Several people have been killed and more than 120 others arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo as security forces violently dispersed protests by opposition and religious groups calling for the resignation of the country’s president.
At least seven people were killed on Sunday after opposition leaders and Catholic protesters rallied in the capital, Kinshasa, and other localities demanding that President Joseph Kabila step down.
State police and military officials in Kinshasa “repressed peaceful protesters”, a coalition of human rights groups said, leading to deaths, injuries and the arbitrary arrests of individuals who joined the demonstrations.
“If your term is over, give opportunities to others to run. You’re a son of the country, you belong in the senate. Give the others the opportunity to lead; maybe they’ll do it better than you did,” Lotika Nelly, an injured protester, said from a makeshift clinic.
Two men were killed outside Saint Alphonse church in Kinshasa after security forces tried to disperse the protesters, Human Right Watch’s Ida Sawyer said.
