Skip to footer

At least a dozen die in Congo protests over controversial electoral law

Antigovernment protests in Congo have left at least 12 people dead, as the Senate had postponed an expected vote Thursday on a proposed law that the opposition fears will prolong the president's time in power.

|
John Bompengo/AP
Antigovernment protesters burn tires as a protester holds rocks, while they block a road during a protest against a new law that could delay the scheduled election to be held in 2016, in the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Jan. 20, 2015. Officials say at least a dozen people are dead amid protests which began Monday, over a proposed law that opposition groups fear will prolong the president’s time in power.
  • By John Bompengo and Melanie Gouby Associated Press

| Kinshasa, Congo

Anti-government protests in Congo have left at least a dozen people dead, officials said Thursday, as the Senate postponed a vote on a proposed law that the opposition fears will prolong the president's time in power.

After three days of unrest, Congo's capital returned cautiously to normal on Thursday, but protests continued elsewhere. In the east, four people died, an official said.

The Internet, which was cut amid the protests, was partially restored Thursday although text messages were still blocked.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern Thursday over the deaths and called on both sides to exercise restraint. A U.N. Security Council statement deplored the deaths and urged Congo's government to set a framework and calendar for "peaceful, credible and timely elections."

The Senate had been expected to vote Thursday on a proposed law that would require a census before presidential elections next year. But the chamber postponed the vote until Friday. Critics say the logistical challenges of conducting a census in the vast country would delay elections.

The lower house passed the measure Saturday, setting off protests that have roiled Kinshasa and other parts of the country.

Since Monday, 12 people died, government spokesman Lambert Mende said on Thursday. More than 400 people have been arrested.

But the International Federation for Human Rights said Wednesday that 42 people were killed when security forces fired on protesters.

Mende denied that police fired on protesters and emphasized that the deaths happened as a result of looting.

Neither Mende nor the coalition had death tolls for Thursday, when an uneasy calm returned to the capital. But Omar Kavota, a civil society representative in the eastern city of Goma said four people died there.

The proposed law has raised suspicions among the opposition that President Joseph Kabila, in office since 2001, is hoping to cling to power after his term ends.

___

Gouby reported from Goma, Congo.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to At least a dozen die in Congo protests over controversial electoral law
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2015/0122/At-least-a-dozen-die-in-Congo-protests-over-controversial-electoral-law
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe