Congo, Republic of the

Formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa, the Republic of Congo (or Congo-Brazzaville) gained independence in 1960. Bordering its larger namesake, the Democratic Republic of Congo to the east, the capital, Brazzaville, is a major inland port on the Congo River. From 1970 to 1991 it was a Marxist–Leninist single-party state known as the People’s Republic of Congo. Multi-party elections have been held since 1992, but the country has subsequently suffered periods of civil war and violence. Current President Denis Sassou Nguesso has been in power for most of the last four decades. Despite being one of sub-Saharan Africa’s main oil producers, almost half of the population live below the poverty line.¹ 

The majority of the population, around 87-90% (depending on different surveys), is Christian, the Muslim population is estimated to be around 2-5% and the non-religious or unaffiliated are estimated to represent around 2-3%. Traditional beliefs play a significant role in the religious landscape and are incorporated into religious practices.² There appears to have been a significant shift in the Christian demographics over recent years following the growth of Pentecostal and “Revival” churches. However, this is a point of contention which is played out in conflicting government statistics with those surveys which count Evangelicals as Protestants demonstrating a Protestant majority over the previous Catholic dominance.

The Republic of the Congo is a member of the Economic Community of Central African States.

Constitution and government

The Congolese constitution states that the country is secular. Article 24 guarantees freedom of thought, religion and belief and prohibits the use of religion for political ends. It also states that any impositions on freedom of conscience stemming from “religious, philosophical, political and sectarian fanaticism” are unlawful.³ 

Other laws and policies protect freedom of religion and belief and forbid discrimination based on religious affiliation. Such laws include the Family Code⁴ which ensures religious neutrality in matters of civil status and personal rights, the Labor Code and associated laws which protect against discrimination⁵ and the Law on the Rights of Indigenous People which protects the specific spiritual beliefs and sacred sites of indigenous peoples.⁶ 

Religious privilege

Despite the country being officially secular, government officials regularly participate in events organized by religious institutions – such as church inaugurations – and have also co-hosted ecumenical masses. According to reports, the government has provided payments in the forms of gifts to high level church officials, including new cars.⁷ 

The Catholic Church holds a particular position of privilege within the country and a Framework Agreement was established between the State and the Holy See in 2017.⁸ This agreement grants the Catholic Church unique legal status not automatically held by other groups. By recognizing the public legal status of the Church and its institutions, the Church is able to bypass the standard registration hurdles required for other organizations and receive automatic tax exemptions. The agreement formally allows for the appointment of Catholic chaplains to the armed forces, security services, prisons and hospitals and provides specific protections for “ecclesiastical sites” such as churches and cemeteries. It also ensures that the state respects the “seal of confession” in legal proceedings involving clergy. In 2025 a decree was passed to further establish the conditions for implementing the Framework Agreement. This decree solidifies the diplomatic privilege of the Catholic Church which is to be treated as a sovereign-level partner via the Apostolic Nunciature (the Vatican’s embassy).⁹ 

Education and children’s rights

The 2010 Child Protection Law, known as the “Loi Potignon”, provides specific protections for children’s freedom of religion and belief. Article 32 explicitly recognizes the child’s right to “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,” under the guidance of parents or guardians. Article 40 prohibits depriving a child of their right to a cultural life or the practice of their religion and Article 26 forbids denying a child medical care based on religious or cultural considerations.¹⁰ 

Religious education is prohibited in the public school system. However, all schools, public and private, are required to respect all religious and belief traditions.¹¹ Private schools are legally permitted to provide religious instruction. Many private schools in the country are operated by Catholic, Protestant, or Islamic organizations and include religious studies in their daily schedules. Some of these private schools are accredited by the government which means they must commit to a number of requirements including following the national school curriculum and non-discrimination in their admissions.¹² Accreditation means that the state can fund salaries directly to teachers placed in the school. The state has subsidized the private sector in this way to ensure enough schools are available to keep up with population growth.¹³ 

Family, Community and Society

While there are no reports of state-sponsored persecution or discrimination of the non-religious in the Republic of Congo, the dominant culture is heavily influenced by religion which likely makes expressing a non-religious worldview socially challenging. Religious minorities generally experience a high degree of legal protection and social tolerance and tensions are more evident along ethnic rather than religious lines.

