Congo police, accused of brutality, receive EU-funded training — Congolese riot police retreat as a Molotov cocktail explodes infront of them on the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday 25 July 2006. Thousands of Congolese rioted Tuesday throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police calling for a boycott of the elections saying they will not be free and fair. The DRC holds its first democratic presidential elections in more than 40 years on July 30. Opposition parties warn of bloodshed if the elections go ahead without addressing various concerns about vote-rigging. EPA/NIC BOTHMA

Congolese police, often accused of torture and ill-treatment, will receive a three-year training programme funded by five million euros ($5.4 million) from the European Union, officials said Tuesday.

The programme will help “police forces to better manage people in custody”, said Congo-Brazzaville’s Interior Minister Raymond Zephyrin Mboulou, who launched the project.

“The main objective is to support the Congolese government in promoting respect for human rights among police forces, by preventing all forms of torture,” said Herve Le Pennec, the project’s lead expert.

“Priority will be given to improving day-to-day police work and strengthening the role of the police in the criminal justice system, in order to improve citizens’ access to justice”, he added.

MORE FROM AFRIUPDATE

The volcanic Mount Nyiragongo stands within the Virunga National Park near Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, in this satellite image taken on August 9, 2023

DR Congo Conflict Fuels Forest Loss

July 17, 2024

A United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) armoured personnel carrier (APC) drives through a road in Rhoe camp for the internally displaced people (IDPs) in Djugu's territory, north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Reuters/File)

DR Congo, Rwanda ‘must walk back from brink of war’: US

February 21, 2024

A woman walks through traffic in the popular Ndjili neighborhood in Kinshasa on December 15, 2023. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP)

DR Congo: Streets in Kinshasa flooded as heavy rain causes Congo river to burst its banks

January 15, 2024

A Police officer throws a rock as opposition supporters run into a opposition leader Martin Fayulus party house during a demonstration in Kinshasa on December 27, 2023. - Police were deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa on December 27, 2023 during a banned demonstration against recent elections in the fragile central African state.Leading opposition politicians in impoverished but mineral-rich DRC have rejected last week's vote, which was marred by severe delays and bureaucratic disarray, and called for a demonstrations. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP)

Police prevent election protest in DR Congo capital

December 29, 2023

In 2018, at least 13 young people were found dead as a result of torture in the police station in the Mpila district of Brazzaville.

Six other people died at the capital’s Central Police Station in similar conditions in 2020, according to the Development Actions Centre (CAD) rights group.

“Torture is a sad reality in Congo. The police and law enforcement agencies are not sufficiently professional, so they need to be trained,” Joseph Likibi, national coordinator of children’s charity REIPER, told AFP.

Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.