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Congo crisis worsens

September 24, 2016

Violence in Kinshasa has prompted opposition groups to suspend their role in "national dialogue," according to reports from Kinshasa. This follows a UN warning that the nation is facing a "large scale crisis."

https://p.dw.com/p/1K7Uq
Demokratische Republik Kongo Proteste in Kinshasa
Image: DW/W. Bashi

Opposition spokesman Vital Kamerhe said the loss of at least 50 lives on Monday and Tuesday had led the delegation he co-moderates to postpone its work to allow time for "contemplation."

Vital Kamerhe (DRK)
'Contemplation' after deaths needed, says KamerheImage: Getty Images/AFP/J. D. Kannah

Parallel on Friday, another grouping aligned around the opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) of veteran politician Etienne Tshisekedi said it had decreed three days of national mourning from Monday.

Those moves coincided with reports of heavy fighting in DRC's central city of Kananga between security forces and militia fighters seeking revenge for the death last month of their tribal chief, Kamwina Nsapu.

President Joseph Kabila, who is facing calls to step down as his second term nears its end on December 20, had on Thursday accused opposition parties of using protest last Monday to incite unrest.

He is barred constitutionally from running again, but no date has been set for fresh elections.

Joseph Kabila Präsident Demokratische Republik Kongo
Kabile is barred from running again as presidentImage: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler

Monday's protest ensued after DR Congo's electoral commission filed last week for a court ruling to postpone the presidential vote, originally scheduled for November, saying voter registration lists would not be ready.

'Credible elections' needed, says UN

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council had called for the restoration of calm and the organization of "credible elections" in the vast, mineral-rich nation. Millions of people died in regional wars in Congo between 1996 and 2003 that drew in armies from half a dozen countries.

From Geneva on Thursday, UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said that "excessive force" had been used as security forces confronted demonstrators in Kinshasa on Monday.

"Some civilians were killed by gunshots to the head or chest," Zeid said.

He demanded that Kabila's Republican Guard be withdrawn from Kinshasa's streets and replaced by "properly trained police forces with appropriate equipment for crowd control."

Monday and Tuesday events had been a "stark warning that a large-scale crisis could be just around the corner," Zeid said, adding that Congolese authorities needed to "build bridges with the opposition."

Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende responded to Zeid by referring only to a United Nations official who "obviously does not have all the information."

Clashes in Kananga

Reports from Kananga late Friday said at least 13 people had been killed in two days of clashes.

Radio Okapi said the dead included eight militia members killed by security forces after entering Kananga on Thursday morning, as well as three schoolchildren who were trampled to death.

Fighters returned by attacking the city's airport on Friday, killing a local airline's worker, said one witness quoted by Reuters.

Three months ago, chief Nsapu had vowed to rid his home province of Kasai-Central of all state security forces, accusing them of abusing the local population.

ipj/kl (Reuters, AFP, epd)