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DRC protests leave 42 dead

Thursday, 22 January 2015 10:41 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 22 January 2015 11:01 AM ]

Protesters stand next to tires set on fire on January 20, 2015 in Kinshasa, during a protest against moves to allow Democratic Republic of Congo's president to extend his hold on power. (AFP)

Forty-two people have been killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in protests against legislation that would extend President Joseph Kabila's rule, the International Federation for Human Rights says.

In a statement on Thursday, the federation said the security forces’ reaction to the demonstrations this week had been “totally excessive and disproportionate.”

But a government minister disputed the federation, saying 11 people have been killed including a policeman.

Meanwhile, police opened fire on Thursday on protesters opposed to President Kabila in the town of Goma in the eastern DRC, wounding two students.

Opposition parties have been calling for protests against the new electoral bill currently being debated in the Senate, which aims to delay presidential and parliamentary polls beyond 2016. They are demanding that the 43-year-old president step down.

The fresh round of protests comes a day after violent clashes left at least four people dead and ten others wounded.

Kabila came to power after the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila in 2001. Five years later, Kabila won the country’s first free election since its independence from Belgium back in 1960.

The leader began his second and last five-year constitutional term following a disputed vote in 2011.

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