Lubaya Condemns Seven Months of Detention Without Trial for PPRD Officials

KINSHASA, June 25, 2026 - Exiled opposition figure André Claudel Lubaya has denounced the continued detention of senior officials of the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), saying their prolonged incarceration without trial undermines the rule of law and raises serious concerns about respect for fundamental rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In an opinion piece, Lubaya criticized what he described as the "deafening political and judicial silence" surrounding the cases of Aubin Minaku, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary and Dunia Kilanga, senior members of former President Joseph Kabila's party who have been detained since late 2025 and early 2026.

More than seven months after their arrests, Lubaya questioned the legal basis for their continued detention, asking what charges had been brought against them, what investigative steps had been taken and why judicial proceedings had not advanced.

"On these fundamental questions, the persistent silence of the proceedings inevitably fuels doubts," he wrote.

Lubaya also alleged that the detainees had been transferred repeatedly between undisclosed detention facilities without their families or legal representatives being informed of their whereabouts.

He argued that such practices violate the basic principles of the rule of law and deprive detainees of judicial oversight and access to legal counsel.

"When a state deprives citizens of their freedom, removes them from their families, their lawyers and the oversight of judges, it is not merely taking away their liberty-it is making them disappear from the realm of the law," Lubaya said. "A democracy cannot tolerate citizens being relegated to the blind spots of justice."

The opposition figure also criticized what he described as the limited reaction of human rights organizations and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's international partners to the continued detention of opposition politicians.