6.4.1 Churches and Media
Churches and media are currently playing an important role in the oversight of security sector in general and of intelligence service in particular. Since the beginning of the political transition, intense media reporting of intelligence misconduct has been taking place in the DRC and has been made possible by the emerging communication and information technologies that allow individuals to access information without being bothered by government regulations. This unprecedented reporting on intelligence activities has raised public awareness and interest in the work of intelligence agencies. There are now so many media programmes on intelligence and security services which are presented on private and community radios and television as well as on the internet, and the public seems to have thirst for them (Respondent No. 5).
Through these programmes, intelligence failures are publicised but successes are rarely spoken about. This highlights the challenge for
intelligence agencies of being held to account by the media and confirms Omand’s argument that the world of secret intelligence and journalism have often been forced to interact but have never co-existed without stain (Omand2009:38). The depictions of intelligence in popular culture provide a fragmentary and distorting view of intelligence activity which leads the public to think that it understands the agencies and what they do (Dover 2009:201). But however incorrect this cultural representation of intelligence can be, it provides an understanding of who threatens the security of the state and why and it also forge an understanding of a common national bond with common values (idid, p. 202). Most importantly it allows the public to assess if the agencies are doing enough to contain or overturn threats to their security and it ultimately provides a justification for the public to hold agencies accountable.
Churches are also exercising check and balance on the Congolese government and its intelligence agencies. Despite the apparent good relation between the current regime and churches, the heads of religious confessions63 have always been critical of the government and intelligence agencies. They speak critically whenever the rights of the population are infringed by the government to the extent that they have sometimes been accused of siding with the opposition.
Since early 1990s when the process of democratisation began and throughout the transition period religious confessions have maintained the same position of speaking on behalf of millions of voiceless Congolese condemning abuses by government officials and security agents. Through their Peace and Justice Commissions, the Catholic and Protestant Church have been able to document and report on human rights abuses throughout the country, particularly those committed by intelligence agencies and foreign backed rebel groups. These two most popular churches in the DRC appear to have well organised and more
63There are 7 religious confessions in the DRC: Roman Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Orthodox, Revival Churches, Independants, and Kimbanguists
efficient intelligence services which professionally collect information inside the country and all around the Sub-Saharan region and process it more professionally than government agencies (Respondent No. 5).
One respondent confirmed during interview that ‘during war when we had no resources to effectively operate inside the two countries that were backing the rebels (Rwanda and Uganda) and when our intelligence services were highly infiltrated by the enemy, we benefitted a lot from both the networks of the Catholic Church and Protestant Church in those countries; the information we got from them helped us to act pre-emptively to counter some threats’ (Respondent No. 1).
Being aware of the popularity of the Church and its capacity to destabilise his government, President Kabila Junior made huge efforts to build a good relation with the Church.64 The notion of spiritual security has been invoked not only by him but also by his key political lieutenants to underline the connection between the Church and state security and intelligence services as it is currently the case in Russia where the connection has been made between Orthodoxy and the Federal Security Service (FSB) with a view to restoring its prestige, moral credibility and morale (Fedor 2011:162). The connection between the Church and the FSB in Russia has nurtured to the extent that a church representative sits on the new oversight body, the Public Council, tasked to conducting public oversight of the FSB’s activities.
In contrast, the heads of religious confessions at national as well as provincial levels receive special privileges from political authorities and heads of intelligence agencies in the DRC and have been invited to officiate during official ceremonies including the sworn-in ceremony of Joseph Kabila following the contested re-election in November 2011.65
64 A catholic priest was appointed by President Kabila to head the Independent Electoral Commission and to oversee the organisation of presidential and parliamentary elections in 2006. This priest was replaced by a protestant bishop who oversaw the organisation of elections in 2001.
