Almost 200 people were believed to have been arrested on Monday and the United Nations received reports of excessive use of force by security forces, United Nations human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.
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A coalition of opposition groups put the number of dead at more than 50.
Witnesses said that police used live bullets against the peaceful demonstrators. The heavy clashes erupted in the capital ahead of a planned mass opposition rally.
The clash took place during a march against President Joseph Kabila’s perceived bid to extend his mandate.
The global community has called for calm in the country while activists in DRC have created an online event as part of their efforts to mount pressure on President Kabila to step aside. “I also call on all concerned political leaders and their supporters to desist from undertaking any further acts that could continue to exacerbate the situation and heighten tensions”, said MONUSCO’s Maman Sambo Sidikou.
“We have recorded several deaths”, said Bruno Tshibala, a spokesman for the opposition UDPS party, adding that he had seen four bodies piled up in the office of an allied party. We call on all sides to show restraint and we urge the authorities to ensure that existing national and worldwide standards on the appropriate use of force are fully respected by all security personnel.
John Kirby, a State Department spokesman, said the USA government was “outraged and deeply disturbed by the physical obstruction and verbal aggression”.
It imposed targeted sanctions on a Kinshasa police chief in June. “It is something we’re exploring and looking at”, the official said. Over the weekend, the commission made an official request to the country’s constitutional court for a delay of the vote.
In 2006, three years after multiple peace deals ended a bloody war that embroiled troops from at least six foreign countries, Kabila won the first free, democratic presidential poll since independence from Belgium in 1960. “All of Kabila’s moves over the past few months have suggested that he is doing everything he can to remain in power”.
Kabila’s opponents say the proposed delay is a manoeuvre to keep him in power although ruling party politicians deny this.
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Kabila, who came to power after his father’s assassination in 2001, has yet to announce whether he will pursue another term in office, though the constitution prohibits it.
