BB, Communication Ho. 463/1991, D.B.-B. v. Zaire (decision of 8 November 1991. adopted at the forty-third session) Submitted by: D.B.-B. (name deleted) Alleged victim: The author State partyi Zaire Date of communication* 27 March 1991 (initial submission) The Human Rights Committee, established under article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Meeting on 8 November 1991, Adopts the following: on admissibility 1. The author of the communication (initial submission dated 27 March 1991 and subsequent correspondence) is D.B.-B., a Zairian citizen aged 27, currently residing in Geneva, Switzerland, with refugee status. He claims to be the victim of a violation by Zaire of articles 6, 19 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Sights. Facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author was a student at the University of Lubumbashi, Zaire. He states that, since 1989, the social and the political tensions in Zaire have considerably increased. The main contributing factors were the personality cult and the model of one-party State, which the opposition openly put into question. In order to avoid the risk of a civil war. President Mobutu Sese Seko announced, in April 1990, that Zaire would cease to be a oneparty State and that the creation of two new political parties and independent trade unions would be permitted. Moreover, the ruling party was renamed and a new Constitution was adopted in July 1990. However, in spite of the several concessions made by the President with a view to promoting the process of democratization of the country, the repression of the political opposition, including students, has not diminished. 2.2 It is further submitted that, on 11 May 1990, during a night raid at Lubumbashi University campus, several members of the security police dressed in civilian clothes attacked the students and allegedly killed between 100 and 150 of them, injuring hundreds of others. Reportedly, the raid was organized after 30 students accused of being government informers had been seized by other students. The author, who purportedly witnessed the slaughter carried out by the security forces on the campus, fled to Switzerland in September 1990, where he sought and obtained political asylum. -432-