65The controversial Zimbabween President Robert Mugabe was the only head of state present at this ceremony. All other heads of state and government
The linkages forged between state security and religion is viewed in the context of the drive to present the Congo Conflict as a conspiracy by neighbouring countries to occupy the eastern part of the country so as to reduce their high demographic catastrophes, and decisions by multinational companies to exploit natural resources for almost no price.
This relationship has led to national awakening which has made it impossible the balkanisation of the DRC (Respondent No.28). The rhetoric of ‘existential threat’ has become a central feature of current DRC discussions on national security and spiritual security as it is assumed that the international community wants to see the DRC divided into several mini-states that will be easy to control. To counter this existential threat, religious confessions are emphasising the special position of spiritual security in the defence of the state. Spiritual security is portrayed as the first line of defence which the enemy will seek to destroy by inculcating new values and ideas into people’s consciousness. And once people’s spirituality is destroyed, the enemies will move on to violate Congo’s territorial integrity.
Besides, the existing relationship between the church and the state has not stopped the Catholic and Protestant churches to conduct informal oversight of the intelligence agencies. The misdeeds of intelligence agencies are reported on Christian radios all over the country and church print media, and press conferences are held regularly during which the misconduct by security services are exposed and the government and parliament are called to take their responsibilities to end impunity and ensure that the rights of the people are protected.
Intelligence, which was once a taboo, is now making headlines and the Congolese people are becoming accustomed to it.
boycotted the ceremony and this proved how illegitimate Kabila’s reign is perceived both inside and outside the DRC
6.4.2. Human Rights NGOs and Culture
Just like the media and the Church, human rights NGOs are playing an important role in the oversight of Congolese intelligence. They have raised public awareness towards intelligence through public reports and education and have greatly increase people’s knowledge about intelligence. These human rights NGOs have a good knowledge of government activities and are usually informed about intelligence misconduct by whistle-blowers inside intelligence agencies. They also have amongst their members some intelligence experts from former governments, analysts from think-tanks and academics in educational institutes who play an important role in intelligence education and public awareness (Respondent No. 16). The relation between a variety of intelligence experts and local human rights organisations is increasing the attention of the population over intelligence matters and is consequently leading to the end of the narrow confinement of intelligence in the government’s sphere. There are reasons to believe that the consequential raise in public awareness will ultimately lead to more scrutiny and professional oversight by civil society organisations.
Another important driving force which has shaped the characteristics of intelligence oversight in the DRC is culture. Culture is here understood in its narrow sense as the customs and achievements of Congolese people during the transition period. According to Plato, governments vary as the dispositions of men vary, and there must be as many of the one as there are of the other. He argues that states are made of the human natures which are in them and not out of “oak and rock”
(Plato n.d.: 307). If it can be accepted that culture varies from one period of time to another within a society and is a force that can shape any human society, therefore intelligence as an activity of human society must also be influenced by this force. In relation to this, Adda Bozeman (1992:25) explains that intelligence and diplomacy are derivatives and expressions of the particular society, culture or ideology in terms of
which they are being activated; they are not conceptually autonomous universal givens. This view is also supported by Michael Herman (2001:138) who argues that ‘intelligence is an integral part of government, not an isolated activity; and it reflects the character of national constitutions and the societies in which it is set.’
The impact of cultural forces on intelligence oversight in the DRC can be measured the degree of public participation and of the freedom of expression, or just the political culture. The Congolese political culture is not a developed culture yet nor can it be described as a ‘participant culture’ even though people are developing the culture of expressing themselves and speaking freely about anything they do not agree with.
However, it is important to mention that the freedom of speech is protected by the Constitution and is making it possible for Congolese people to speak about their opinion without the fear of being arrested.
Although the fear of government retaliation is still there, Congolese people are becoming more sensitive to government activities and are playing a more active role in the affairs of the state. They increasingly scrutinize the activities of government—more particularly the activities of intelligence services—in order to ensure that they not misuse their power. Due to this new form of culture, Congolese intelligence agencies are subject to accountability and oversight by the pressure and power of the public.