The house of human rights defender, Mr Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji was burned down on the night of 18-19 December 2009. Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji as well as civil society organisations in the province of Eastern Kasai believe that this was an arson attack and that it was meant as an attempt to intimidate Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji.

Further Information

Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji is the director of the Center for Human Rights Studies and Training (Centre d'Etudes et de Formation Populaires pour les Droits de l’Homme - CEFOP/DH), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights in the province of Eastern Kasaï. CEFOP/DH focuses on providing civic education, reinforcing the capacity of civil society and monitoring the human rights situation in the region.

Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji's house in the Bubanji district in Diulu, Mbujimayi, was burned down on the night of 18-19 December 2009 at approximately 3.45 am. According to one of his two sisters'-in-law, who were sleeping in the house when the fire alert was raised, a motorbike was heard entering the property shortly before the fire started. The house and everything in it were destroyed in the incident. Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji, his wife and their child were not at home at the time.

Approximately one week before the fire, on 10 December 2009, CEFOP/DH published its annual report on the human rights situation in Eastern Kasaï. Four months earlier, on the night of 27-28 July 2009, the office of CEFOP/DH was raided by a group of five armed men, two of whom were wearing the military uniform of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo - FARDC).

The group broke into the office and tied up and physically abused the security guard in an attempt to make him tell them Emmanuel Kabengele Kalonji's home address. A formal complaint in relation to the incident was lodged with the General Prosecutor. According to CEFOP/DH, these elements indicate that the December 2009 fire might have been intended as an act of intimidation.