UN pushes DR Congo to investigate crackdown on protesters

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The United Nations peacekeeping chief on Tuesday condemned the Democratic Republic of Congo’s security forces for violently cracking down on protesters and said authorities must prosecute those responsible.

At least five people were killed during clashes on December 31 when police burst into churches, firing tear gas and shooting bullets in the air to break up protests in the capital Kinshasa and in the central city of Kananga, according to UN figures.

The demonstrations took place on the first anniversary of a political deal brokered by the Catholic church that was to pave the way for elections in 2017 and the end of President Joseph Kabila’s rule.

The elections were pushed back to December 2018 after the government cited delays in preparing the nationwide polls.

Jean- Pierre Lacroix, the UN under secretary- general for peacekeeping, told the Security Council that he “condemned the violent repression by the national security forces of the demonstrations organized by civil society on December 31.”

He added that authorities must “diligently carry out the necessary investigations to establish who is responsible and bring to justice the perpetrators of these human rights violations.”

Kabila has been in power since 2001 when he succeeded his assassinated father Laurent Kabila. — AFP