Congolese authorities rounded up yet another group of pro-democracy youth activists this weekend, in what looks like a continuing effort by the government to silence dissent.

Police detain members of the youth movement Filimbi after a peaceful sit-in outside the African Union (AU) office in Kinshasa on October 29, 2016. © Private

Police arrested eight members of the youth movement Filimbi after a peaceful sit-in outside the African Union (AU) office in Kinshasa on Saturday. Three were released later that day, but the others remain in detention, accused of “public disorder” and “incitement to revolt.” Another activist was arrested today, after he brought food to the detainees and took a photo of his colleagues being transferred from a police jail to the prosecutor’s office.

The activists were protesting the AU’s support of the recently concluded “national dialogue” agreement, which was rejected by most of the opposition and would allow President Joseph Kabila to stay in power past his constitutionally mandated two-term limit at least until April 2018, if not longer.

During the sit-in, observed by United Nations peacekeepers, police threatened the activists and said they would fire tear gas if they didn’t leave. The activists agreed to leave, and a group of 34 got into a public bus. “Two police officers on motorbikes blocked the road in front of us while a police jeep parked behind us,” one of the activists told us. “They asked us to stay in the bus. Some of us managed to get out through the backdoor, but eight of us stayed behind. One of the police officers told us: ‘Don’t move or I’ll shoot at you.’” The eight were then taken to a police jail.

Three activists from the youth movement Struggle for Change (LUCHA) who were arrested in Goma last week were released on Saturday, while three others were transferred to the central prison in Goma. During a press conference on Sunday, a police spokesperson said they had caused “public disorder and incited revolt.”

In total, 26 activists from the Filimbi and LUCHA youth movements have been arrested in Goma and Kinshasa in the past week, with nine remaining in detention.

Meanwhile, in the southern city of Lubumbashi, security forces used tear gas to disperse a meeting of the “Rassemblement” opposition coalition, held at the residence of opposition leader Kyungu wa Kumwanza on Saturday. Some opposition members were reportedly wounded and arrested. Also on Saturday, the opposition party Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) created a new political platform called Front for the Respect of the Constitution, and called on Kabila to step down by December 19. The MLC was one of the many parties that refused to participate in the “national dialogue.”