Since May 2023, authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have targeted leaders of opposition political parties, restricting their fundamental freedoms and arresting party officials, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Tuesday, August 22. The ruling coalition questioned a report “ excessive and manipulated “.
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In the DRC, Human Rights Watch has observed a wave of arrests and restrictions on freedoms since May hitting the opposition. His report also mentions restrictions on journalists.
Four months before the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the NGO Human Rights Watch denounced Tuesday the ” repression ” and the ” intimidation faced by the political opposition, ” in a context of heightened political tensions “. The DRC authorities have “ targeted at political party leaders according to the American human rights organization. In a press release published on Tuesday, the NGO speaks of ” wave of arrests and restrictions on fundamental freedoms “.
Quoted by Human Rights Watch, the United Nations human rights office in the DRC talks about ” kidnappings and threats targeting the opposition », « hate speech and incitement to violence “, and a ” excessive use of force against peaceful protesters “.
The authorities must quickly reverse the trend, believes Thomas Fessy, a researcher specializing in this country within the organization for the defense of human rights, so that free and fair elections are possible.
For Thomas Fessy, researcher specializing in the DRC, “members of the opposition should not face such obstacles on the eve of the electoral campaign”
Most of the incidents concern the party of Moïse Katumbi
The press defense organization Journalists in Danger (JED), also quoted in the press release, is alarmed at the ” climb ” of the ” physical violence against journalists » and « political party activists “.
Most of the incidents reported in this document concern the party Ensemble pour la République of Moïse Katumbi, a heavyweight in Congolese politics, which has become one of the main opponents of the regime of President Félix Tshisekedi.
On May 30, Moïse Katumbi’s first adviser, Salomon Kalonda, was arrested in Kinshasa by military intelligence agents and remains detained to this day. The charges against him have changed several times since his arrest.
On 13 July, Chérubin Okende, spokesperson for Ensemble pour la République, was found dead, riddled with bullets in his vehicle, on the side of a road in the capital. This former Transport Minister of Felix Tshisekedi rallied Moïse Katumbi and the opposition at the end of 2022. His “ assassination “, hitherto unsolved, caused a stir across the country.
The ruling coalition points to a ” false report that is excessive and manipulated »
On Wednesday August 23, the ruling coalition reacted in the negative. A ” false report that is excessive and manipulated “, says Jean Thierry Monsenepwo, communicator of the coalition in power, the sacred union.
For Jean Thierry Monsenepwo, communicator of the ruling coalition, the sacred union, the HRW report is “false”, “excessive and manipulated”
Limitation of movements, violent repression of demonstrations, arrests, searches with violence, destruction of property: Human Rights Watch researchers say they have ” serious concerns about politically motivated efforts to intimidate the opposition “.
Also quoted in the HRW press release, President Félix Tshisekedi, a candidate for his own re-election in December, declared during a meeting on June 25 that he would attack ” without remorse to any Congolese “which would harm the” stability (of) the country “. ” It doesn’t matter what people say about it: violations of human rights, deprivation of freedoms… »
On May 24, during a press conference, newly appointed Interior Minister Peter Kazadi attacked international journalists and the international community in response to criticism of the violent crackdown on a protest.
He accuses them of weakening the state by ” distributing (bonus) points “, which according to him pushes the Congolese leaders to adapt their policy ” not to be transferred to the International Criminal Court “.