CONGO: Crack-downs on Kinshasa's homeless target oppositon candidate supporters, include women and children

Homeless women and children in the Congolese capital Kinshasa protest at being arrested. Amongst the homeless, many children, even babies. One man claims he is innocent of any crime. Crack-downs on the homeless of Kinshasa, including men, women and children, have become common-place following clashes between rival political groups in Kinshasa, with police accusing homeless people of siding with opposition presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba. Feuding between two political groups - one loyal to Congolese President Joseph Kabila and the other to Bemba - ahead of final election results, expected on November 19 - has resulted in a series of battles in the streets of the capital. After last Saturday's (November 11) fighting, police rounded up hundreds of people from the area around Bemba's office including street children, who are generally regarded as backing Bemba and some of whom have taken part in his rowdier demonstrations. Kinshasa's governor issued a statement saying 87 minors, 35 women including three with babies, and 215 other adults rounded up at the weekend would be given training to enable them to get jobs. The round-ups point to the crumbling social infrastructure of the Congo, emphasising just how crucial a peaceful transition to a new government, and affective government, are to the country. The elections in Congo are aimed at ushering in a new era after a 1998-2003 war that killed some four million people, mostly from hunger and disease, and crippled a nation already on its knees after decades of dictatorship and corruption. With no support from the government and just a handful of charities offering assistance, groups of children and youthful street hawkers roam the crumbling capital's streets. Although many of those detained are quickly freed, others including women and children spend prolonged periods in police custody. Local and foreign human rights organisations have called the round-ups a huge violation of the rights of street children, many of whom find their way onto the streets after being accused by their families of practising witchcraft. The police have denied any political motivation behind the detentions, saying they were merely part of the fight against criminals and bandits. "This is a police mission. We have arrested some people suspected of having committed crimes. After investigating we will decide whether to press charges against them and they will be transferred where they belong," said General Sapiti, a local police commander. Aid organisations estimate that the number of abandoned children in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital has roughly doubled over the last 10 years to around 40,000 -- victims of warfare and economic decline in the central African country. Up to 70 percent of them have been accused of sorcery, according to Human Rights Watch, often when the death or separation of their parents made it tough for their families to care for them. Rape of both boys and girls is commonplace. The problem has become so acute that the former Belgian colony's constitution, approved last year as part of a democratic transition after the 1998-2003 war, included a clause forbidding charges of witchcraft against children. African society has traditionally prided itself on close-knit families, allowing children to be raised by relatives if their parents die or suffer misfortune. But a combination of economic hardship and migration to overcrowded cities has frayed such ties. After three decades of kleptocracy under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, many Congolese hoped the first free elections in more than 40 years in July would usher in peace and prosperity. But with bitter rivals President Joseph Kabila and his Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba competing in a presidential run-off this month, there are fears little will change for street children.

ITN Source | November 17, 2006

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