Congo president calls for calm after bloody street clashes

Police spokesman Pierre Rombaut Mwanamputu told a news conference on Wednesday that the official death toll was 32, of whom four were police.

An global rights organization has told CNN that dozens of people have been killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo as political turmoil roils the Central African country.

But Ida Sawyer, senior Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday that “most were killed when the security forces fired on crowds of protesters”.

However the electoral commission has failed to call the election, citing lack of funds and insufficient time to update the voting register.

The protests on Monday escalated into violent clashes between demonstrators and police, leaving at least 37 protesters and six policemen dead, Human Rights Watch said.

“It is hard to say who killed whom”, he said.

“We will seek global justice”, he said.

Later on Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council urged leaders in the country not to exacerbate the situation, while the office of President Joseph Kabila accused protest organisers of trying to incite “bloody riots”.

“Yesterday’s unlawful killings are just the latest example of the worrying crackdown on the opposition since it became apparent that presidential elections might not be held on time”.

He spoke to Reuters after some three dozen people died in clashes this week between police and protesters that erupted during demonstrations demanding that Kabila relinquish power when his second term expires in December.

“It is our hope that a consensus can be reached soon to set a date for (the) elections”, Barnabe Kikaya said.

“If there are sanctions, there is going to be stability in Congo”, Katumbi said.

Amnesty International’s Country Campaigner for the DRC Christian Rumu warns that confronting people exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly with excessive force fans the flames of unrest.

The council also called for all parties “to engage into an open, inclusive and peaceful political dialogue over the holding of presidential elections, in accordance with the constitution”.