DRC: Police arrest over 100 in anti-Kabila protests

Police in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arrested more than 100 people as they cracked down on protesters demanding that President Joseph Kabila leave power by the end of the year, according to two rights groups. A series of marches across the country called on Monday by pro-democracy group Lucha, and backed by several leading […]

Police in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arrested more than 100 people as they cracked down on protesters demanding that President Joseph Kabila leave power by the end of the year, according to two rights groups.

A series of marches across the country called on Monday by pro-democracy group Lucha, and backed by several leading opposition politicians, were mostly snuffed out by heavy police deployments.

Congolese authorities have banned opposition demonstrations since last September because of security fears.

 

Kabila’s refusal to step down when his mandate expired last December has fuelled rising violence and insecurity in the DRC but organised opposition has faltered since the death of his main opponent, Etienne Tshisekedi, in February.