At least 27
anti-government protesters were killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
earlier this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday.
According to
the organization, supporters of Bundu dia Kongo (BDK), a religious-political
sect, trooped out to the streets of Kinshasa and Kongo Central province on
Monday to protest President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down after serving
two terms, as mandated by the constitution.
Eyewitnesses
said protesters began marching through the streets in Kinshasa and several
parts of Kongo Central, including the provincial capital, Matadi, at around 9
a.m. on Monday. They wore red bandanas and held sticks and palm nut husks while
chanting anti-Kabila slogans.
Police,
claiming that the protesters were armed and dangerous, then fired live
ammunition upon several crowds. According to HRW, 25 people, including two
police officers, were killed in Kinshasa while at least two protesters in Kongo
Central were killed.
Among the 25
killed in Kinshasa, ten were bystanders.
HRW reports
that the protests were likely prompted by an ultimatum issued by BDK leader Ne
Muanda Nsemi in June in which he called on “the Rwandans and President Kabila”
to leave the DRC by August 7.
Sources
close security agencies in the central African country told the human rights
organization that DRC authorities allowed the protests to unfold in order to
create chaos, which would give the Kabila government an excuse to further
postpone the election.
The DRC was
scheduled to hold a presidential election in November 2016 with Mr. Kabila’s
second term expiring in December 2016. However, the electoral commission said
it could not hold elections till early 2018, allegedly due to issues with the
voter registration system.
The
commission has yet to schedule a new date for the poll.
Joseph
Kabila has served as president of the DRC since 2001. He was appointed
president at the age of 29, ten days after his father, President Laurent
Kabila, was assassinated by one of his body guards.
0 Comments