The UN has accused Congolese military of
killing at least 40 people on Dec. 19, 2016, following protests against
President Joseph Kabila.
According to a
report released late Tuesday by the United Nations Organization
Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)
and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR), security forces used disproportionate force to prevent
civilians from protesting.
“Between 15
and Dec. 31 2016, United Nations Joint Human Rights Office [JHRO]
documented the killing of at least 40 people, including five women and
two children, and the wounding of 147 individuals, including 14 women
and 18 children, as a result of the disproportionate use of force and
the use of live ammunition” by the Congolese armed forces, the report
said.
Congolese defense and security forces also arrested at least 917 people, including 30 women and 95 children.
“The
actions by the Congolese authorities were executed through
disproportionate and illegal restrictions of public freedoms, including
the right to freedoms of expression, information and peaceful assembly,
in contravention with both international human rights standards and the
provisions of the constitution of the DRC,” the report said.
“The
JHRO raises serious concerns about the absence of measures taken
against perpetrators of human rights violations committed in the DRC in
recent months in relation to the political tensions around the electoral
process, which contributes to a culture of impunity, and which may have
encouraged the defense and security forces to commit violations in the
period detailed in this report,” it added.
Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende declined to comment on the report.
DRC
has seen several anti-Kabila demonstrations in the past few months as
opposition parties and civil groups called on the president to step down
at the end of his two-term mandate in November 2016.
In
power since 2001, Kabila was elected in 2006 and reelected in 2011. The
opposition suspects him of maneuvering to seek a third unconstitutional
mandate.
On Dec. 31, 2016, Congolese political parties agreed on a political transition extending Kabila’s rule
till the end of 2017.
Anadolu Agency
0 comments:
Post a Comment