Kinshasa, 22/11/2022
An article published on farmlandgrab.org (author: Jean-François Mombia Atuku, President of the NGO RIAO) on November 10, 2022, falsely reports recent police and military activities in Boteka and Lokutu, Democratic Republic of Congo, as ordered by their respective provincial governments.
In Boteka, growing insecurity in the area had led to staff of Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), being threatened daily by aggressive theft organizations who steal from the company's plantations on a large scale. Because of this situation, PHC filed a complaint against "unknown" for theft and anarchic construction with the Prosecutor at the Court of Appeals in Equateur in late April 2022. Given the extent of the insecurity, the Provincial Governor and his Provincial Security Council went to Boteka to raise awareness among the population on April 20 and 21, 2022.
Despite this visit by provincial authorities, the situation has worsened with the confiscation of police weapons by local criminal organizations, which has led to an increase in armed attacks against PHC staff and communities. As a result, the company sent a letter to the Governor of Equateur Province and the Attorney General of the Republic requesting their involvement in finding peaceful solutions to this insecurity. After reviewing the veracity of PHC’s complaints, the Equateur Province Security Council decided to send a joint mission of the Congolese National Police (PNC) and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) independently of PHC.
In presenting the origin of the mission's deployment on the farmlandgrab.org website, Mr. Mombia stated that the soldiers and police "were sent by the Attorney General, based on a request from the company Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC).” This statement is a misrepresentation of the facts because, as noted above, PHC's request was limited to a solicitation for the involvement of the authorities in the search for a peaceful solution; PHC has neither the authority nor the power to dictate the activities of the DRC's law enforcement agencies.
The joint mission was deployed on September 17, 2022 under the authority of the Attorney General. The mission requisitioned vehicles and PHC personnel to assist in the execution of its orders. During the operations in Boteka, the only injury recorded among those apprehended was a minor accidental injury to the arm. The wounded man was treated at the PHC hospital.
Reporting on this incident in his article, Mr. Mombia invents violent behavior on the part of the police and military, alleging that "the contingent of soldiers, police and guards went on a rampage through local villages looking for evidence of theft. Villagers interviewed by RIAO said they broke into homes, arbitrarily arrested people, damaged property, and committed numerous other human rights violations. According to some allegations, they beat and tortured villagers, shot and wounded several villagers, raped female villagers, and burned houses.” These allegations are completely false and have not been published by any other organization except RIAO.
In Lokutu, as detailed in a press release published on the PHC website on October 28, XNUMX the PNC conducted an operation on October 2022, 25 to dismantle a large organized crime ring operating out of the village of Yakote in the Yahuma territory. This action was part of direct orders from the Governor of the Tshopo Province to restore the rule of law in the region. Prior to the police operation, several community leaders had expressed concern to local authorities about insecurity in the area, and PHC had filed a complaint with provincial authorities about violent and armed attacks on its staff.
Therefore, the October 25, 2022 operation was a targeted police mission to dismantle said criminal organization, whose members had been identified by the Yahuma Territory Administrator on October 22, 2022. The police requisitioned PHC industrial guards to more easily find where the criminals were hiding. None of those arrested in the incident were injured, but one police officer suffered minor injuries and was treated at the PHC hospital. Police also recovered several firearms that were being illegally held by those arrested.
Although the mission was without incident, Mr. Mombia alleged in his article that "a heavily armed contingent of 100 national police and FARDC soldiers arrived to enforce the ban. They forced their way into people's homes, made arbitrary arrests, destroyed their property and homes and committed numerous other human rights violations".
The article written by Mr. Mombia contains many additional false and libelous allegations:
- The article refers to a fabricated incident involving the “contingent of armed national police, soldiers, PHC security guards and guards from the private security company G4S” on September 24, 2022 in Lokutu, which is impossible since no law enforcement was deployed prior to the aforementioned community meeting on October 22, 2022.
- The article misrepresents another incident in Lokutu, where it is claimed that a violent police operation took place in the villages of Wamba and Bongemba on October 25, 2022, resulting in the hospitalization of several community members. The real event took place in the village of Yakote on October 26, 2022, during which police apprehended known thieves without incident.
- The article states that "the company offers only a very limited number of full-time jobs, and most of the jobs offered to local villagers are day laborers, with low wages that do not cover the cost of living." This statement is slanderous because not only is PHC among the largest employers in the DRC and fully compliant with Congolese law regarding wages in the agricultural sector, but also because PHC has ended the practice of day laborers since July 2021.
- Finally, the article falsely states that PHC is attempting to override the ICM mediation process that is underway with the communities, and that the current insecurity is the reason why the mediation has not yet taken place. The ICM has not released any information regarding the nature of the delays in its process, and any attempt by outside actors to determine the reason is pure speculation. PHC negotiators are in constant contact with the mediators and welcome them whenever they are on site as was the case in May 2022 and August 2022. PHC strongly condemns all accusations against the company that PHC is seeking to establish a parallel mediation process in defiance of the ongoing mediation. The company remains firmly committed to the mediation process and will see it through to completion. This commitment does not prevent the PHC from continuing its efforts to maintain good relations with communities and to periodically organize meetings with community leaders to discuss the progress of the projects included in the social clauses signed between the communities and the company.
PHC’s vision of creating shared prosperity through agribusiness is central to all aspects of the company's operations, and the company continues to invest heavily in creating opportunities in the regions where it operates. PHC has expanded its community development program in 2022, adding to the more than $10 million already invested in critical housing, transportation, health and education infrastructure. PHC has also committed to supporting the 145 Territories Local Development Program (PDL145T) by producing quality food crop seeds to contribute to food security and create opportunities for improving the well-being of the Congolese people.
PHC strongly condemns the gross misrepresentation of the facts regarding the activities of the provincial governments in September and October 2022, as presented in the article written by Mr. Jean-François Mombia Atuku of RIAO-RDC.
PHC is dismayed that the FARMLANDGRAB.ORG website, operated by GRAIN, has once again failed to take care to verify the facts published on its website in order to ensure the accuracy of the information. The company calls on the managers of this website to put in place appropriate verification systems to prevent future dissemination of false information.