GUIDE JURIDIQUE POUR LES DÉFENSEURS ET DÉFENSEUSES DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT EN RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO

The document provides a comprehensive legal framework for environmental and land rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), detailing the risks they face from extractive industries, agribusiness, and conservation efforts. It outlines fundamental rights guaranteed by the DRC Constitution and international treaties, and lists specific judicial and non-judicial mechanisms for seeking justice, including the role of civil society and international bodies like the UN and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

• Environmental and land rights defenders in the DRC face significant risks of incarceration and political violence, often driven by conflicts over resources in the mining, hydrocarbon, agribusiness, and conservation sectors.
• The DRC lacks a specific national law to protect human rights defenders, meaning they must rely on general citizen rights found in the Constitution, decrees, and ratified international treaties.
• Indigenous peoples, specifically Pygmy groups representing 1% of the population, are highly vulnerable to rights violations and lack a domestic law to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, despite the DRC's adherence to it.
• The DRC's land tenure system is characterized by a lack of formal recognition for customary land ownership, with the 1973 land law placing previously customary lands under State ownership.
• Women environmental defenders are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence (GBV) used as a tool for control and silencing, and they face greater obstacles in accessing justice than men.
• Conservation policies in the DRC have historically led to the expulsion of local communities and indigenous peoples from protected areas, which cover 11.2% of the country's total area.
• The 2014 law on nature conservation and Decree n° 14/18 of 2014 introduced legal innovations, such as requiring prior consultation with local communities and allowing the State to grant forest concessions to local communities under traditional land ownership.
• Preventive detention is frequently used against defenders in the DRC, often exceeding legal time limits and occurring without state-provided legal assistance.
• National judicial mechanisms for human rights violations include the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, and the Constitutional Court, while military courts may substitute for common law courts during a state of siege, as seen in North Kivu.
• Defenders can access non-judicial national protections through the Ministry of Justice and the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), as well as support from civil society organizations and emergency funds like the one administered by Natural Justice.
• International and regional recourse is available after domestic remedies are exhausted, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and various UN treaty bodies, though the DRC has not yet allowed individuals or NGOs to directly seize the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.

APA

Vermoortel, M. (2023). GUIDE JURIDIQUE POUR LES DÉFENSEURS ET DÉFENSEUSES DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT EN RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO. Natural Justice. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/DRC-HANDBOOK-FOR-ENVIRONMENTAL-AND-LAND-RIGHTS-DEFENDERS-DIGITAL.pdf

Chicago

Vermoortel, Maureen. GUIDE JURIDIQUE POUR LES DÉFENSEURS ET DÉFENSEUSES DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT EN RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO. Natural Justice, 2023. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/DRC-HANDBOOK-FOR-ENVIRONMENTAL-AND-LAND-RIGHTS-DEFENDERS-DIGITAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Vermoortel |first1=Maureen |title=GUIDE JURIDIQUE POUR LES DÉFENSEURS ET DÉFENSEUSES DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT EN RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO |publisher=Natural Justice |date=July 2023 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/DRC-HANDBOOK-FOR-ENVIRONMENTAL-AND-LAND-RIGHTS-DEFENDERS-DIGITAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vermoortel2023guide, author = {Vermoortel, Maureen}, title = {{GUIDE JURIDIQUE POUR LES DÉFENSEURS ET DÉFENSEUSES DE L’ENVIRONNEMENT EN RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/DRC-HANDBOOK-FOR-ENVIRONMENTAL-AND-LAND-RIGHTS-DEFENDERS-DIGITAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }