1.  DRC: Snippet on Islam and Muslims
[By International Islamic News Agency(IINA)]
Kinshasa, Sha’aban 3, 1422/Oct 19, 2001 (IINA) - Muslims in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) make up 15 million of the country’s 60 million population, but they are largely illiterate and unemployed, according to Haj Modelo Maliba, chairman of the National Islamic Council. He said the reason for that is that most of them did not go to school, since there were Islamic schools at the time of the Belgian colonial rule over the country. The only schools that existed then were Christian one.

2.  Congolese Muslims Seek Official Recognition
[By Radwa Hassan,IslamOnline (IOL)  Correspondent]CAIRO, November 18 (IslamOnline.net) – Although making up to 15 millions of the country’s 60-million population, Muslims in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) still struggle for their religion to be recognized and better living conditions.

“Despite this large number of followers, Islam has not yet been officially recognized in the country,” the Congolese National Islamic Council chairman has told IslamOnline.net.

Many African children learn the Koran at school

3.  Congolese preacher sparks Muslim anger
[By BBC NEWS, Wednesday ,September  15, 1999]A Congolese evangelist has caused a storm of protest after allegedly burning a copy of the Koran during a church service, broadcast on television.

Kutino Fernando set fire to what appeared to be the Muslim holy text in front of a packed congregation at the Victory Army Church in the capital, Kinshasa.

"If the report is confirmed, that would be blasphemous" said El Hadj Mudilo wa Malemba, a senior Islamic religious leader.

A general assembly of imams has demanded that the government should punish the priest for violating Islam. They are planning a march through Kinshasa and have threatened court action.

4. Information about Street Children
[published in civilliberty.about.com]

A new Human Rights Watch report, What Future?: Street Children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, examines the dangers tens of thousands of Congolese children presently face from all sectors of society:

Many street children live in fear of the very state forces charged to protect them. The testimonies from children we interviewed revealed a common pattern of routine abuse by police, soldiers, and members of the military police. These figures of authority approach street children, often at night, and demand their money or articles of clothing, threatening them with their fists, boots and batons. One fourteen-year-old boy, who sleeps with his friends in empty kiosks near a Goma market, told us, “We are regularly harassed by the military police. In the evenings, they come to where we are sleeping and take whatever they can from us. We are chased and if caught, they beat us with their fists or a piece of wood.” In addition to physical violence, police and soldiers forcibly rape or sexually assault street girls. Girls can also be approached by soldiers or police officers who offer them small amounts of money in exchange for sex. The police use street children to spy on suspected criminals, provide decoys in police operations, and in some instances recruit them to participate in robberies of stores and homes. Children told us that they have no choice but to comply with whatever law enforcement personnel demand or risk further abuse and harassment.