Amnesty concern for human rights leader

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Friday expressed concern that human rights defender N’sii Luanda Shandwe had “disappeared” from the detention centre in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, where he had been held since 5 June. It seemed likely that N’sii Luanda, who is president of the human rights group Comite des observateurs des droits de l’homme, was arrested because of his human rights activism, Amnesty stated. Since his “disappearance”, he would now be at much greater risk of torture about his alleged contacts with suspected opponents of the government, it added. It appeared that N’sii Luanda had not been charged with a recognisably criminal offence and, in the absence of any charges, he should be released “immediately and unconditionally,” Amnesty stated. It urged the DRC authorities to inform his family where he was being held, and to allow N’sii legal and medical access. The NGO also urged the government in Kinshasa “to implement President Joseph Kabila’s public commitment in March 2001 to close all unofficial detention centres, promptly and fully, and to stop targeting human rights defenders solely because of their legitimate human rights work.”