The sentencing of 13 activists to one year in prison in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for speaking out against the government-imposed “state of siege” is an example of the curtailing of freedom in the public space, according to activists and human rights experts.
“The conviction of these 13 activists solely for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly is yet another outrageous and shameful attempt to root out dissent in the DRC,” said Flavia Mwangovya, deputy director of Amnesty International for East Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Region.
