Kabila is barred by constitutional term limits for running again and his opponents say the election delay is a maneuver to keep him in power. Witnesses said calm has returned to central Kinshasa by Tuesday afternoon, though there were reports of clashes in the suburbs.
Advertisement
“The government can only condemn this mob justice mentality”, he said.
European nations will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions on the Democratic Republic of Congo, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Monday in NY where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly.
Protesters erected barricades and burned tyres for a second day after 17 people, including three policemen, were killed on Monday, according to the interior minister.
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.
Protesters torched cars and set up barricades in one of the capital’s main roads, as police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.
A man drives past a vehicle burnt out after recent protest against an delay of the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016.
An organizer of the opposition protests, Joseph Olengankoy, earlier had put the toll at more than 25 people killed.
Felix Tshisekedi, the son of UDPS leader Etienne Tshisekedi who lost against Kabila in a 2011 presidential run-off and who has called for further protests, said: “We won’t live with this barbarity”.
The death has risen to 44 following violent anti-government clashes in the DR Congo.
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.
Tom Perriello, U.S. Special Envoy for Africa’s Great Lakes region, said Washington would hold all sides accountable for their actions during the latest violence, which prompted Washington to suspend all travel by its officials to Congo.
An global rights organization has told CNN that dozens of people have been killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo as political turmoil roils the Central African country. “We are meeting in a national dialogue in order to organize free and fair elections”, he told CNN. The African country has scheduled elections in November, but opposition groups fear Kabila will postpone the poll in order to remain in power.
Advertisement
Almost 200 people were believed to have been arrested by Congo authorities on Monday and the United Nations received reports of excessive use of force by security forces, U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.
