A Death Foretold 
[carryover my article published today on the website of
Nigrizia ]
He had disappeared the previous evening, and Wednesday, June 2, the Congolese police found him lifeless in his car in the western suburbs of Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo : Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, 47, human rights activist and president of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Voix des sans voix (Voice of the Voiceless), was killed. Of his driver Fidèle Bazana there has been no news.
difficult for now to reconstruct what happened. It's hard to tell if you will never get a legal truth sull'ennesimo political murder nell'Rd Congo. She was the wife in the evening first, to set an alarm had been in telephone contact with her husband until late afternoon, then nothing. He was on his way to the Inspectorate General of Police, where he had been convened the previous day and had an appointment at 17.30 with the Chief Inspector, General Numbi. With SMS, Chebeya later informed his wife that he was not received and that he would take a national teaching university. From there, nothing more. The man did not return phone calls most of his wife.
reactions regret for the incident has been expressed by the Congolese authorities to the mouth of the Deputy Minister of Interior and Security, which also brought condolences the family on behalf of the Minister Adolphe Lumanu. Concern has been expressed by MONUC, the UN mission in Congo: Alan Doss, Special Representative of UN Secretary-General calls for serious and independent investigation.
shocked friends and fellow activists. In a statement to Radio Okapi, the President of the Friends of Nelson Mandela, Robert Ilunga, said: "We are approaching the elections and human rights defenders are in danger." Timothée Mbuya, president of the Asadho (Association africaine des droits de Défence de l'Homme) in Katanga, he questions the official version of the circumstances of the death of Chebeya and calls on NGOs to a protest march. According
Kobolongo Crispin, president of the NGO Action contre les Violations des droits des personnes vulnérables (Acvdp), "This despicable act continues to demonstrate the project to kill and intimidate human rights defenders and journalists." Kobolongo adds that in these cases, the Congolese are accustomed to investigations that never come to any concrete results. Another friend points out: "Today him, tomorrow I will. We are all on the black list. "
Chebeya And that was last seen inspectorate of police and was found the next day by the same police (who had arrested him several times in recent years) to someone is pointing the finger directly against the agents.
A memory Personally, I met Floribert in January 2003 in Kinshasa. A match that daring in itself says a lot about how the activist lived and the risks they ran even then. How blessed are the peacemakers were closely following the developments in the Congo war, after a first action for peace, which was held in 2001 in Butembo and a second scheduled for 2002 in Kisangani, which had not been possible . A friend had thought of us meet the president of a small NGO that fought bravely for the defense of human rights: the Voix des sans voix.
That day gave us an appointment in an open place in the city center. There came a man who did not know, entertained us for a while ', making a number of questions, then told us to follow him. We entered a small shop. We followed the man into the back room and there we stopped in a windowless room with a table and some chairs. When he felt sufficiently reassured about us and our intentions, made a phone call. After a bit, 'came Floribert. Even then he was constantly threatened. He told us to stop and calm ways of continuing human rights violations committed by the authorities and the government of Joseph Kabila, whom he described with great hardness.
were moments when all the attention was pointed east, with the war. Floribert talked about what occurred in the capital, but also seeks to raise awareness among citizens on the fate of their countrymen in Kisangani, Bukavu, Goma. With particular strength with which we spoke of the systematic disappearing political opponents and activists and the climate of terror around the young Kabila. Was undergoing the process for the murder of Laurent Désiré Kabila (father Joseph) and many were the voices, and the background to the allegations that were told about the incident and hidden principals. To date, in fact, has not gone beyond the convictions for the perpetrators of the assassination, on which some also feed on many doubts.
At the end of our meeting, Chebeya went discreetly to an exit side, after having recommended to wait and not go out with him. Ten minutes later, another man accompanied us back to an exit of the store, through a maze of narrow streets, until we emerge again on one of the main streets of Kinshasa. So
Floribert Chebeya lived for years, hiding and constantly looking back, never bow to intimidation and still continue to denounce in particular the violations of press freedom, justice and prison rights. In Kinshasa in the years he had become perhaps the most representative voice of the defenders of basic freedoms.
His voice will rise to more complaints, allegations, defending. Sometimes it seemed almost biased: it was part of a man, of course. Was on the side of the weakest.
Nigrizia - 04/06/2010
