[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"views\/views.ajax,views\/views.module","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__297983__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"297983","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/297983","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__297983__en","pager_element":0}}},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"0ae5601d8790ff50fca3cf23b9ac9170285f2f75823ebdc8d9cc054bc03a679b"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":"\u003Clink rel=\u0022stylesheet\u0022 media=\u0022all\u0022 href=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_rT06N1hzNwWZvlauEGw5ZNFVKBrR23ibx56HC8Lyx4M.css\u0022 \/\u003E\n"},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_svkrpusmrjSaaV8heRnsa8-TbrEsMLumxMQD8vstdR8.js"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__297983__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__297983__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EUpdate:\u00a0As of Tuesday evening, Human Rights Watch confirmed at least 26 deaths during protests today in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and other cities.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Democratic Republic of Congo has become a powder keg, with whistling demonstrators facing off against security forces, and armed groups mobilizing as President Joseph Kabila\u2019s mandate expires. Human Rights Watch has confirmed that security forces killed at least three people on Tuesday morning in the capital, Kinshasa, and scores more have been arrested since Monday morning, the last day of President Kabila\u2019s constitutionally mandated two-term limit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom about 10 p.m. on Monday, the \u201csound of whistles\u201d pierced many neighborhoods of Kinshasa. Groups had taken to the streets, whistling to send the message to Kabila that his time in office would be up at midnight. A \u201cconcert of whistles\u201d was also heard in parts of the southern city of Lubumbashi.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tIn both cities, military and police forces were heavily deployed and fired gunshots in some neighborhoods to disperse the whistling protesters. The actual number of victims is difficult to determine and reports are still being verified. Many witnesses told us about door-to-door searches by Republican Guard soldiers, with youth being arrested from their homes, and about unusual checkpoints where security forces stopped people on the roads, questioning them about potential ties to the political opposition, confiscating money and cellphones. The whistling protests \u2013 and the crackdown \u2013 were strongest in the Kinshasa neighborhoods of Selembao, Mont Ngafula, Kimbangu, Ngiri-Ngiri, Ndjili, Masina, Matete, and Lemba, and in the Lubumbashi neighborhood of Kenya.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tEarly on Tuesday morning, the long-time opposition leader and president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) political party and Rassemblement coalition Etienne Tshisekedi delivered a video \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/m.youtube.com\/watch?v=LqSxxrGbIQI\u0022\u003Emessage\u003C\/a\u003E posted on YouTube, with \u201ca solemn appeal to the Congolese people to not recognize the...illegal and illegitimate authority of Joseph Kabila and to peacefully resist [his] coup d\u2019\u00e9tat.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tFurther protests have since erupted in many parts of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. Security forces have responded in many areas by firing live bullets and teargas. We\u2019ve received reports of many people killed and wounded on Tuesday morning by the security forces, which we\u2019re still working to confirm. And the reports of arrests continue.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tIn Kinshasa, protesters burned the headquarters of the ruling People\u2019s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD). And there are reports that protesters beat police officers in Lubumbashi.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMonday\u2019s \u2018Villes Morte\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tThe protests that began Monday night followed what turned out to be largely a \u003Cem\u003E\u201cville morte\u201d\u003C\/em\u003E or general strike in Kinshasa and other cities on the last day of Kabila\u2019s mandate. Military, police, and intelligence agents were heavily deployed in cities and towns across the country \u2013 including Kinshasa, Goma, Lubumbashi, Bunia, Beni, Walikale, Kindu, Uvira, Kalemie, Mbuji-Mayi, Mbandaka, and Lisala \u2013 in an apparent attempt to suppress protests. Many residents kept their children home from school and stayed indoors with shops and businesses closed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tSome people still attempted to protest. In the eastern town of Beni, security forces fired in the air to disperse demonstrators, though a protester was injured by a stray bullet. Human Rights Watch received credible reports of over 100 people\u00a0arrested on Monday, including 41 in Goma, 28 in Kinshasa, 19 in Bunyakiri, around a dozen in Beni, five in Bukavu, and one in Kalemie. Most were arrested while protesting, planning to protest, while gathered outdoors in groups, or just for wearing red \u2013 which has become a symbol of Kabila\u2019s \u201cred card\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022twitter-tweet\u0022 data-lang=\u0022fr\u0022\u003E\u0026#13;\n\t\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022 lang=\u0022en\u0022 xml:lang=\u0022en\u0022 xml:lang=\u0022en\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CongoCrisis?src=hash\u0022\u003E#CongoCrisis\u003C\/a\u003E: Crackdown continues, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hrw\u0022\u003E@hrw\u003C\/a\u003E has now received credible reports of at least 41 arrests in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Goma?src=hash\u0022\u003E#Goma\u003C\/a\u003E today \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DRC?src=hash\u0022\u003E#DRC\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/t.co\/yGG8Y3I4fJ\u0022\u003Epic.twitter.com\/yGG8Y3I4fJ\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\t\u2014 Ida Sawyer (@ida_sawyer) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/ida_sawyer\/status\/810811246979248129\u0022\u003E19 d\u00e9cembre 2016\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u003Cscript async=\u0022\u0022 