Congo police provide security near a burnt out vehicle, after recent protest against any delay in the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016.
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The opposition coalition’s demonstration in the Democratic Republic of Congo saw a violent start in the capital Kinshasa on Monday where over 50 people died in clashes, the opposition veteran Etienne Tshisekedi said.
Opposition party headquarters were torched overnight Monday in retaliation over the protests, a government spokesman said.
The electoral commission has delayed the elections, saying it may need until 2018 to create a new voter roll.
Sawyer says HRW also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a supporter of Kabila’s party, and have also burned and looted several shops and police stations.
The interior minister said 17 people were killed – three policemen and 14 civilians.
The protests erupted after the election commission chose to try to postpone the next presidential vote, due in November.
More than 25 people have been killed, said Joseph Olengankoy, an organizer of Monday’s protests.
According to Sawyer, security forces burned down the headquarters of the main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), and attacked buildings of other opposition parties.
However, other parties say this is a ruse by Kabila to cling to power.
The U.N. human rights office noted reports of “excessive use of force” by both security forces and demonstrators.
Tom Perriello, U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, said Washington would hold all sides accountable for their actions during the latest violence and that the government could easily have taken steps to defuse tension. Tshisekedi went on to say that the DRC is a dictatorship and he says this government deserves the popular revolt that is coming to topple it.
The constitution bars Mr Kabila, who took power in 2001 following the assassination of his father Laurent Kabila, from running for office again in a country that has never had a smooth transfer of power since independence more than 55 years ago.
The violence comes amid growing fears that the election delay could lead to prolonged unrest in Congo, a nation as vast in size as Western Europe.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the United States, France, former colonial power Belgium and the African Union also condemned the violence and called on the government to set an election date. The resource-wealthy country has never experienced a peaceful transition and the political violence carries the fear that a civil war that left almost four million people dead between 1996 and 2003 may resurface.
