At the request of organisations and citizens opposed to the government of Mobutu Sese Seko, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal held a session on Zaire in Rotterdam from 18 to 20 September 1982. The session examined political repression and systematic human rights violations in the country, as well as the economic crisis, and analysed the responsibilities of the regime and the role of Western powers and international financial institutions in the Zairian context.
In its Judgement, the Tribunal recognised the authoritarian nature of Mobutu’s regime and described the situation in Zaire as being characterised by boundless institutional violence. The Tribunal stated that Zaire’s sovereignty had been compromised by an economic model dependent on foreign interests, and emphasised the need for a new international economic order based on the effective exercise of peoples’ rights.
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