"Je voulais seulement aider" : L'histoire de Rachel*
When Rachel* stepped in to break up a street fight in her neighborhood, she never imagined it would lead to over a year behind bars—or that she would become one of the many women scarred by the horrors of the jailbreak attempt at Makala Central Prison. Arrested without cause and charged with assault simply for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Rachel found herself trapped in a justice system that failed to protect her. “I was just trying to separate a neigbour who was fighting with a man,” she recalls. “But when the police arrived, the man pointed at both of us. We were arrested and taken straight to prison.” What followed was a nightmare: a year and five months of unjust detention, surviving in inhumane conditions, and enduring one of the darkest nights of her life — the attempted mass jailbreak of September 2024. “That night, around 2 AM, men broke into our cells. There was no light. They started taking women out, raping them,” Rachel says, her voice trembling. “I was one of the victims.” While gunfire rang out and chaos spread, there was no protection, no help. The women were left to fend for themselves, and the trauma lingers. Despite the brutality she faced, no support was offered — not from the state, and not from the prison system. “They brought us low-quality medicine. That was it.” Rachel’s release came not through the state’s mercy, but through the relentless work of Ius Stella and our legal partners at KTF Lawyers. After months of being exploited by intermediaries who took her money without helping, Rachel says, “When KTF Lawyers got involved, I was finally freed.” Now back at her parents’ house in Kinshasa, she dreams of turning the page. With a talent for hairstyling, she hopes to open her own hair salon one day. “I know how to braid, style, and apply extensions. If I had my own salon, I could really make a living,” she says, her voice flickering with hope. But the scars remain — not just physical or emotional, but social too. “There’s a lot of shame,” she explains. “When people find out you were in prison, they treat you like you are a disease. Especially after what happened during the jailbreak… men don’t even want to come close to you.” Her story is not unique. And by telling it, we want to shine a light on the silence that surrounds prison abuse, wrongful detention, and the urgent need for reform. At Ius Stella, we believe that justice is more than getting released. Justice would mean acknowledgment, accountability, and compensation for what Rachel endured. And that is exactly why we will continue fighting to ensure that individuals who were wrongfully incarcerated get the justice they deserve and get compensated for the harm suffered behind bars. *Rachel is an alias used to protect the real identity of our client. Support our work Help us provide legal aid, psychosocial support, and a path to dignity for those wrongfully imprisoned. Join us today
Au mauvais endroit au mauvais moment : L’histoire de Gédéon
On January 1st, 2020, as the city of Kinshasa quietly welcomed the new year, Gédéon’s life changed forever. He was just 17 at the time. Orphaned at a young age, the youngest of six siblings, he is a construction worker on a site in the Gombe commune to make ends meet. That evening, around 8 p.m., he was walking home from work — tired, but relieved to have finished his shift. He didn’t know it yet, but he wouldn’t make it home that night. Just a few steps from his house, he came across a young man being chased by an angry crowd. The boy was caught and thrown to the ground. Gédéon, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, was arrested too. Without understanding why, he was beaten and taken to the police station. The next day, the victim of the assault — a military officer — came to the station. He clearly identified the man who had attacked him and confirmed that Gédéon was not present during the incident, which had taken place the previous night on the terrace of a restaurant. Still, both young men were transferred to the military prosecutor’s office for questioning. A few days later, the real perpetrator’s parents paid the military officer $300 in compensation and an additional $100 to secure their son’s release. Gédéon had no one. No parents. No money. No one to speak on his behalf. On January 7th, he was transferred to Ndolo military prison. A few weeks later, on February 2nd, he was moved to Makala Prison. He would remain there for over two years, without trial, without an arrest warrant, and without ever seeing a judge. Our intervention In July 2021, following our intervention with the Kinkole Public Prosecutor’s Office, a magistrate finally visited Makala Prison. There, he uncovered the shocking reality of Gédéon’s situation: a completely unlawful detention, prolonged in total disregard of due process. On September 22nd, 2021, Gédéon was summoned to appear before the Kinshasa/Gombe High Court. He was charged with assault and battery with extortion — a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He was asked to appear voluntarily, without legal representation. He refused. He knew he deserved a proper defense. After several delays, our lawyers were finally granted access to the case file and able to defend him in court. On December 22nd, 2021, the case enters in deliberation.On March 22nd, 2022, the verdict was announced: Gédéon is acquitted. He walked out of Makala Prison on April 12th, 2022. One story among thousands Gédéon is free now.But he will never forget those two stolen years — years filled with fear, humiliation, and abandonment. His story is just one among thousands of young Congolese who are arbitrarily arrested, denied legal defense, and left to languish in prison without trial. This is why we fight — every single day.So that no Congolese citizen is forgotten behind bars.And so that no one is ever stripped of their dignity. Support our work Help us provide legal aid, psychosocial support, and a path to dignity for those wrongfully imprisoned. Join us today
Arrêté à 12 ans, il a été privé de son enfance : L’histoire de Kongawi
Kongawi was only 12 years old when he was arrested by soldiers in broad daylight, without explanation, in the town of Dongo, in the province of Mongala. He had simply gone to visit his aunt to ask for help paying his school fees. He never made it home. That day, in October 2010, his life changed forever. At the time, violent conflict was raging between the Enyele and Monzaya communities. In an attempt to “restore order,” soldiers from Kinshasa were deployed to the region and began arbitrarily arresting young men across the town. Kongawi was one of them. Without trial or formal charges, the young boy was taken with other teenagers to Gemena, then transported by military aircraft to Kinshasa. Disoriented and terrified, he arrived at the gates of Makala Central Prison on October 7th, 2010. Upon arrival, he was placed in Pavilion 5. With no legal or social support, Kongawi was forced to survive in inhumane conditions: one daily ration of “vungule” (a mix of maize and beans), extremely limited access to water, and long nights sleeping up high near the barred ventilation windows to avoid violence. His health deteriorated rapidly. He was transferred twice to Pavilion 7 for malnourished detainees, where humanitarian aid from the ICRC provided minimal food supplements. He was also admitted to the prison infirmary with a severe hernia that nearly required surgery. This was his daily reality for ten and a half years. Several of the boys arrested with him did not survive the prison. Others died during a mass escape in 2017 orchestrated by the “Mwana Nsemi” sect. Left alone, Kongawi turned inward — guided by his faith and a quiet resolve to avoid conflict at all costs. A miraculous encounter In August 2020, after a religious service in prison, Kongawi met one of our team members. Soon after, he was introduced to Maître Guy Kabeya, one of our legal partners, who agreed to take on his case. For the first time in a decade, the possibility of justice began to take shape. After several months of legal procedures and a media campaign led with our partners, Kongawi was finally released in April 2021, a week after Easter. When he walked out of prison, he expressed no anger, no bitterness. Only deep exhaustion — and a quiet desire to rebuild. He describes himself as “resurrected.” But freedom alone cannot restore what was taken from him: his entire childhood. Support our work Help us provide legal aid, psychosocial support, and a path to dignity for those wrongfully imprisoned. Join us today