Congo-Brazzaville: more than 560 young people missing since the launch of the "Zero Kuluna" operation, according to the OCDH

More than 560 young people have been reported missing in Congo-Brazzaville as part of the "Zero Kuluna" operation, according to the conclusions of an investigation presented on Tuesday, September 22 by the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH).

According to the organization, 561 young people are now missing, with no news of their fate, since the launch of this operation to fight urban crime. The OCDH says it has been conducting this investigation since President Denis Sassou Nguesso entrusted the responsibility for this fight to his presidential guard a year ago.

Operation "Zero Kuluna" was originally intended to curb urban crime, particularly violence attributed to youth gangs known as "kuluna". But according to the OCDH, its implementation has been accompanied by a wave of disappearances affecting hundreds of young people, whose families remain unaccounted for.

The Congolese human rights organisation presented on Tuesday the results of its investigations, carried out over time, in order to document the extent of the phenomenon and to alert on the fate of these disappeared young people. The report comes as the involvement of the presidential guard in the conduct of this security operation raises questions about the transparency of the methods used.

The families of the disappeared are still waiting for information on the fate of their loved ones, one year after the launch of this large-scale security operation. The available information does not specify whether the Congolese authorities have reacted publicly to the conclusions of the OCDH investigation.

The case could revive the debate on the methods used in the fight against urban crime in Congo-Brazzaville, a year after the transfer of this mission to the presidential guard.