A Human Rights-led multidisciplinary team1 was dispatched to Bas Congo from 17-28 March 2008 to carry out an investigation into the violent incidents involving the Police nationale congolaise (PNC) and the Bundu Dia Kongo in Matadi and the territories of Luozi, Seke-Banza and Lukula.

On 28 February, the Government launched operations to restore State authority throughout Bas Congo. These operations were carried out by the PNC, in particular by units of the Police d'Intervention Rapide (PIR, including the so-called Simba Battalion) and the Unité de Police Intégrée (UPI), dispatched from Kinshasa. The operations were aimed at re-establishing the State's authority throughout Bas Congo. The size and composition of the PNC force deployed, the comprehensive geographical dimension of the operations, the type of weapons and ammunition used, the excessive use of force employed and the arbitrary executions that were carried out, the systematic destruction of BDK temples and houses and the large number of arbitrary arrests all suggest that the authorities may have intended to considerably reduce the operational capacity of the BDK movement.

Date of publication: May 2008