IAPL
Armed assailants recently attacked the home of Congolese environment lawyer Timothée Mbuya. Mbuya, head of human rights NGO Justicia, is fighting a defamation lawsuit related to his criticism of a farm owned by the former president of DRC, Joseph Kabila. While it has not yet been established who was behind the attack on Mbuya’s home, campaigners say it fits a broader pattern of harassment and intimidation of activists in Katanga province and beyond.
?Congolese activist Timothée Mbuya, has reportedly faced physical and legal threats.
Timothée, a land rights #defender, has documented and spoken up to protect #DRC vital ecosystems from destructive projects.
— Global Witness (@Global_Witness) January 20, 2022
At around midnight on Jan. 12, at least six men, armed with hammers and AK-47s and wearing balaclavas, smashed a large hole in the wall to gain entry to the property in Lubumbashi, the Katanga provincial capital, where Mbuya’s wife and children and several members of his extended family were sleeping.
For more than an hour, the men threatened to kill family members, including the activist’s 9-year-old son, unless they gave up his father’s location. The attackers, two of whom Mbuya says were dressed as police officers, eventually left, taking mobile phones, a laptop, and jewelry.
“They repeatedly stated they were sent to kill me,” Mbuya told Mongabay by phone from an undisclosed location.
Mbuya said he believes the attack is linked to a report on encroachment into protected areas published by Justicia in September 2021, which among other things alleged that Kabila’s farm, Ferme Espoir, has illegally encroached on Kundelungu National Park.
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