Katie Blake's Profile

Kabila government's use of violence and intimidation to eliminate political
opponents.

"While everyone focuses on the violence in eastern Congo, government abuses
against political opponents attract little attention," said Anneke Van
Woudenberg, senior researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.
"Efforts to build a democratic Congo are being stifled not just by rebellion but
also by the Kabila government's repression."

Those in western Congo who might challenge government policies face brutal
repression, while in the east the armed conflict with renegade general Laurent
Nkunda's forces has resulted in horrific atrocities by all sides.

Kabila's subordinates worked through several state security forces - including
the paramilitary Republican Guards, a "secret commission," the special Simba
battalion of the police, and the intelligence services - to crack down on
perceived opponents in the capital Kinshasa and in Bas Congo province

Following the 2006 elections, which were largely financed by international
donors, foreign governments focused on winning favor with Kabila's new
government and kept silent about human rights abuses and the government's
increasingly repressive rule. United Nations reports documenting government
involvement in politically motivated crimes were deliberately buried or
published too late to have any significant impact on events, Human Rights Watch
found.

At least 500 perceived opponents of the government were deliberately killed or
summarily executed. In some of the most violent episodes, state agents tried to
cover up the crimes by dumping bodies in the Congo River or by secretly burying
them in mass graves. Government officials blocked efforts to investigate by UN
human rights staff, Congolese and international human rights monitors, and
family members of victims.

Congolese officials have refused to acknowledge abuses committed by state agents
despite inquiries by the National Assembly, the media, and other citizens or
groups.

Journalists who were linked to the political opposition or who protested abuses
were threatened, arbitrarily arrested, and in some cases tortured by government
agents. The government closed down radio stations and television networks that
were linked to the opposition or broadcast their views. Several of these
stations were later permitted to operate again.

"The Congolese people deserve a government which will uphold their democratic
rights, not one that represses opponents,"

the Lords Resistance Army has been intensifying attacks against the civilian
population, looting towns and villages, burning down houses, abducting hundreds
of children, raping and killing people.

As a result of the intensification of these attacks, the food security situation
has dramatically deteriorated.

Crops were not harvested in December 2008, and farmers have not yet been able to
prepare their fields for the next season due to fear of being attacked.

forced to flee their homes

Attacks from the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) have slightly declined recently but
remain a daily concern across Orientale province.

LRA rebels burn villages, kill or abduct civilians or force them to flee their
homes