Activists Claude Lwaboshi Buhazi (32), Faustin Ombeni Tulinabo (26) and Serge Mikindo Waso (33), members of the citizen movement, Jicho la Raiya (The Eye of the Citizens) were arrested on 18 February in Kirotshe, in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, as they were preparing to take part in a peaceful protest against “illegal road taxation” and allegations of mismanagement at the Kirotshe health district. They were accused of defamation and jailed at the police station in Kirotshe before being transferred to Goma Central Prison on 2 March. On 26 November, their request for release on bail was rejected by a military magistrate in Goma. Amnesty International calls for the three activists’ immediate and unconditional release.
