Large numbers of riot police were deployed across the country for the rallies called by three opposition groups in defiance of government bans.
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The deaths occurred in the eastern city of Goma, according to Director of the UN’s Congo-based Joint Human Rights Officel, Jose Maria Aranaz.
O pposition leaders called for a day of nationwide protest against Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila over signs that November elections will be postponed, opening up the possibility that the president could remain in power for a third term.
Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators as tensions rise over the timing of the next election. Dozens of armed militias are still active in the country today, opposition leaders have been harassed and arrested and police have killed dozens of protesters over the past year.
A presidential election is due in November, but this could be delayed.
Police said although the Kinshasa demonstration had permission from the authorities unlike other parts of the country, the crowds had deviated from an agreed route.
People hold flags and banners of the Congolese party “Courant Democrates Renovateurs – Reformist Democrat Movement” (CDER) as they march in Kinshasa on May, 26, 2016 during a demonstration against the ruling DR Congo’s President Joseph Kabila in power since his father’s assassination in 2001.
He said after 20 years of unrest in the region, it was not appropriate for people to take to the streets.
While a march that was authorised in Kinshasa drew several thousand opposition supporters, demonstrations in other cities were banned by local authorities.
Now is the time for the United States to take a decisive stance in defense of human rights and democracy by issuing targeted sanctions, authorized under an existing Executive Order, on President Kabila’s inner circle for undermining democratic institutions and committing human rights violations.
Katumbi’s followers say he was injured in clashes between police and thousands of his supporters in Lubumbashi on May 13, with a source saying he was suffering from “respiratory problems” after being tear-gassed.
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Opposition groups are also angry that Kabila’s powerful rival, football magnate Moise Katumbi, was all but pushed into exile in South Africa last Friday. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday voiced concern about reports of rising political tension due to uncertainty about the presidential election.
