SA cops ‘accused me of plotting a coup against Kabila’, claims tortured DRC man embroiled in US asylum battle

A legal saga playing out in the US has revealed how a man from the DRC was tortured in his home country over his political stance, resulting in him seeking refuge in South Africa. 

But AB, whose real name is being withheld by Daily Maverick due to security concerns, says he attracted the attention of police in South Africa, and he became the target of people who considered him a foreigner who was taking jobs from them.

There have been incidents of xenophobia previously in South Africa.

Read more: Timeline of hatred and death – xenophobia and South Africa’s record of shame

AB, who was born in the DRC and became a permanent resident of South Africa, travelled to the US in 2019 and tried to secure a review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision that rejected his asylum application.

Then, on 10 July, a US appeals court upheld the decision, meaning he has not been granted asylum.

It was found that while individuals may have targeted AB in SA, the government had not harassed or persecuted him.

Tortured and arrested

AB was born in the DRC where, at some point, he became involved in religious communities.

He joined the Viens et Vois Church in 1997 and four years later, in 2001, got involved in the New City of David Church.

“In 2003, two years after Joseph Kabila became DRC president, AB’s church began to advocate against Kabila and the Congolese government,” said the US court papers.

“On 6 August 2004, AB was arrested by agents of the Agence Nationale de Renseignements [the DRC’s national intelligence agency], who beat, whipped and raped him.”

Read more: $138m later: The Sentry reveals Kabila’s brother laundered $2.4m through Joburg properties

AB was detained for a period following his “torture” and he later fled to South Africa. He arrived in this country in 2005 and two years later he received refugee status.

AB settled in  South Africa and, according to court documents, ran a food business, a parking lot and a car wash.

‘Coup against Kabila’

His political activism, relating to his home country, continued.

In what appears to be an unrelated case, but which points to political dynamics in this country relating to the DRC at the time, the BBC reported in November 2014 that 15 men accused of plotting to kill Kabila were acquitted in South Africa.

As for AB, he expressed his anti-Kabila stance while in SA.

“Starting in 2015, he participated in demonstrations by several South African groups advocating against the Congolese government,” the court papers said. 

“In July 2017, four South African police officers interrogated AB about his involvement with these groups and accused him of plotting a coup against Kabila.”

Read more: #DRCprotest in Pretoria turns violent

The court documents also said AB had testified that while the officers had not physically harmed him, they had threatened to arrest and deport him.

In November 2017, AB started a church.

“The church welcomed members from Zimbabwe, Malawi and the DRC,” the court papers said. 

In 2018  AB’s wife was also granted permanent residence in South Africa. The couple has two children who were born in SA. 

Things reportedly took a turn for the worse in March 2019 (the year Kabila vacated the DRC’s presidency).

‘Mob tasked with killing me’

“When AB was preparing for the following day’s religious service,” the court papers said, “seven individuals entered the church and yelled at AB that he was not welcome in the community and ‘if you want to lead a Church you must go and do it in your country, the Congo, not here in South Africa’.”

It added that AB informed the police about the incident.

Based on AB’s version, the following Saturday the group returned – “with a mob.”

Read more: Anger at xenophobic attacks spreads across Africa as SA-owned firms are targeted

The US court papers said: “According to AB, the leader ordered the mob to kill AB because he was ‘a foreigner who comes to steal our jobs and take advantage of our people.’ 

“The mob beat AB, but he escaped with the help of a friend, who is a native South African, and convinced AB to report the incident to the police. 

“AB testified, however, that the police officer investigating the incident called him a ‘foreigner’ in a South African native language and seemed to side with the mob.”

In May 2019, AB made his way to the US.

His wife and children remained in South Africa with a friend as he was unable to arrange for them to travel with him.

US asylum attempts

AB applied for asylum in the US in September 2019.

The court papers said: “In May 2020, the US Department of Homeland Security charged AB with removability under the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

He “conceded” the removability charge and applied for status including asylum and protection under the Convention Against Torture.

Read more: ‘26s gang may kill me if you send me home’ — UK drug convict fights SA deportation

The immigration judge denied his asylum application from South Africa and from the DRC.

This was because the judge found that “South Africa is not his country of nationality and he is not stateless”, and in terms of the DRC, that AB was “firmly resettled” in South Africa. 

“[It was] concluded that AB had not shown that he suffered past persecution or would suffer future persecution in South Africa,” the court paper said.

AB had, however, shown he was previously persecuted in the DRC so, in terms of that, he was “granted his application for withholding of removal,” meaning he would not be made to return there. 

He was not granted the same for South Africa.

SA government ‘not in the wrong’

It was found that “AB had not adduced evidence showing that the government of South Africa ‘actively supports’ mistreatment of non-nationals like AB”.

AB appealed, arguing that he had experienced “past persecution in South Africa”. This is the appeal he lost.

“AB offered plenty of evidence of harassment and discrimination by private individuals in South Africa. But he failed to present evidence of harassment, discrimination, or persecution by the South African government,” the 10 July court documents said.

“AB does not explain how one interrogation by police and two isolated threats by private individuals require a reasonable factfinder to find that he suffered persecution in South Africa.”

It found that he had also not challenged the finding that he and his family could safely relocate within South Africa. DM

•⁠ ⁠Daily Maverick initially published the name of the man who tried applying for asylum in the US. However, after being informed it has resulted in safety concerns relating to him, we have removed it.