Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today clashed with Catholic churchgoers who held protests demanding that President Joseph Kabila leaves power.
Priests at parishes across Congo urged Churchgoers to hold peaceful processions that would begin from their churches immediately following Sunday Mass, three weeks after a similar protest on New Year’s Eve that ended in deadly violence.
All the main political opposition leaders, civil society groups, and citizens’ movements supported the call to protest, with many demanding Kabila’s resignation
In the morning today, security forces surrounded several Catholic parishes in Kinshasa and across the country and erected roadblocks, eyewitnesses said.
A heavy police presence was sighted in the capital Kinshasa this morning, Martin Fayulu, president of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development (ECIDE) party in DRC, told Soft Power News.
“Tear gas and live bullets are being used on churchgoers who are protesting Kabila’s refusal to step down as the constitution requires,” Fayulu said. “The death toll is yet to be known,” he added.
He said Congolese security forces were firing into church grounds to disrupt peaceful services and processions.
During the previous anti-Kabila march held on December 31 2017, police and security forces opened fire on demonstrators, human rights groups said. Demonstrators said 12 churchgoers died, the UN said 5, and the government said nobody died.
Human Rights Watch said on January 19 Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo used excessive force, including teargas and live ammunition, against peaceful protesters at Catholic churches in the capital, Kinshasa, and other cities on December 31, 2017.
“When confronted by the heavily armed police and soldiers, some protesters, dressed in white, sang hymns or knelt on the ground,” Human Rights Watch said.
The group said, at least eight people were killed and dozens injured, including at least 27 with gunshot wounds, but the actual number killed and wounded may be much higher.
It said the shooting, beating, and arbitrary arrests of peaceful churchgoers by Congolese security forces violated the rights to freedom of worship, expression, and peaceful assembly.
Ida Sawyer, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch urged the government to stop banning demonstrations and leave worshipers alone.
Catholic Church lay leaders in Congo have called for peaceful marches to press Congo’s leaders to respect the Catholic Church-mediated political agreement signed in late 2016.
The agreement called for presidential elections by the end of 2017 and measures to ease political tensions.
These commitments have largely been ignored, however, as President Joseph Kabila has held on to power through repression and violence, rights groups said.
In early December, the Lay Coordination Committee (CLC), a group of Catholic intellectuals, backed by Catholic priests and bishops in Congo, called for a protest on December 31.
They appealed to all Congolese to protest the failure to implement the so-called New Year’s Eve Agreement and “to free the future of Congo.
All the main political opposition leaders, civil society groups, and citizens’ movements supported the call to protest, with many explicitly demanding Kabila’s immediate resignation and a “citizens’ transition” to restore constitutional order and organize credible elections.
“Kabila and his coterie appear ready to use all available means to crush, silence and eliminate any opposition to their efforts to stay in power,” Sawyer said.
“Before yet another round of deadly violence and repression, Congo’s international partners should show Kabila that further abuses will not be tolerated.”
