DRC: Ongoing detention of human rights defender, Mr Golden Misabiko, and intimidation of other members of ASADHO/Katanga

The president of the Katanga branch of the Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l’Homme – ASADHO (African Association for the Defence of Human Rights), Mr Golden Misabiko was arrested on 24 July 2009 together with ASADHO/Katanga's vice-president, Mr Timothee Mbuya.

Further Information

Members of ASADHO/Katanga have been the subject of intimidation since the publication of a report which exposes illegal small-scale exploitation of uranium in the Shinkolobwe mine, Katanga province, on 13 July 2009.

The report that motivated the arrest, entitled 'Shinkolobwe Uranium Mine: the illicit small-scale exploitation agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the French nuclear group AREVA', was published by ASADHO/Katanga on 13 July 2009.

The report denounces the continuing small-scale exploitation of Shinkolobwe mine, which was officially closed by a presidential decree in January 2004. The report details the mining of Shinkolobwe by illegal small-scale miners who extract highly radioactive uranium, copper and cobalt with the complicity of elements of the army.

In the report, ASADHO/Katanga demands that a contract signed in March 2009 between the DRC and the French nuclear group AREVA be made public and denounces the lack of transparency in the deal and the non-application of the principle of public tender.

The report also highlights the failure by the DRC Government to take adequate security measures to prevent the illegal exploitation of the mine, which in 2004 resulted in the collapse of some sections of the mine and the killing of over 100 people, as well as the absence of an effective national policy to protect the health of the people against the danger of uranium ore.

Following publication of the report, Timothee Mbuya was contacted on 21 July 2009 by the Chief of Staff of the Provincial Minister of the Interior, who invited him to participate in the Provincial Security Council's visit to Shinkolobwe mine the next day at 7 am.

Due to the short notice, Timothee Mbuya decided not to participate. On 22 July, during the visit to the Shinkolobwe site, the Provincial Minister of the Interior gave media interviews in which he denied the illegal small-scale exploitation of Shinkolobwe mine and insisted that the visible traces of exploitation on the mine's surface were insignificant. He maintained that ASADHO/Katanga had published the report to please their financial donors.

Front Line believes that the arrest and questioning of Timothee Mbuya and Golden Misabiko and the latter's ongoing detention are directly related to their legitimate activities in defence of human rights, especially the environmental rights of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Front Line is deeply concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr Golden Misabiko while in detention.