Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/zaire.txu

Text File | 1996-01-05 | 11.4 KB | 253 lines

TITLE:  ZAIRE HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995




Some 90,000 Zairians have sought asylum in neighboring
countries.  The Government deals with prospective returnees
individually, and there is no evidence of discrimination.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

The Transition Act mandates the rights of citizens to change
their government, but the Mobutu regime continues to deny this
right.  The 4-year program for transition to democracy remained
stalled through much of the year.  In 1993 President Mobutu
installed Prime Minister Faustin Birindwa--in defiance of
constitutionally mandated procedures.  The Birindwa Government
continued to exercise power through the first half of the
year.  The Tshisekedi Government, which had held power
previously, refused to step down.

In 1994, seeking to end the political impasse, Mobutu and
opposition leaders negotiated a Transition Act, which led to
the election of opposition leader Kengo Wa Dondo as Prime
Minister on June 14.  Since then, Kengo's Government announced
its intention to propose legislation establishing election
procedures, and otherwise prepare the legal and administrative
basis for holding free and fair elections by mid-1995, as
mandated by the Transition Act.  The Kengo Government
introduced in December legislation to establish an electoral
commission.  However, since President Mobutu continues to
maintain authority over many government operations through his
control of key units of the military and the administration,
including the Central Bank, and the Tshisekedi opposition
remains intransigent, the outlook for legitimate 1995 elections
remains highly uncertain.

There is no official discrimination against the participation
of women or minorities in politics.  However, there are only 2
women in the Cabinet, and only about 30 women in the 748-member
transition Parliament.  Although citizens, Pygmies living in
remote areas take no part in the political process.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

A number of nongovernmental Zairian human rights organizations,
including the Zairian League of Human Rights, the Voice of the
Voiceless (VSV), the Zairian Association for the Defense of
Human Rights (AZADHO), and the Zairian Prison Fellowship have
reported and documented human rights abuses and issued reports
on the Government's attitude regarding its responsibility to
protect these rights and to meet the basic human needs of the
population.  Although human rights organizations generally were
able to work unhindered, there were several episodes of
harassment.  They also encountered delays in registration,
unlike the treatment provided other organizations which do not
focus primarily on human rights abuses.

Security forces confiscated AZADHO publications when that
organization's president attempted to travel to the United
States in January.  After delaying his travel a week, the
AZADHO president left Zaire without further incident.  In the
province of Haut Zaire, local authorities forbade a VSV
representative from holding a human rights seminar without the
express permission of the provincial governor.  When no
permission was forthcoming, the representative held the meeting
anyway, without incident.  However, authorities jailed another
VSV representative working in Haut Zaire for several hours when
he inquired about several prisoners.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

Both the Constitution and the Transition Act forbid
discrimination based on ethnicity, sex, or religious
affiliation.  Nonetheless, the Government continues to
discriminate in some areas, and legal and societal
discrimination continues as well.

     Women

Despite constitutional provisions, in practice women are
relegated to a secondary role in society.  They are the primary
farm laborers and small traders and are exclusively responsible
for child rearing.  In the nontraditional sector, women
commonly receive less pay for comparable work.  Women tend to
receive less education than men.  Although women work in the
professions and the civil service, only rarely do they occupy
positions that permit them to exercise authority over male
professionals.  Few have attained positions of high
responsibility.  Women are required by law to obtain their
spouse's permission before engaging in routine legal
transactions, such as selling or renting real estate, opening a
bank account, accepting employment, or applying for a
passport.  A 1987 revision of the Family Code permits a widow
to inherit her husband's property, to control her own property,
and to receive a property settlement in the event of divorce.
However, in cases where the inheritance is contested, little
effective intervention is likely from the dysfunctional
judiciary.  The press and human rights groups generally ignore
the question of domestic violence, despite its common
occurrence.

     Children

Government spending on children's programs is nearly
nonexistent.  Most schools, for example, only function in areas
where parents have formed cooperatives to pay teachers'
salaries.

There are no documented cases in which security forces or
others target children for specific abuse, although children
suffer from the same conditions of generalized social disorder
and widespread disregard for human rights that affect society
as a whole.

Female genital mutilation is not widespread, but is practiced
on young girls among isolated groups in the North.

