ECPM has been working with Culture pour la Paix et la Justice (CPJ asbl) in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 2005, when the NGOs carried out a joint fact-finding mission on the conditions of detention of prisoners on death row in DRC. This first report won the Human Rights Prize awarded by the French Republic. A second fact-finding mission report, “Towards a Silent Death”, was published in 2019 and provided some elements of information that was previously unknown to the public and the authorities.
ECPM and CPJ work together to boost advocacy with national authorities on the abolition of the death penalty and to build the capacity of the actors involved, at the level of the parliament and civil society, including by organising a series of round tables, workshops and conferences. The actions carried out also aim to increase transparency on the issue, in particular in relation to conditions of detention on death row, and to raise the awareness of young people on the issue of the abolition of the death penalty. The activist spirit of the country’s young people is growing and is reflected in particular in the participation of many of them in the abolition poster competition organised by ECPM every year.
ECPM and CPJ work closely with the Human Rights Commission (CNDH-RDC), the Réseau des parlementaires congolais contre la peine de mort, the Réseau des avocats congolais contre la peine de mort and the Coalition congolaise contre la peine de mort.
