Security forces shot dead several protesters who had gathered in the streets of Kinshasa on Tuesday to demand that Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila step down after his mandate expired overnight.
Scattered protests started on Tuesday, and opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi called on the Congolese people to peacefully resist Kabila, who has remained in power beyond his constitutional mandate with no election to pick a successor.
Gunfire crackled in several districts of the capital Kinshasa, a city of 12 million, as measures to thwart dissent raised fears of bloody repression.
“On the issue of deaths, it looks bad,” the U.N. human rights director for Congo, Jose Maria Aranaz, told Reuters by telephone. “We are reviewing allegations of up to 20 civilians killed, but it (the information) is pretty solid.”
At least two civilians were killed overnight when soldiers opened fire during clashes in the neighborhood of Kingabwa, two witnesses said. The government spokesman could not be reached for comment and a police spokesman said he did not have information.
With a ban on demonstrations in force, and a heavy military presence, Kinshasa’s normally busy main boulevards were for the most part deserted as pockets of youths gathered in sidestreets only to be dispersed by the volleys of teargas.
U.N. peacekeepers in armored personnel carriers patrolled the streets, at one point cheered on by a crowd shouting: “Kabila, know that your mandate is finished!”
“I think there will be trouble. The people are saying Kabila has to leave,” said student Joe Doublier, 20, peering nervously out of his house in the opposition stronghold of Limete, where youths burned tyres and pieces of wood in the streets.
“It’s been 16 years and nothing has changed,” he said, referring to the time Kabila has been in power since his father was assassinated in 2001.
In Lubumbashi, a city in the heart of Africa’s richest copper mining area, police and Kabila’s elite military Republican Guard fired live bullets to prevent demonstrations, Gregoire Mulamba, a local human rights activist, told Reuters.
Local activist Jean-Pierre Muteba said there was one death, a 14-year-old boy shot by police. A police spokesman said he did not have enough information to comment.
The mayor of Lubumbashi, Jean Oscar Sanguza, told Reuters security forces had intervened to stop looters, and denied reports of deaths in the confrontations.
Source: Reuters
