"The DRC government should end this horrific violence against its own citizens and immediately lift the telecommunications blackout that is apparently intended to prevent news of the security forces' action from being more widely known," said Vukasin Petrovic, director for Africa programs.
This statement was originally published on freedomhouse.org on 20 January 2014.
Following reports that DRC security forces fired live rounds into crowds protesting proposed legislation that could delay 2016 elections, with the gunfire killing more than a dozen people, Freedom House issued the following statement: DRC Should End Violent Crackdown on Protesters
“The DRC government should end this horrific violence against its own citizens and immediately lift the telecommunications blackout that is apparently intended to prevent news of the security forces’ action from being more widely known,” said Vukasin Petrovic, director for Africa programs. “The protests spreading across the DRC, from Kinshasa to Goma, clearly show that the Congolese people object to the legislation, widely seen as a way for President Kabila to extend his stay in power and potentially change the constitution. Citizens across the DRC have had their fundamental right to life violated, as well as their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.”
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is rated Not Free in “Freedom in the World 2014”, and Not Free in “Freedom of the Press 2014”.
