{"id":68428,"date":"2023-09-01T09:02:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T06:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kfm.co.ug\/?p=68428"},"modified":"2023-09-01T09:02:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T06:02:36","slug":"48-killed-in-east-dr-congo-anti-un-rally-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/48-killed-in-east-dr-congo-anti-un-rally-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"48 killed in east DR Congo anti-UN rally crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

By AFP<\/strong><\/p>\n

At least 48 people have been killed in a crackdown on an anti-UN protest in eastern DR Congo, according to sources and official documentation reviewed by AFP on Thursday, raising a previously reported death toll.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Congolese soldiers stopped a religious sect from holding a demonstration against United Nations peacekeepers in the city of Goma.<\/p>\n

Some 10 people were initially reported killed after the troops entered a radio station and a place of worship, according to local sources. A policeman was also lynched in the violence.<\/p>\n

But an internal army document consulted by AFP on Thursday, and verified by security officials, gave a toll of 48 people killed in the incident — in addition to the slain policeman — and 75 people wounded.<\/p>\n

The document also said soldiers seized a number of bladed weapons and arrested 168 people, including the leader of the Christian-animist sect, which is named “Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith towards the Nations”.<\/p>\n

Congolese pro-democracy activist group LUCHA also stated on Thursday that the number of people killed was “close to 50”.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
In a statement late on Thursday, the government put the toll at “43 dead, with 56 injured and 158 people apprehended, including the sect leader”.<\/p>\n

It said it supported “the investigation opened by the military auditor… so that those responsible can be brought to justice”.<\/p>\n

Two unverified video clips circulating on social media on Thursday appeared to show Congolese soldiers throwing lifeless bodies — some drenched in blood — into the back of a military vehicle.<\/p>\n

“Congolese security forces shot and killed dozens of protesters, and wounded scores more,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.<\/p>\n

DRC forces “appear to have fired into a crowd to prevent a demonstration, an extremely callous as well as unlawful way to enforce a ban,” said Thomas Fessy, senior Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n

The organisation said “senior military officials who ordered the use of unlawful lethal force should be suspended, investigated, and held accountable in fair and public trials”.<\/p>\n

– Anti-UN sentiment –<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s east has been ravaged by militia violence for three decades, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.<\/p>\n

The UN peacekeeping mission in the region is one of the largest and costliest in the world, with an annual budget of about $1 billion.<\/p>\n

But the UN comes in for sharp criticism in the central African nation, where many people perceive the peacekeepers as failing to prevent conflict.<\/p>\n

Last year, dozens were killed in anti-UN protests across eastern Congo, including four peacekeepers.<\/p>\n

The latest violence comes amid an ongoing debate over when the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, should leave the country.<\/p>\n

– ‘Perceived inaction’ –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi told French media there was no reason for MONUSCO to remain beyond the December 2023 presidential election.<\/p>\n

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said in August that the peacekeeping mission is in its final phase.<\/p>\n

The departure date remains unclear, however.<\/p>\n

“MONUSCO continues to be a focus of popular discontent and frustration over its perceived inaction,” Guterres said.
\nAlthough UN officials admit to broad frustrations, they also argue that MONUSCO is subject to disinformation campaigns.<\/p>\n

The force has a current strength of about 16,000 uniformed personnel, mainly deployed in Congo’s mineral-rich east.
\nMilitias continue to hold sway over much of the region, despite the presence of peacekeepers.<\/p>\n

One group, the M23, has captured swathes of territory in North Kivu province since 2021, for example.<\/p>\n

Several Western nations including the United States and France, as well as independent UN experts, have concluded that Rwanda is backing the Tutsi-led M23. Rwanda denies this, however.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n