Roger Bouka Owoko: he is still a member of the Congolese human
rights and defense group called Organisation Congolaise des Droit the L’homme
abbreviated in French as OCDH. Although incapacitated because of poor health,
which has forced him to leave not only the limelight, but also to hand over his
responsibility and function to Tresor Nzila, his successor. The tenacity and
determination of Roger Bouka Owoko in defying the state, has contributed immensely
not only in exposing several aspects of human rights violations carried out by
the Congolese government, but also its crass corruption practices. He made his
mark in the 2005 trial of top government soldiers or officers, who were accused
of having orchestrated the disappearance of 352 Congolese refuges, who had
returned from exile in the DRC. That massacre and disappearance, one of the
many committed by the government of Denis Sassou Nguesso since he came to power
in 1997, is generally known as in French as les Massacre du Beach.
It
took place in 1999. Thanks to Roger
Owoko and other activists like lawyer Herve Amboise Malonga, it is now been evident
that, the 2005 Beach Trial was held in a Kangaroo court wherein the government
did everything not only to absolve itself from accusations, but also all
officers indicted. The so-called beach
trial was a sham. If Congo has recorded albeit a small improvement in the area
of the respect of human rights, which has sadly been lost since 2012, it is
partly because of the contribution of people such as Roger Owoko. His only
regret is that, in the area of the fight against corruption, a new front he
wanted to open, his poor health has not helped him to reach the goal that had
set for himself and his organization. Their goal was a massive exposure of
those who were stealing state money. OCDH
under him was ready to publish a list to name and shame all those who were embezzling
state funds.
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