officers and some customers as a result of
his allegedly aggressive behaviour. The
victim���s family had filed a complaint against
the police in January, alleging that the
investigation was not thorough; their lawyer
criticized the police for failing to secure the
scene and evidence.
In May, the Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights urged the
Czech authorities to remove a pig farm from
the site of a former Nazi concentration camp,
where most of the victims were Roma, in the
village of Lety u Písku. While appreciating the
government’s efforts to buy the land, the
Commissioner was concerned over the length
of the process, and the government’s
repeated failure to remove the pig farm and
create a memorial as a measure of reparation
for the Roma who suffered and died there
during the Second World War. In November,
the government signed a contract to buy off
the land from the owner of the pig farm and
made a commitment to build a memorial on
the site.
SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
The Czech Republic continued to export
arms to countries where there was a
substantial risk that such arms could be used
to commit or facilitate serious human rights
violations, including the unlawful use of force
against protesters or opposition groups. In
May, during an arms fair in the city of Brno,
the President stated that the Czech arms
industry needed to “export globally”, denying
that the country had responsibility to prevent
the re-export of its equipment to countries
which are “not safe”.
144
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Head of state: Joseph Kabila
Head of government: Bruno Tshibala Nzenze (replaced
Samy Badibanga Ntita in April)
The human rights situation further
deteriorated. Violence in the Kasaï region
left thousands dead, at least 1 million
internally displaced, and caused more than
35,000 people to flee for neighbouring
Angola. In the east, armed groups and
government forces continued to target
civilians and engage in illegal exploitation
of natural resources with impunity. Police,
intelligence services and courts continued
to crack down on the rights to freedom of
expression, association and peaceful
assembly. Human rights defenders and
journalists were harassed, intimidated,
arbitrarily arrested, expelled or killed.
BACKGROUND
President Kabila remained in post although
his second constitutional term ended on 19
December 2016. A political agreement was
signed in December 2016 by the ruling
coalition, the opposition and some civil
society organizations. It provided that
President Kabila would remain in power, and
a government of national unity would be
appointed, led by a Prime Minister
designated by the Rassemblement, the main
opposition, with the task of organizing the
elections by December 2017. The agreement
established the National Council for the
Implementation of the Accord and the
Electoral Process (CNSA) to monitor
progress, led by Rassemblement leader
Etienne Tshisekedi. The agreement included
a commitment by President Kabila to adhere
to the constitutional two-term limit and not
undertake a revision or change of the
Constitution. Implementation of the
Amnesty International Report 2017/18
Select target paragraph3
Add to table of contents