Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Liz Throssell
Location: Geneva
Subject: DRC
Reports that dozens of people have been killed by police and soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the past few days are deeply troubling and point to growing instability in the country, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Friday.
Over the past week, the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC (UNJHRO) has documented at least 40 killings of civilians in Kinshasa, Lumbumbashi, Boma and Matadi, mainly of people protesting against President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down at the official end of his mandate on 19 December. Some 107 people have been injured or ill-treated and there have been at least 460 arrests.
Read the High Commissioner’s press release:
Accountability for killings of protesters vital, Zeid says, as DRC crisis continues (http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21059&LangID=E)
Distributed by APO on behalf of Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).