"Yalisika trial: Logging and human rights in DRC", 8 June 2015

The NGO Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) welcomes the start of the trial concerning the attack on the village of Yalisika carried out in 2011. However, ASF is concerned that the perpetrators identified during the investigations have not yet been brought to trial…This trial also sends out a signal that the human rights of populations must be respected in connection with logging and industrial operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On 2 May 2011, around 60 policemen and military personnel entered the small village of Bosanga, located in Yalisika…During this operation, serious human rights violations were committed…This operation is said to have been a means of retaliation against villagers who had seized property belonging to the logging company SIFORCO in order to force it to enter into dialogue.