Women’s Rights

Religious discourse has contributed to upholding the patriarchal social structure of the country including specific laws.¹⁴ For example, the 1984 Family Code has been reformed but certain articles continue to reinforce male dominance. For example, Article 168 explicitly states that the “husband is the head of the family,” who “exercises this authority in the interest of the household and the children.”¹⁵

Sexual and reproductive health

The adolescent fertility rate in the Republic of the Congo is high with around 110 in every 1,000 girls between 15-19 years old having already given birth.¹⁶ Approximately 27% of girls were married before the age of 18.¹⁷ The dominant influence of Catholicism as well as Evangelicalism, can represent a barrier to women accessing sexual and reproductive health care in the Republic of the Congo. In related studies women have cited “religious prohibitions” as one of the reasons for choosing not to use contraception.¹⁸ 

Abortion

In the Republic of the Congo abortion is illegal in any circumstance under Article 317 of the Penal Code.¹⁹ In spite of this, abortions are regularly undertaken and complications, including deaths, are common.²⁰ Although the state is a signatory to the Maputo Protocol (the first legally binding international human rights instrument to explicitly guarantee the right to legal abortion under certain circumstances) the legal grounds for abortion have not been expanded in the Republic of the Congo since Colonial times. Both the Catholic Church and Evangelical churches have long promoted “sanctity of life” doctrines, advocating against changes to the law and solidifying public opposition to abortion. According to a 2024 Afrobarometer survey, 62% of Congolese disagree or strongly disagree that women should have the right to an abortion and 52% believe abortion is “wrong and should be banned” regardless of the circumstances.²¹ The Catholic Church in the region has engaged in rhetoric painting the provisions of the Maputo protocol as “un-Christian” and “un-African” and reinforcing the idea that women’s primary moral identity is tied to motherhood.²² 

FGM

While not widely practiced in the Republic of the Congo, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still practiced in some communities.²³  The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on the State to take measures to ensure that the practice is eradicated.²⁴ 

Witchcraft accusations

Although less prevalent than in some neighboring countries, elderly women and children in the Republic of Congo have been accused of witchcraft and have suffered severe abuse as a result. In 2023, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported on the situation of violations and abuses of human rights rooted in harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks. The report states that beliefs linking disability to witchcraft are reinforced in some African churches.²⁵ As explained in the 2010 Unicef report, Children Accused of Witchcraft,

“Churches, especially those belonging to the Pentecostal and prophetic movement (charismatic, revivalist, etc.), play an important role in the diffusion and legitimization of fears related to witchcraft, and in particular, child witches. The pastor‐prophet is an important figure in the process of accusing children of witchcraft, by effectively validating the presence of a “witchcraft spirit”. Pentecostalists, for example, present their faith as a form of divine armour against witchcraft, and they participate actively in the fight against Evil that is incarnated through witchcraft.”²⁶ 

In its alternative report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Congolese child rights network REIPER explained how the proliferation of Revivalist churches in the Republic of the Congo has led to accusations of witchcraft against children.²⁷ 

LGBTI+ rights

Although same-sex sexual activity is not criminalized in the Republic of the Congo, no laws exist to protect the LGBTI+ community from discrimination and stigmatization.²⁸ As such, LGBTI+ people in the Congo tend to hide their identity in order to protect themselves from abuse and ostracization.²⁹ 

Powerful religious discourse has prevented any progress on LGBTI+ rights in the country and has framed opposition as being not just about religious interpretation but also as a defense of “African cultural heritage” against the “Western import” of homosexuality. For example, in 2023, when the Vatican issued a Fiducia Supplicans allowing for the blessing of same-sex couples, the Congolese Bishops’ Conference, issued a formal letter explicitly forbidding such blessings and the Archbishop Bienvenu Manamika Bafouakouahou published a video calling on priests to abstain from blessing any same-sex couples.³⁰ Within the rhetoric of Pentecostal and Evangelical churches, homosexuality is often linked to “witchcraft” or affliction and families are encouraged to subject LGBTI+ individuals to so-called “conversion therapies” or “exorcisms”. Congolese activist Yaya Sisi recalls her own experience of the practice,³¹ 

“I sought deliverance in churches. They prayed over me. I honestly thought that it was a demon.”³² 

NGOs report that sexual and gender identity is used by police and state security agents as the basis for arrest, detention and extortion.³³ 

