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

This legal guide, published by Natural Justice in July 2023, provides environmental and land rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with information on their constitutional and statutory rights and the legal mechanisms available to remedy human rights violations.

• Environmental and land rights defenders in the DRC face significant risks, including incarceration and political violence, often driven by conflicts over mining, hydrocarbons, agribusiness, and conservation projects.
• The DRC lacks a specific national law protecting human rights defenders or environmental 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 1973 land law transferred customary lands to State ownership, meaning communities may have rights of enjoyment but cannot dispose of the land, which often facilitates land grabbing by foreign investors and political elites.
• 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.
• While the 2014 nature conservation law introduced requirements for prior consultation and compensation for local communities and indigenous peoples, these are often not applied, as seen with the Batwa people.
• Preventive detention is frequently used against defenders despite being legally defined as an exceptional measure; defenders often face a lack of state-funded legal aid and detention periods that exceed legal limits.
• In the province of South Kivu, a 2019 provincial edict provides a rare local legal framework for the protection of human rights defenders and journalists.
• National judicial mechanisms for human rights violations include the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, and the Constitutional Court, though military courts sometimes illegally try civilians, especially under states of siege.
• Non-judicial national protections include the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), which can conduct investigations and provide assistance to victims, and various civil society organizations and emergency funds.

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} }