At least two people were killed after attacks on the headquarters of five opposition parties late Monday, the United Nations and an opposition party said.
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President Joseph Kabila has ignored almost a year of protests demanding that he set a date for the election that was supposed to take place on November 27. We call on all sides to show restraint and we urge the authorities to ensure that existing national and global standards on the appropriate use of force are fully respected by all security personnel. “I saw men in military uniform”, said UDPS member Jean Toumba, describing the attack on the Kinshasa office at around 3 a.m. (0300 British time).
Officials said there had been a spate of looting and that attempts to set fire to the offices of several mainstream political parties.
The interior minister said 17 people were killed – three policemen and 14 civilians. The opposition said up to 53 people died.
The electoral commission recently petitioned the Constitutional Court for permission to postpone presidential elections amid ongoing voter registration.
Kabila’s term as leader of Democratic Republic of Congo expires in December and he is barred by the constitution from seeking another term.
France urged DRC authorities to ensure that the delay in holding the next presidential election was “as short as possible”, and called on the government to respect “public liberties, especially the right to demonstrate peacefully”.
Government officials also accused the opposition of “targeted looting”, while private security officials said there had been several looting incidents involving banks and Chinese-run shops in the south of the city, which is home to some 10 million people.
“It is completely false to say that the army was involved”.
“Kinshasa just experienced an uprising which ended in failure”, Boshab said, accusing demonstrators of “deliberately” ignoring a schedule which had been agreed with the authorities. “The people are angry”.
The violence comes amid growing fears that the delay could lead to prolonged unrest in Congo, a nation as vast in size as Western Europe.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Monday that the clashes were preceded by intensified government repression.
“We have received reports of excessive use of force by some elements of the security forces as well as reports that some demonstrators resorted to violence yesterday”.
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The DRC has never had a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. From 1997 to 2003 the country suffered a civil war that drew in neighbouring countries, and since then different armed groups in the east have been a continuing source of instability.
