22 killed in anti-government protests in Congo
The deaths occurred on Tuesday as demonstrators clashed with
police to protest against President Joseph Kabila’s plan to stay in power after
his second mandate expired on Monday, according to dpa.
Jose Maria Aranaz, United Nations human rights director for
the central African country, had earlier spoken of 19 people killed and 45
injured just in Kinshasa.
Human Rights Watch researcher Ida Sawyer tweeted earlier
that 26 people had been killed in Kinshasa, Lumumbashi, Matadi and Boma.
Sporadic gunfire was heard in Kinshasa on Wednesday, though
the city appeared generally calm.
Clashes between demonstrators and police were reported in
the second-largest city, Lumumbashi, while the pro-democracy group La Lucha
said 18 of its activists had been arrested in Goma in the east.
The United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, criticised the “disproportionate use
of violence” by the Congo’s security forces.
It also accused them of using lethal weapons against
protesters.
Police said emergency measures would stay in place until
after the upcoming Christmas holidays.
Kabila would normally have relinquished power on Monday at
midnight, but elections that had been planned for November were postponed to
April 2018, though logistical problems were cited.
Most of the opposition regards the postponement as a ploy to
allow Kabila to stay in power beyond the two terms allowed by the constitution.
Negotiations were due to restart between the government and
the main opposition parties, which reject a transitional government, formed by
the ruling coalition and smaller opposition parties.
The Congo embassy in South Africa’s administrative capital,
Pretoria, meanwhile announced that it would close until next year after being
stoned by Congolese demonstrators on Tuesday.
Several protesters were reportedly injured by rubber bullets
fired by South African police.
Pope Francis renewed his earlier appeal to the Congolese,
expressing hope that “in this delicate moment of their history, may they be
artisans of reconciliation and peace.”
“May those who are in positions of political responsibility
listen to the voice of their conscience.
“Also learn to see the cruel sufferings of their fellow
citizens and have at heart for the common good,” the pontiff added.
Observers fear increasing unrest in Congo, which has been
unstable since the fall of dictator Mobutu Sese Seku in 1997, with dozens of
armed groups vying for power in the mineral-rich east of the country.
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