src=\u0022\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\u0022 charset=\u0022utf-8\u0022\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEleven members of the Rassemblement opposition party coalition were arrested as they were peacefully marching down the street in the center of Goma \u2013 including representatives of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development (ECIDE), Social Movement for Renewal (MSR), National Party for Development and Democracy (PND), and UDPS political parties. They were arrested in the presence of a team of United Nations human rights observers and transferred to the police intelligence prison. The human rights observers were later denied access to them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tLUCHA activist Fabrice Mutsiirwa was arrested in Goma at about 9 a.m. on Monday. Another LUCHA activist Adolf Miruho was arrested when visiting Fabrice in detention on Tuesday morning. A third LUCHA activist, Bienfait Katalanwa, was abducted on Sunday by four men in civilian clothes and released on Monday evening.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tIn Kinshasa, security forces in large numbers deployed outside the University of Kinshasa, blocking students from protesting during a standoff that lasted several hours on Monday morning. In the afternoon, authorities in Kinshasa arrested Franck Diongo, president of the opposition party Movement of Progressive Lumumbists (MLP) and a member of the Rassemblement, after he and his colleagues apprehended three men who, according to Diongo, were Republican Guard soldiers wearing civilian clothes. Diongo said he feared they had been sent to attack him.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tEarly on Monday morning in the eastern town of Butembo, militia fighters clashed with security forces, killing a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.radiookapi.net\/2016\/12\/19\/actualite\/securite\/rdc-lattaque-dune-milice-butembo-fait-13-morts-bilan-revu\u0022\u003Ereported\u003C\/a\u003E 13 people, including a UN peacekeeper. In Manono in the former Katanga province, at least 40 people were wounded during an attack allegedly carried out by a Batwa militia on Monday night, according to the UN. Fighting has also been reported on Tuesday between a militia group and the Congolese army in the southern city of Kananga. While it is too early to know the exact circumstances of these attacks, the heightened armed group mobilization amid the country\u2019s volatile political context is very evident.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tAs part of a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/blog-feed\/democratic-republic-congo-crisis#blog-296498\u0022\u003Ebroader crackdown\u003C\/a\u003E on the media, authorities \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.radiookapi.net\/2016\/12\/19\/actualite\/societe\/rdc-le-signal-de-cctv-et-radio-liberte-coupe\u0022\u003Eblocked\u003C\/a\u003E the signals for the Congolese news outlets close to the opposition, Canal Congo TV (CCTV) and Radio Libert\u00e9 Kinshasa, on Monday morning. The signal for Radio France Internationale (RFI), the most important international news outlet in Congo, has been blocked in Kinshasa since November 5. The RFI signal from neighboring Brazzaville has been jammed since November 18.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tIn the midst of it all, at 11:45 p.m. on Monday \u2013 as the whistle blowing, banging of pots and pans, and cries that Kabila should leave office were escalating \u2013 the news anchor on Congo\u2019s government-run national television station announced that Kabila had signed a decree, appointing some 60 new ministers to the government to be led by Prime Minister Sami Badibanga. The new government only includes members of Kabila\u2019s ruling coalition and the opposition parties that participated in the African Union-mediated \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/blog-feed\/democratic-republic-congo-crisis#blog-295340\u0022\u003Enational dialogue\u003C\/a\u003E. Members of the Rassemblement coalition and other opposition parties that only took part in the ongoing Catholic Church-mediated \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/blog-feed\/democratic-republic-congo-crisis#blog-297247\u0022\u003Edialogue\u003C\/a\u003E have no posts.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tThe midnight announcement may have been made to distract from the growing calls for Kabila to step down, while also showing that the country is still being governed. Some have also viewed it as an affront toward, or dismissal of, the Rassemblement and the Catholic Church-mediated talks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tIn another apparent attempt to maintain the fa\u00e7ade that everything is under control, Kabila\u2019s diplomatic advisor Kikaya Bin Karubi held a press conference in Kinshasa on Monday afternoon, where he stated that \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/blog-feed\/democratic-republic-congo-crisis#blog-297808\u0022\u003EPresident Kabila\u003C\/a\u003E will still be in power tomorrow.\u201d He said that \u201conly the population could put pressure on President Kabila,\u201d and \u201cas far as [he] can tell, that isn\u2019t happening.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026#13;\n\tAlso on Monday, three UN experts \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/NewsEvents\/Pages\/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21048\u0026amp;LangID=E\u0022\u003Ecalled\u003C\/a\u003E on the authorities to lift \u201cabusive\u201d restrictions on protesters, including an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/blog-feed\/democratic-republic-congo-crisis#blog-296110\u0022\u003Eunlawful ban\u003C\/a\u003E and a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/MuellerTimo\/status\/810647406081609728\u0022\u003Ecrackdown\u003C\/a\u003E on social media. \u201cThe targeted repression of dissenting voices of civil society and human rights defenders is contrary to democratic principles,\u201d the experts noted. \u201cIf civil society is not allowed to exercise the rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, protesters will inevitably resort to violence, for which only the authorities are to be blamed.\u201d The government of France also \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.radiookapi.net\/2016\/12\/19\/actualite\/politique\/rdc-la-france-appelle-toutes-les-parties-rejeter-la-violence\u0022\u003Eexpressed\u003C\/a\u003E its concern Monday about the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null}]