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Zaire Popular Attitudes Toward the Civil Security Apparatus
Given the predilection of the various internal security
and
police elements for preying upon citizens they are charged
with
protecting and their often negligible contribution to law
and
order, it is no wonder that Zairians hold them in low
esteem,
viewing them as no better than common bandits and thieves.
Citizens
fear to challenge their authority directly, although there
have
been numerous demonstrations and rioting against the
Mobutu regime
in the early 1990s. Extreme abuses by security forces also
have
resulted in occasional violent reprisals by angry
villagers,
especially against unarmed or poorly armed police
elements. It is
not apparent that any one service is uniformly more
disliked than
another. Indeed, the formal distinctions among them are
not often
readily apparent to the common citizen because of the lack
of
uniforms and the tendency of personnel engaged in illicit
acts to
misidentify themselves. The relationship is further
complicated by
the fact that criminals sometimes pose as members of the
official
services in order to induce fear and acquiescence in their
victims.
Data as of December 1993
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