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Congo

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Map of Congo Last reviewed: 17 December 2007

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POLITICS

A new constitution, reaffirming the multi-party system was adopted in 2001 and endorsed by a referendum in January 2002. This provided for a strong Executive President, with a limit of 2 terms, but it increased the term length from 5 to 7 years. But the checks and balances between the executive and the legislature written into the 1992 constitution were lost. It also provides for a bicameral legislature elected every 5 years for the 137-member National Assembly, and 6 years for the upper house, the 66-member Senate. While retaining the principle of multiparty politics, the constitution banned parties organised on regional, ethnic or religious lines - in recognition of the damage caused by ethno-regional parties in the 1992-97 period.

Presidential elections were subsequently held in March 2002. They were managed by the Ministry of the Interior rather than an independent electoral commission. Most of the key candidates were either banned or withdrew at the last minute. This left Sassou-Nguesso to win virtually unopposed with 89% of the vote. The Legislative elections which followed in May and June brought a massive majority in the National Assembly for the PCT and its allies – together winning 117 out of 137 seats. There had been an almost total boycott by the opposition. The manipulation of the process, noted by EU and other Observers, provoked militias from the south to restart their insurgency. A fragile peace agreement was signed in March 2003, and exiled former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas returned to the country in October 2005. In January 2005, President Sassou-Nguesso appointed a new government made up exclusively of members of the PCT. The next presidential election is due in 2009.

BBC Africa Country Profile: Republic of Congo
BBC News: Africa

HUMAN RIGHTS

The human rights record of the Sassou-Nguesso government remains problematic. The security services are reported to be responsible for beatings, arbitrary arrest, looting and rape. Impunity is pervasive, and prison conditions are reported to be harsh. The judiciary is subject to political direction. Congo has 3 independent human rights organisations but the government is strongly intolerant of their reporting. The independent press is also less free and more controlled by the state than it was in the early 1990s. The trial of officers accused of involvement in the alleged massacre of more than 350 refugees at the Brazzaville river port in May 1999 – the ‘Beach affair’ - is ongoing at the Brazzaville Criminal Court.

Human Rights

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Congo

Address:

37 bis Rue Paul Valéry
75116 Paris
France


Telephone:

(00) 33 1 45 00 6057

Fax:

(00) 33 1 40 67 1733

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