Congo - September 2025

At least 10 people were reported to have been extrajudicially killed in late September, as part of an operation conducted by the General Directorate of Presidential Security (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Présidentielle, DGSP), an elite unit responsible for the President’s security. As of the end of September, the operation had not been publicly acknowledged by the government, but news sources reported that it was targeting gang members known as ‘kulunas’ and that the DGSP was shooting suspects dead in the street. The Centre for Development Action (Centre d'Action pour le Développement, CAD), an NGO, claimed the 10 killings it had confirmed had been carried out without trial or prior investigation and that the actual death toll was likely to be much higher. Further, the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights (Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l'Homme, OCDH), another NGO, alleged that the DGSP lacked the legal authority to conduct law enforcement operations.         

Update: On 24 October, President Denis Sassou Nguesso confirmed that he had authorised the DGSP operation against gang members (‘Operation Zero Kuluna’), which he said had become a permanent mechanism to restore calm in urban areas. He indicated that other branches of the security agencies would join the operation and that it would be extended beyond the cities of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, where it has been focused. 

Sources: France 24, Africa News, Centre d'Action pour le Développement, CAD, Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l'Homme, OCDH, stn-info.net