Torture systematic in Congo: NGO
2012-11-01 08:04
Brazzaville - Torture is practised "systematically and everywhere" during arrests, police custody and detention in Republic of Congo, a Congolese human rights group said on Wednesday.
"The systematic resort to torture, which has become common currency among public security forces, is the most widely used means to obtain confessions," Congolese Observatory on Human Rights (OCDH) executive director Roch Euloge Nzobo told the press.
He was citing a report published by the OCDH on Wednesday after it conducted a two-year field survey in half of the oil-rich central African country's 12 departments, which was financed in part by the European Union.
"Torture remains a sad reality in Congo, of which many instances result in death," Nzobo said.
The OCDH said that generally, the torture is "perpetrated in the official detention centres, including in the homes of arrest, police stations," prompting Nzobo to suggest that the government establish a committee of civilians and officials to monitor detention centres.
Nzobo added that although Congo had signed the the United Nations Convention against Torture, it had yet to fully adapt its legislation accordingly.