     Indigenous People

Societal discrimination continues against Zaire's Pygmy
population of 6,000 to 10,000.  There were no known reports of
conflicts between Pygmies and agrarian populations in 1994.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Zaire's population of about 40 million includes over 200
separate ethnic groups.  Four indigenous languages have
national status.  French is the language of government,
commerce, and education.  Political offices have generally been
proportionally allocated among the various ethnic groups, but
members of President Mobutu's Ngbandi ethnic group are
disproportionately represented at the highest levels of the
security and intelligence services.

     People with Disabilities

The law does not mandate accessibility to buildings and
government services for the disabled.  Special schools, many
with missionary staff, use private funds and limited public
support to provide education and vocational training to blind
and physically disabled students.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Constitution and legislation provide for the right to form
and join trade unions to all workers except magistrates and
military personnel (including the gendarmes and national
police).

Before 1990 the law required all trade unions to affiliate with
the National Union of Zairian Workers (UNTZA), the single
legally recognized labor confederation which was an integral
part of the only legal political party, the MPR.    When
political pluralism was permitted in April 1990, the UNTZA
disaffiliated itself from the MPR and reorganized under new
leadership chosen through elections deemed fair by outside
observers.  Although UNTZA remains the largest union, almost
100 other independent labor unions and centrals are now
registered with the Labor Ministry, some of them affiliated
with political parties or associated with a single industry or
geographic area.

The law recognized the right to strike; however, legal strikes
rarely occur since the law requires prior resort to lengthy
mandatory arbitration and appeal procedures.  Labor unions have
not effectively defended the rights of workers in the
deteriorating economic environment.

Most public sector employees, including judicial sector
workers, struck sporadically throughout the year to protest
nonpayment of salaries.  Three day-long politically directed
general strikes, on January 19, May 27, and July 8, halted most
activity in Kinshasa and in some provincial capitals.  Although
the general strikes demonstrated the power of the opposition,
they did not have a significant impact on worker issues.

Unions may affiliate with international bodies.  UNTZA
participates actively in the Organization of African Trade
Union Unity, and the Union Central of Zaire is affiliated with
the World Confederation of Labor.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The law provides for the right to bargain collectively, and an
agreement between the UNTZA and the Employers Association
provided for wages and prices to be negotiated jointly each
year under minimal government supervision.  This system, which
functioned until 1991, broke down as a result of the rapid
depreciation of the currency.  Continuing hyperinflation has
encouraged a return to pay rates individually arranged between
employers and employees; collective bargaining still exists, at
most, on the level of the individual enterprise.

The collapse of the formal economy has also resulted in a
decline in the influence of unions, a tendency to ignore
existing labor regulations, and a buyer's market for labor.
The Labor Code prohibits antiunion discrimination, although
this regulation is not strongly enforced.  In the public
sector, the Government sets wages by decree; public sector
unions act only in an informal advisory capacity.

There are no export processing zones in Zaire.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The law prohibits forced labor, and it is not practiced.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The legal minimum age for employment is 18 years.  Employers
may legally hire minors 14 and older with the consent of a
parent or guardian, but those under 16 may work a maximum of 4
hours per day; youth between 16 and 18 may work up to 8 hours.
Although the law bars minors under 18 from a wide variety of
jobs deemed dangerous or unhealthy, authorities do not
generally enforce these regulations.  Employment of children of
all ages is common in the informal economic sector and in
subsistence agriculture.  Neither the Ministry of Labor, which
is responsible for enforcement, nor the labor unions, make an
effort to enforce child labor laws.  Larger enterprises do not
commonly exploit child labor.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

Most Zairians are engaged in subsistence agriculture or
commerce outside the formal wage sector.  The minimum wage,
last adjusted by Government decree in 1990, continued to be
irrelevant due to rapid inflation.  Most workers relied on the
extended family and informal economic activity to survive.

The maximum legal workweek (excluding voluntary overtime) is
48 hours.  One 24-hour rest period is required every 7 days.
The Labor Code specifies health and safety standards.  The
Ministry of Labor is officially charged with enforcement of
these standards.  However, the International Labor Organization
Committee of Experts again expressed concern about the
inadequacy of reporting during previous years, blaming this
unsatisfactory performance on the dearth of human and material
resources provided to the Ministry.  There are no provisions in
the Labor Code permitting workers to remove themselves from
dangerous work situations without penalty.