Background
In September, opposition parties requested that President Sassou Nguesso set up a national political dialogue before the 2026 presidential election.
The same month, the International Monetary Fund approved a USD 43 million loan to support the Congolese economy but requested more efforts to improve the transparency of public finances and the hydrocarbon sector, and a continuation of work to fight corruption. In March, US federal prosecutors alleged that “funds embezzled from the state coffers” were used to purchase a luxury apartment at Trump International Hotel and Tower for the use of Sassou Nguesso’s daughter.
Congo experienced numerous power cuts, often leaving districts in the capital, Brazzaville and in Pointe-Noire in darkness.
Arbitrary detention
In May, the Brazzaville authorities launched Opération Coup de Poing to combat crime. In June, the public prosecutor announced in a public statement that 580 individuals had been arrested, of whom 247 were later released. The Action Development Centre – a Congolese NGO – described the arrests as arbitrary and criticized the lack of access to legal representation and the ill-treatment of detainees.
André Okombi Salissa and Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko remained in prison. The two men had been candidates in the 2016 presidential election and were sentenced in 2019 and 2018 respectively to 20 years’ imprisonment for “undermining state security” and “illegal possession of arms and munitions of war”. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that their detention was arbitrary.
Women’s and girls’ rights
A report submitted by several NGOs to the UN Human Rights Council’s January UPR session highlighted that, despite progress with the 2022 Mouebara Law to combat violence against women, significant barriers remained, particularly in victims’ access to justice. The NGOs highlighted the absence of official, consolidated public statistics on gender-based violence disaggregated by gender, age or type of violence, and reported that the number of prosecutions for gender-based violence remained very low. According to data collected by International Solidarity Actions in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire from 2020 to 2022, out of 332 victims of gender-based violence whose cases were monitored by the organization, only 130 filed complaints with police or gendarmerie services. Of these, 46 reached the courts, resulting in only seven convictions (2%). Additionally, 60 cases (18%) were resolved through out-of-court settlements. The organization also denounced the lack of training for judicial personnel and hospital staff in dealing with victims, particularly children.
Right to a healthy environment
In January, dozens of Congolese and international organizations denounced the granting by the state authorities of an oil exploration permit to China Oil Natural Gas Overseas Holding United in Conkouati-Douli National Park. The deal was made despite a recent USD 50 million agreement with international donors for forest protection. The park, known for its rich biodiversity and traditional fishing communities, is protected by a 1999 decree that prohibits oil extraction.
In June, the Ministry for the Environment ordered the suspension of operations by the Metssa Congo recycling company in Vindoulou, Pointe Noire department, due to potential risks to the health of the surrounding populations and environment.1 The Ministry initiated a “technical investigation” in August on air pollution caused by the company, in which blood tests were conducted on employees and residents. In December, following the technical investigation, the company began its dismantling operations, and the authorities announced their intention to establish a commission tasked with identifying victims and facilitating compensation.
The company, which manufactures lead ingots, had not conducted an environmental impact assessment before beginning operations in 2013, in violation of Congolese law, and blood tests undertaken at the initiative of residents revealed lead levels far exceeding WHO recommended limits.2
Right to health
On 24 April the Congolese coalition Publish What You Pay published a report revealing that only 2% of the 55 health projects they monitored between 2020 and 2022, totalling CFA 160 billion (around USD 268 million), were completed. The report highlighted that 51% of these projects had not even been started. Only 17% of pregnant women with mild cases of malaria received free treatment, and only 6% of women needing caesarean sections received the procedure for free, despite free caesarean sections being introduced by presidential decree in 2021.
Forced evictions
In July, several residents of Mpili, Kouilou department, denounced their forced relocation to make way for the extraction of potash by the Chinese company Luyuan des Mines Congo. The residents were relocated to smaller plots, where the houses lacked an electricity supply. Those who had had larger plots used for farming and forest exploitation lost access to their livelihoods. The authorities claimed that the expropriation and resettlement were conducted in consultation with Mpili residents and in compliance with domestic law. However, the Congolese Justice and Peace Commission expressed concerns that they amounted to forced evictions.
