This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Twenty people have been killed in confrontations between protesters and security forces in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN officials believe, hours after the end of the second five-year term of the president, Joseph Kabila.



A government spokesman said the death toll was nine.

Opposition leaders called for demonstrations overnight after Kabila refused to step down at midnight, and accused the 45-year-old former guerrilla commander of carrying out a coup d’état.

On Tuesday police and soldiers fired live ammunition in Kinshasa, as opposition activists burned tyres, threw stones and attacked an office of the ruling party. Violence was also reported in the southern city of Lubumbashi, where at least two deaths were reported: one protestor and a policeman who was lynched by an angry crowd.

Ida Sawyer, a Human Rights Watch researcher in Kinshasha, said on Twitter that at least 26 people were killed by security forces in clashes in the capital, Lubumbashi, Matadi and Boma.

Ida Sawyer (@ida_sawyer) #CongoCrisis: At least 26 people killed by security forces during protests today in Kinshasa,Lubumbashi, Matadi+Boma. Other reports TBC-@hrw pic.twitter.com/lrCOUwFHlq

In a video message released overnight, the senior opposition leader Etienne Tshikedi called on Congolese people to peacefully resist an “illegal, illegitimate leader” who he said had committed treason by holding on to office.

Protests expected on Monday were quelled by a massive security presence, the restriction of internet access and a wave of arrests. Human rights campaigners said about 110 people had been detained across the DRC in the four days before Kabila’s mandate expired. Up to another 100 are thought to have been arrested in the last 24 hours.

Outside one police station in the Njili neighbourhood of Kinshasa, about 20 young men were under guard on a concrete platform, hands tied behind their back.

At a nearby hospital, staff reported a death and two injuries in the morning’s violence. The full death toll from the violence is very difficult to ascertain: medical staff are under instructions not to disclose information, and security forces routinely dispose of bodies secretly, local human rights officials and activists say.

José Maria Aranaz, a representative of the UN human rights office in Kinshasa, told Reuters: “On the issue of deaths, it looks bad. We are reviewing allegations of up to 20 civilians killed, but [the information] is pretty solid.”

Most of the arrests occurred overnight as security forces moved through neighbourhoods known to be opposition strongholds. “The soldiers came and were going from house to house picking people up,” one resident in the Matete district of Kinshasa told the Guardian.

In nearby streets, young men burned tyres before being chased away by police, and scattered shots rang out. Police and heavily armed soldiers confronted protesters across burning barricades, and the district headquarters of Kabila’s political party was set on fire by a crowd, prompting a barrage of teargas.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Residents chant slogans against President Joseph Kabila during demonstrations in the streets of Kinshasa. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

Roads were empty across Kinshasa, which appeared to be shut down for a second consecutive day. Thousands of troops and dozens of armoured vehicles were deployed at strategic points. There were similar scenes elsewhere across the country.

Ministers and supporters of Kabila say logistical and financial problems mean fresh elections cannot be held until 2018. Until then, Kabila – who has completed two terms in power and is prevented by the constitution from running for a third – has a constitutional duty to remain in office, they claim.

Sami Badibanga, the new prime minister, called for calm and asked security forces to show “discipline and restraint”. In September more than 60 people died when security forces opened fire on an opposition march.

“We will work in a spirit of frank cooperation with the international community to face the social and economic challenges and arrive at transparent and credible elections,” Badibanga said.

A ban on gatherings of more than 10 people did not appear to apply to small convoys of pro-government supporters who took to the streets in the afternoon.

“Our president is a patriot. It is calm today. Most of the population is with Kabila,” said Ali Warial, 33, who organised one rally in the Njili neighbourhood.

Protesters said they would intensify their efforts. “We are going to protest until the last possible moment. We are proud of our country. We want power for the people, of the people,” said François, a 27-year-old teacher in Matete.

Talks between the government and opposition factions brokered by the Catholic church are suspended and due to restart later this week.

Tshisekedi, the opposition leader, stopped short of calling for mass demonstrations – which would almost certainly result in significant bloodshed – and said he would respect the “timetable decided by the bishops”. Though he has a loyal following on the streets, the opposition is fragmented and faces a determined administration that is supported, for the moment, by a powerful security establishment.

Congo on a knife-edge as opposition leader calls for Kabila to step down Read more

The crisis has been building for many months. Negotiations and protests have intensified as the end of Kabila’s mandate approached. Washington and European capitals have sought to put pressure on Kabila to hold elections and have imposed sanctions on members of his close circle.

There is little doubt there is widespread discontent at Kabila’s rule. High inflation, the devaluation of local currency and flagging investment is causing deep economic hardship throughout the country, where two-thirds of the estimated 70 million population live on less than £1.50 every day.

“It’s impossible to live. There are no jobs, there is no trade, and food is more and more expensive. We are surviving only by struggling every day,” said Mary, a 38-year-old housewife in Matete.

Observers fear the crisis could plunge DRC, which has never known a peaceful transfer of power since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960, into a prolonged period of instability.

Many fear a return to the civil wars that killed an estimated 5 million people between 1997 – when the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko was ousted after a 32-year rule – and 2003.

Supporters of Kabila insist he has no intention of clinging to office. Barnabé Kikaya, the president’s chief diplomatic adviser, denied there was any plan to change the constitution to allow a third term, as several other African leaders have done in recent years.

“If we had wanted to change the constitution to allow a third term, we would have already done it,” he said.

