In regard to human rights, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in need of systematic reform and significant constitutional improvements. The county is suffering from many hardships such as food shortages, displacement of people, and violence from armed groups. Abductions, rape, and massacres facilitated by government security forces have left the people of the DRC scared and in need of defending their human rights.
The idea of ethnocentric nationality in the DRC has contributed to the issues in human rights. “Due to the Congolese law of nationality by birth being grounded in ethnicity, Congolese nationality has been and remains subject to political manipulation…” (Buzard, David). This is one way the government has been negligent of human rights and used legislation to maintain hegemony over its people. “…the basic Congolese nationality law – anchored in the Congolese constitution- perpetuates a legal framework for racial division which does nothing to hinder but only enables malicious sympathies that tend towards exclusion, persecution, expulsion and genocide.” (Buzard, David). These systematic violations of human rights, rooted in ethnocentrism, are limiting the freedom and expression of the people in the DRC. Only vast political change could create chance for better human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Works Cited:
Buzard, David A. “Ethnocentric Nationality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: An Analysis under International Human Rights Law.” African Human Rights Law Journal, vol. 21, no. 2, 2021, pp. 985-1008. HeinOnline, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/afrhurlj21&i=1009.
Democratic Republic of Congo | Country Page | World | Human Rights Watch. (2022b, July 25). https://www.hrw.org/africa/democratic-republic-congo
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2020-01/democratic-republic-congo-president-pope-conflict-humanitarian.html