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

The Republic of the Congo has a very poor record with regard to political and civic freedoms. Political opposition has been severely repressed for decades and security forces commit abuses with general impunity. Corruption is endemic.³⁴ 

Although guaranteed by the Congolese constitution, freedom of expression remains limited. Journalists have been threatened and detained by members of the state security apparatus for reporting critical accounts of the government and newspapers have had their licenses suspended.³⁵ In 2025, journalist Rosie Pioth received death threats following the publication of an article on the anniversary of the 1982 bombing of Brazzaville’s international airport which called for compensation for the victims. Pioth had to go into hiding as a result of the threats to her life.³⁶ 

Freedom of assembly and association

Civil society organizations face significant obstacles when seeking to register and censor their reporting on human rights abuses to avoid reprisals. The state frequently prohibits public meetings and demonstrations and civil society groups have reported an increase in the use of excessive force against peaceful protestors, including ahead of the 2026 election.³⁷ 

In July 2025, state security agents raided the home of lawyer Bob Kaben Massouka and arrested him. The raid appears to have been in response to support that Massouka had allegedly been providing to a group of young activists planning a peaceful demonstration against the deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the country. Despite public pressure from the bar association to demand his release, Massouka was transferred to Brazzaville detention center along with six other individuals and charged with criminal conspiracy and attempting to undermine state security.³⁸ 

