The Congolese minister for human rights demands an investigation into the police repression of Saturday’s protests

May 21. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Fabrice Albert Puela, has demanded this Sunday the opening of an immediate investigation into the violence exhibited by the security forces against the opposition protesters who took to the streets of the capital on Saturday , Kinshasa.

“Although I understand the imperatives of internal security, I want to condemn in the strongest terms the acts of repression perpetrated by certain security elements,” the minister denounced in a statement posted on Facebook.

The minister has spoken on behalf of the country’s president, Félix Tshisekedi, by assuring that he will not tolerate the violation of the individual rights of the population “whatever the motivation.”

“We demand urgent investigations so that responsibilities are clarified and the various violations against Human Rights that we have observed are nothing more than a cycle of violence that remains in the past,” he added.

Almost twenty people were arrested during the protests called by the opposition against the Government and the violence in the east of the country, harshly repressed by the security forces to the point that the Kinshasa Police announced, also this Sunday, the arrest of three agents for mistreating a minor during the marches, reports Radio Okapi.

The violence occurred specifically during a march called by the opposition alliance confirmed by Envol, LGB, LAMUKA and Agrupación por la República, initially scheduled for May 13 but postponed to Saturday due to security risk.

This last march was led by prominent opponents such as Moïse Katumbi, Delly Sesanga, Martin Fayulu and Matata Ponyo, who have denounced the repression carried out by the security forces during their concentration, conceived as the beginning of a series of activities with a view to the general elections in the African country, which will initially be held in December of this year.

In protest against police repression, opposition leaders have announced a sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) this Thursday, May 25, as an additional gesture of protest against “the bad government that is leading us to electoral chaos,” the opposition leaders declared in their subsequent statement of rejection.