NAME OF MECHANISM

Sovereign National Conference (Alternative Process)

YEARS OF OPERATION

Opened sessions on the 7th August 1991; temporarily closed in January 2002 by Prime Minister Nguz-A-Karl-I-Bond; and then worked uninterrupted from April to December 2002.

MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: Established by Mobutu’s government, under pressure of political parties (UDPS), CSOs and the International Community.

The conference claimed to be a democratic forum of all relevant forces of former Zaire, and was tasked with

1) interrogating the country’s history and question how and

2) finding a way to deal with the multidimensional crisis (political, economic, social, cultural and moral).

Outcome: Recommendations regarding the establishment of political institutions to manage the country’s transition to multiparty democracy.

Staff: Chaired by Catholic Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, the respected chair of the Bishops' Conference.

RESULTS

The conference adopted a series of resolutions in different commissions; however these were not officially endorsed by the government, and the institutions to deal with the transition were not established.

FINAL REPORT

Note: After the initial suspension of this conference, a protest entitled the “March of Hope” was organised by religious communities in order to advocate the re-opening of the conference. Unfortunately, 30 people were killed and hundreds injured during their attempt to resume the conference.

To access, a more detailed report of the events of 1992, please refer to the Human Rights Watch Report at:

http://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/WR93/ Afw-11.htm#P526_223500