1. “Republic of Congo country profile”, BBC, last updated 11 April 2023 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14121191;
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2. Centre Nationale de la Statistique et des Études Économiques & ICF International,
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3. Constitution de la République du Congo, adopted by referendum on 25 October 2015 https://www.sgg.cg/fr/journal-officiel/constitution.html [French]
   https://natlex.ilo.org/dyn/natlex2/natlex2/files/download/100814/COG-100814%20(EN).pdf [English][↩]
4. Code de la Famille, Loi. 073/84, 17 October 1984 https://www.sgg.cg/codes/congo-code-1984-famille.pdf [↩]
5. Loi 45-75 instituant un Code du travail de la République Populaire du Congo, 15 March 1975 https://www.cesbc.org/congo/Lois/Loi%2045-75%20du%20mars%201975.pdf [↩]
6. Loi n° 5- 2011 portant promotion et protection des droits des populations
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7. “Republic of the Congo” chapter in 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom, (U.S. Department of State, 2024) https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/republic-of-the-congo/ [↩]
8. Accord-Cadre entre la République du Congo et le Saint -Siège sur les Relations entre l’état et l’Église Catholique, 3 February 2017 https://www.iuscangreg.it/conc/congo-brazzaville-2017.pdf [↩]
9. Journal Officiel de la République du Congo, Décret n° 2025-14, 5 February 2025 https://www.sgg.cg/JO/2025/congo-jo-2025-08.pdf [↩]
10. Loi n° 4- 201 portant protection de l’enfant en République du Congo, 14 June 2010 https://www.finances.gouv.cg/sites/default/files/documents/L%20n%C2%AF4-2010%20du%2014%20juin%202010.pdf [↩]
11. Loi N° 32/65 fixant les principes généraux d’organisation de l’Enseignement, 12 August 1965 https://www.sgg.cg/textes-officiels/lois/1965/congo-loi-1965-32.pdf [↩]
12. Loi modifiant la loi scolaire 008/90 et portant reorganisation du systeme éducatif en République du Congo, 17 November 1995 https://liziba.cg/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/congo-loi-1995-25.pdf [↩]
13. World Bank, “Republic of Congo: Enhancing efficiency in education and health public spending for improved quality service delivery for all. A public expenditure review of the education and health sectors”, (World Bank, 2015) https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/520981467024672691/pdf/AUS5649-REVISED-PUBLIC-Congo-PER-English-Final.pdf [↩]
14. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of the Congo, CEDAW/C/COG/CO/8, 27 February 2025 https://docs.un.org/en/CEDAW/C/COG/CO/8 [↩]
15. “Examen du Congo au CEDAW : l’adoption de la Loi Mouebara est saluée, mais il est souligné que le fossé entre les genres reste très large et que certaines dispositions du Code de la famille renforcent le rôle subordonné des femmes”, Office des Nations Unies à Genève, 12 February 2025 https://www.ungeneva.org/fr/news-media/meeting-summary/2025/02/experts-committee-elimination-discrimination-against-women-0 [↩]
16. “Congo, Rep.”, Gender Data Portal, World Bank Group, accessed 27 March 2026 https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/economies/congo-rep [↩]
17. “Congo”, The Child Marriage Data Portal, accessed 27 March 2026 https://childmarriagedata.org/country-profiles/congo/ [↩]
18. Centre Nationale de la Statistique et des Études Économiques & ICF International,
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19. Darius Eryx Mbou Essie et al.,”Clandestine abortion complications and street drugs in Brazzaville”, Pan African Medical Journal, Vol.36:143, (2020) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7436636/ [↩]
20. Ministère de la Santé et de la Population, Rapport de la revue de la stratégie intégrée de la santé reproductive maternelle, néonatale, infantile, des adolescents et la nutrition du Congo 2018-2022, accessed 30 March 2026 https://www.afro.who.int/sites/default/files/2022-01/RAPPORT%20REVUE%20SRMNIA%202021%20DEF.pdf [↩]
21. “Communiqué de presse: La majorité des Congolais estiment que les femmes
    ne devraient pas avoir le droit de se faire avorter”, Afrobarometer, 14 February 2024
    https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Comm-de-presse_Majorite-des-Congolais-sopposent-au-droit-de-lavortement-Afrobarometer_14feb24-1.pdf [↩]
22. “Association of Bishops’ Conference of Central Africa says “Protocol of Maputo constitutes a slow but relentless destruction of fundamental African values”, Agenzia Fides, 25 June 2007 https://www.fides.org/en/news/9841-AFRICA_D_R_CONGO_Association_of_Bishops_Conference_of_Central_Africa_says_Protocol_of_Maputo_constitutes_a_slow_but_relentless_destruction_of_fundamental_African_values;
    Symposium des conférences épiscopales d’Afrique et Madagascar, Déclaration commune des évêques d’Afrique et de Madagascar, 8-11 June 2015 https://www.theologia.va/content/dam/cultura/docs/pdf/Adoukonou/D%C3%A9clarationFR.pdf;
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23. “La pratique de l’excision de jeunes filles subsiste à Betou”, ReliefWeb, 1 June 2012 https://reliefweb.int/report/congo/la-pratique-de-lexcision-de-jeunes-filles-subsiste-%C3%A0-betou[↩]
24. Compilation of information prepared by the Office of the United
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31. Larissa Kojoué, “Témoignage : « Il m’a fallu plus de 30 ans pour m’accepter. J’ai arrêté de pleurer. »”, Human Rights Watch, 8 october 2024 https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2024/10/08/temoignage-il-ma-fallu-plus-de-30-ans-pour-maccepter-jai-arrete-de-pleurer [↩]
32. J’ai cherché la délivrance dans les églises. Ils ont prié sur moi. Je pensais sincèrement que c’était un démon.[↩]
33. Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
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35. “Republic of Congo newspaper Sel-Piment suspended for 6 months, director detained for 7 days”, Committee to protect Journalists, 21 March 2022 https://cpj.org/2022/03/republic-of-congo-newspaper-sel-piment-suspended-for-6-months-director-detained-for-7-days/ [↩]
36. “Congo journalist Rosie Pioth sent death threats for anniversary report on 1982 airport bombing”, Committee to Protect Journalists, 24 July 2025 https://cpj.org/2025/07/congo-journalist-rosie-pioth-sent-death-threats-for-anniversary-report-on-1982-airport-bombing/ [↩]
37. “Détention de l’avocat Bob Kaben Massouka ; la journaliste Rosie Pioth menacée de mort ; un préfet interdit une marche pacifique”, Civicus Monitor, 31 October 2025 https://monitor.civicus.org/explore/detention-de-lavocat-bob-kaben-massouka-la-journaliste-rosie-pioth-menacee-de-mort-un-prefet-interdit-une-marche-pacifique/ [↩]
38. “Détention de l’avocat Bob Kaben Massouka ; la journaliste Rosie Pioth menacée de mort ; un préfet interdit une marche pacifique”, Civicus Monitor, 31 October 2025 https://monitor.civicus.org/explore/detention-de-lavocat-bob-kaben-massouka-la-journaliste-rosie-pioth-menacee-de-mort-un-prefet-interdit-une-marche-pacifique/ [↩]