Rights group urges DR Congo candidates to refrain from inciting violence

Rights group urges DR Congo candidates to refrain from inciting violence

2011-10-29 21:47:35 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Political candidates and their supporters should not incite violence along ethnic lines during the upcoming election campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged on Saturday.

The New York-based rights group said it has documented dozens of instances of apparent ethnic hate speech and incitement to violence by political candidates and their supporters since March. DR Congo is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on November 28.

"There are too many mosquitoes in the living room. Now is the time to apply insecticide," said politician Gabriel Kyungu at the start of the electoral registration period in Katanga on April 31. He was referring to people from Kasai provinces living in Katanga who support another presidential candidate.

Kyungu has previously been implicated in inciting violence against people from the Kasai provinces. In the early 1990s, he was governor of Katanga province when thousands of Kasaians were killed and even more were expelled.

"Candidates who incite violence could provoke a bloody election campaign, and judicial authorities need to step in to stop it," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Anyone aspiring to government office should also recognize the grave dangers of using hate speech."

In other parts of the country, politicians have also commented negatively on the ethnicity of their opponents or the opponents' parents to claim they are not truly Congolese.

"Ethnic slurs that could lead to violence should have no place in Congo's election campaign," Van Woudenberg said. "Candidates should be talking about ways to reduce Congo's many human rights problems, not make them worse."

HRW also said police have used unnecessary or excessive force against political demonstrations. This has "created a climate of fear in some areas and raised concerns about the credibility of the elections," the organization said in a statement.
 


The official campaign begins on October 28. It will be the country's second democratic elections since Congo gained independence in 1960.

President Joseph Kabila will face 10 other presidential candidates to try to secure a second term. Nearly 19,000 candidates are competing for 500 parliamentary seats.

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