Law enforcement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Law enforcement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has historically been focused on furthering the state's aims with no regard for human rights.

This unit became very quickly a strong political police dedicated to the safeguard of Mobutu's regime.

[4] On 22 April 1997, with the advent of the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques de Libération (AFDL), its President, Laurent Désiré Kabila restored the Congolese National Police by merging personnel from both the Gendarmerie and the Garde Civile.

For a long time, the former decrees creating the Gendarmerie and the Garde Civile remained in use, particularly in areas under rebel control.

Nevertheless, the Government of Kinshasa has issued a Decree-Law – 002/2002 dated 26 January 2002 – for the Congolese National Police for the whole country, even though it cannot be yet implemented in certain areas.