The Republic of Congo gained independence from

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

in 1960. It was a one-party Marxist–Leninist state from 1969 to 1991. Multi-party elections have been held since 1992, although a democratically elected government was ousted in the 1997 civil war and President

Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as ...

has ruled for 26 of the past 36 years. The political stability and development of hydrocarbon production made the Republic of the Congo the fourth largest oil producer in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in ...

region, providing the country with relative prosperity despite instability in some areas and unequal distribution of oil revenue nationwide.
The Congolese Human Right Observatory claims a number of unresolved and pending issues in the country.
Discrimination against Pygmies is widespread, the result of cultural biases, especially traditional relationships with the Bantu, as well as more contemporary forms of exploitation.

General situation

According to The Congolese Human Right Observatory, notable issues in the country include: unsatisfactory access to water and electricity, the dispossession of indigenous and local communities by multinational corporations in complicity with local authorities, a significant number of political prisoners, repression of foreign journalists via legal proceedings and attacks by police, general limiting of political freedoms, violations of the right to a fair trial, rape and other forms of sexual assault, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, summary executions, ill-treatment within prisons, discrimination and marginalization of indigenous peoples in spite of a specific laws protecting them, and threats against human rights defenders.

Status of Pygmies

According to some reports, the relation between

Pygmies In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...

and Bantus in all areas of the country is "strained, lopsided and, some say, abusive". While some claim that the bondage is a "time-honored tradition", others point at the fact that Pygmies can be paid "at the master's whim; in cigarettes, used clothing, or even nothing at all." Pygmies are negatively impacted by the actions of landowners, foresters and miners, which severely impacts upon their nomadic lifestyles in the forests of northern Congo. On 30 December 2010, the Congo parliament adopted a law for the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples. This law is the first of its kind in Africa, and its adoption is a historic development for indigenous peoples on the continent. However, a report in 2015 suggested that not much changed, with Pygmies still being persecuted as "poachers". A Bayaka woman in Congo said “the ecoguards nti-poaching squadsmake us sit here starving. They have ruined our world. If we try to hunt in the forest they beat us so badly. They even kill us if they see us in the forest.” A 2019 report by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

found that despite the actions of the Congolese government, Pygmies still experienced discrimination and severe social exclusion.

Media

The media is classed as non-free. It is owned or controlled by the government. There is one government-owned television station, three government-owned radio stations, and three private pro-government radio stations, and a government-owned newspaper.

Historical situation

The following chart shows the ROC's ratings since 1972 in the

Freedom in the World ''Freedom in the World'' is a yearly survey and report by the U.S.-based non-governmental organization Freedom House that measures the degree of civil liberties and political rights in every nation and significant related and disputed territori ...

reports, published annually by Freedom House. A rating of 1 is "free"; 7, "not free".

International treaties

The ROC's stances on international human rights treaties are as follows:

Notes

:1.Note that the "Year" signifies the "Year covered". Therefore the information for the year marked 2008 is from the report published in 2009, and so on. :2.As of January 1. :3.The 1982 report covers the year 1981 and the first half of 1982, and the following 1984 report covers the second half of 1982 and the whole of 1983. In the interest of simplicity, these two aberrant "year and a half" reports have been split into three year-long reports through interpolation.

References

External links

2012 Annual Report
by Amnesty International
Freedom in the World 2012 Report
by Freedom House {{Republic of the Congo topics