The march of the opposition in the Democratic Republic of Congo was repressed in a “barbaric” manner by the security forces according to the Laïc Coordination Committee (CLC) in a press release on May 29. The images of the events are described as “unbearable” by Catholic lay people who denounce the violence perpetrated during this march. Police wielding machetes accompanied by groups of young people, described as “forces of progress”, were seen during this violence.
The CLC points the finger at specialized groups behaving like militias within the ruling party UDPS, and benefiting according to them from the tolerance of the police during the repression of demonstrations unfavorable to power. The opposition believes that the silence of the authorities in the face of these speeches and other serious abuses only reinforces hate speech and the manipulation of tribal fiber on Congolese territory.
The CLC therefore urges the Congolese justice system to take up this situation ex officio and declares that it will submit to the ICC Prosecutor a file already constituted of the risks of committing crimes against humanity. Lay Catholics deplore the fact that Congolese justice maintains a strange silence in the face of all speeches and other serious abuses when their actors are close to power or members of the government, thus giving the impression of favoring electoral chaos and a forced passage. power in place.
Thus, the CLC calls on the population to mobilize to punish those who exploit their position in the electoral chain to confiscate the sovereignty of the Congolese people, and “impose rigged and truncated results” which are favorable to them.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently going through a turbulent period and the authoritarian temptations of power are accentuating the tensions between the various forces involved. The electoral stakes are high and the CLC intends to mobilize the population to make its voice heard in the face of these authoritarian excesses.