Photograph by: Ashley Fraser, The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA — Standing six-foot-three and weighing 240 pounds, Fabien Shambuyi Kalala doesn't scare easily.
Still, there were times in the past month, when Kalala was a prisoner of henchmen for Joseph Kabala, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, neither he nor his family were sure he'd make it back home to Canada.
"He couldn't say what was going on, but we could hear it in his voice: He'd lost all hope," Kalala's sister, Deo-Gratias Mundadi, said Monday, recalling the phone calls his jailers occasionally allowed him to make. "We were terrified . . . He might have said he was fine, but he could still have disappeared."
She and about a dozen other family members and friends were on hand Monday night when Kalala arrived at the Ottawa International Airport.
Kalala volunteered in late October to go to the DRC to serve as a security guard for Etienne Tshisekedi, who challenged Kabala for the country's presidency during elections in November. On Nov. 26, two days before the vote, the 24-year-old was detained by Congolese security forces in the capital, Kinshasa. They took his passport, airline tickets, money — about $3,800 — and even his shoes.
It was days before his family found out he had been jailed along with dozens of others who had been caught up in a wave of politically motivated arrests intended to intimidate Kabala's opponents.
Kalala was reluctant to talk about his ordeal Monday evening, merely acknowledging with a cryptic "yes" that there had been moments when he feared for his life.
Family members, however, weren't so reticent. Kalala's brother, Eric, remembered one of their phone exchanges. "He said he was really scared for the first time in his life. He thought he was going to die."
For his part, Kalala said he was happy to be back safe in Canada, surrounded by family and friends. In a prepared statement written in French, he explained how he had been "kidnapped" and jailed by officers of the Special Services branch of the Congolese police shortly before he was to catch a plane back to Canada. He said he never received an "official reason" for his detention, although informally he was told variously that he had insulted a police officer or that he was guilty of working as a security guard without obtaining a special visa allowing him to do so.
After being arrested, Kalala ended up in one of the DRC's more notorious prisons — the Makala penitentiary — although no formal charges ever laid against him. Canadian Foreign Affairs officials in the DRC were able to secure Kalala's release on Dec. 31, but it was only last week that Congolese authorities provided consular officials with his passport.
In his statement, Kalala thanked the Canadian government for its help in securing his release, as well as members of his family and the Congolese community in Ottawa for galvanizing public attention about his situation.
"I want to tell you how I feel relieved and happy I am to be here right now and at this time," he said in reading his statement. "You cannot imagine the value of the respect for human rights that we enjoy here in Canada."
The young man, who turns 25 later this month, will also be able to enjoy Christmas, albeit a month delayed. His sister said the family postponed Christmas while awaiting word on Kalala's fate. "Now that he's here, we'll be able to have Christmas. We still have the tree up. We were keeping it up until he came home."
Ottawa Citizen
Still, there were times in the past month, when Kalala was a prisoner of henchmen for Joseph Kabala, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, neither he nor his family were sure he'd make it back home to Canada.
"He couldn't say what was going on, but we could hear it in his voice: He'd lost all hope," Kalala's sister, Deo-Gratias Mundadi, said Monday, recalling the phone calls his jailers occasionally allowed him to make. "We were terrified . . . He might have said he was fine, but he could still have disappeared."
She and about a dozen other family members and friends were on hand Monday night when Kalala arrived at the Ottawa International Airport.
Kalala volunteered in late October to go to the DRC to serve as a security guard for Etienne Tshisekedi, who challenged Kabala for the country's presidency during elections in November. On Nov. 26, two days before the vote, the 24-year-old was detained by Congolese security forces in the capital, Kinshasa. They took his passport, airline tickets, money — about $3,800 — and even his shoes.
It was days before his family found out he had been jailed along with dozens of others who had been caught up in a wave of politically motivated arrests intended to intimidate Kabala's opponents.
Kalala was reluctant to talk about his ordeal Monday evening, merely acknowledging with a cryptic "yes" that there had been moments when he feared for his life.
Family members, however, weren't so reticent. Kalala's brother, Eric, remembered one of their phone exchanges. "He said he was really scared for the first time in his life. He thought he was going to die."
For his part, Kalala said he was happy to be back safe in Canada, surrounded by family and friends. In a prepared statement written in French, he explained how he had been "kidnapped" and jailed by officers of the Special Services branch of the Congolese police shortly before he was to catch a plane back to Canada. He said he never received an "official reason" for his detention, although informally he was told variously that he had insulted a police officer or that he was guilty of working as a security guard without obtaining a special visa allowing him to do so.
After being arrested, Kalala ended up in one of the DRC's more notorious prisons — the Makala penitentiary — although no formal charges ever laid against him. Canadian Foreign Affairs officials in the DRC were able to secure Kalala's release on Dec. 31, but it was only last week that Congolese authorities provided consular officials with his passport.
In his statement, Kalala thanked the Canadian government for its help in securing his release, as well as members of his family and the Congolese community in Ottawa for galvanizing public attention about his situation.
"I want to tell you how I feel relieved and happy I am to be here right now and at this time," he said in reading his statement. "You cannot imagine the value of the respect for human rights that we enjoy here in Canada."
The young man, who turns 25 later this month, will also be able to enjoy Christmas, albeit a month delayed. His sister said the family postponed Christmas while awaiting word on Kalala's fate. "Now that he's here, we'll be able to have Christmas. We still have the tree up. We were keeping it up until he came home."
Ottawa Citizen
No comments:
Post a Comment