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Democratic Republic of Congo: Whether the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has civilian administrators and, if so, whether they are supervised by military personnel

The following information was provided by the Executive Director of Friends of the Congo, a Washington-based human rights organization working to improve the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (Friends of the Congo n.d.), in correspondence to the Research Directorate on 8 February 2008:

Like anywhere else, there are civilians working in the civilian administration of the army starting with the Department of Defense. However, the Congo is unlike any other country when it comes to how events unfold and things get done. What happens in the DRC is based on one's connections not necessarily who is supervised by whom. The DRC is not yet a society of the rule of law, therefore, notions of rule of law and chain of command must be regarded with severe scrutiny.

A senior official at the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo – MONUC) stated the following in correspondence to the Research Directorate on 14 February 2008:

There are no civilians within the FARDC (Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo) structure other than clerical or low-level administrative staff. All others, even the ones who wear civilian clothes to work, are in the military.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Friends of the Congo. 8 February 2008. Correspondence from the Executive Director.
_____. N.d. "About Us." <http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/about/index.php> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]

Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo (MONUC). 14 February 2008. Correspondence from a senior official.

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Africa Action did not have information on the subject.

Attempts to contact the TransAfrica Forum were unsuccessful.

The embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Ottawa did not provide information within the time constraints of this Response.

Publication: Defense and Foreign Affairs Handbook.

Internet sites, including: AllAfrica.com, Amnesty International (AI), L'Avenir [Kinshasa], British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), European Country of Origin Information Network (ecoi.net), Factiva, Freedom House, GlobalSecurity.org, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), International Crisis Group (ICG), Jeuneafrique.com, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Le Phare [Kinshasa], Le Potentiel [Kinshasa], United Kingdom Home Office Country of Origin Information Service, United States Department of State, World News Connection (WNC).