human rights and due process, Arche d’Alliance’s work is extremely important.  A large part of Arche’s daily work consists of providing free legal support and representation to individuals in Congolese courts.  This service is invaluable to restoring the balance of justice to Eastern Congo, however rudimentary and occasionally bizarre the Congolese justice system may appear to the outside observer.

On one fine Friday, I had the chance to observe proceedings in a Tribunal de la Paix in Uvira.  Attorneys from Arche d’Alliance and several other NGOs were there to present cases before the judge.

The courtroom was packed with people when the chief justice finally arrived.  The judge and all the lawyers all wore the same black robe with some decorative tassels, some in white, some in leopard print.  As an American, I found it a bit unusual for the judge, the state’s representative, and all the barristers wearing the same outfit, but in this aspect Congolese courts are probably modeled after European courts.

The first case called was a man who was suing his wife.  According to the details of the case, the husband had made insulting and slanderous remarks about his wife in the bar.  The wife, having heard about her husband’s slanderous behavior, locked away his belongings in a hidden location and began refusing sex to her husband.  The husband claimed he has never criticized his wife.  I was struck by the fact that the husband was very angry that his wife refused him access to her body; it seems that, according to local custom, withholding sex is grounds enough for a man to take his wife to court.

A note on how language works in the courtroom: the official judicial language for the Congo is French.  Thus, the judge and all the attorneys spoke French, they being educated people.  However, not everybody in this part of Congo speaks French (Swahili is the everyday language of the Kivus), so if a party did not speak French, the court had to provide an interpreter to interpret everything into Swahili for the non-French speaker, and conversely translate into French everything they said to the court.  This made proceedings awkward, to say the least.

Now, back to the courtroom drama.  Since the husband had entered no witnesses on his account, the court decided to give him three weeks to find witnesses that could testify to his “blameless” behavior.  The wife had to make sure that the witnesses she had named on her account were present at the next hearing.  This case was first heard in 2008.  As you can see, decisions are rarely rendered in Congolese court, and a case can stretch on and on for months.

After the first case, we heard cases that involved assault, rape, and sorcery.  In Congo, a lot of people believe that if they get sick, it is the result of sorcery.  Thus, many of the cases in the tribunal concerned people suing their neighbors for casting spells on them.  No final judgments were passed down, and the chief judge would answer his mobile phone while barristers were presenting their case.

As you can see, the Congolese justice system is a ponderous animal that does not always apply the razor of reason.  However, it is a step in the right direction, and slow courts that hear everyone out are better than corrupt ones that render a decision in favor of whoever has the deepest pockets.  Since most marginalized people in Eastern Congo would not be able to afford good legal representation, Arche d’Alliance’s work in the Congolese court system is indispensable.