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UN PhotoGENEVA / DRC ELECTIONS
STORY: GENEVA / DRC ELECTIONS
TRT: 1:39
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 14 DECEMBER 2018 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior shot, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, United Nations Press room podium
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We do not yet know what caused them, as you say, there’s a lot of speculation about how it happened, whether it was deliberate, and then you know, which side. But this again is an example of the kind of violence that has suddenly flared up this week in the lead-up to the elections.”
4. Med shot, podium
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The High Commissioner says she is deeply worried about the reports of excessive use of force, including live ammunition, by security forces against opposition rallies. She is also concerned at reports of the use of inflammatory speech by political leaders. Just days ahead of crucial elections in the DRC, it is essential that the authorities ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fully protected and that they take all possible measures to prevent violence.”
6. Wide shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“There have also been reports of armed groups’ interference with election campaigning. Threats against supporters of political parties, notably the Presidential majority, particularly in the North and South Kivu.”
8. Med shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We call on the authorities to ensure that these incidents are promptly investigated and that the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly – which are essential conditions for credible elections – are fully protected.”
10. Various shots, briefing
Deadly pre-election violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) caused by police reportedly firing live ammunition at opposition supporters has been condemned by the UN’s top human rights official, Michelle Bachelet.
Issued on Friday (14 Dec), the warning by the High Commissioner for Human Rights comes ahead of presidential elections on 23 December.
“The High Commissioner says she is deeply worried about the reports of excessive use of force, including live ammunition, by security forces against opposition rallies,” OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva.
“She is also concerned at reports of the use of inflammatory speech by political leaders. Just days ahead of crucial elections in the DRC, it is essential that the authorities ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fully protected and that they take all possible measures to prevent violence.”
The High Commissioner’s alert echoes a recent statement in September by her office (OHCHR) concerning the “violent suppression of peaceful protests”, despite commitments made by the authorities to lift the ban on demonstrations in place since 2017.
On Thursday, DRC said that thousands of voting machines had been destroyed in a fire in the capital, Kinshasa.
OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that it was unclear who was responsible.
“We do not yet know what caused them…there’s a lot of speculation about how it happened, whether it was deliberate, and then you know, which side,” she said. “But this again is an example of the kind of violence that has suddenly flared up this week in the lead-up to the elections.”
In a statement highlighting several violent pre-election incidents, the High Commissioner noted that at least three men were killed and several injured earlier this month “after police reportedly fired live ammunition and used teargas and water cannons against an opposition rally in Lubumbashi in the Haut-Katanga province”.
In another incident, the convoy of a candidate for the presidency, Martin Fayulu, also reportedly came under attack by police, according to the High Commissioner’s statement.
Ensuing clashes resulting in the prosecutor’s office being burned down, while further violence during Fayulu’s campaign in Kalemie, Tanganyika province, led to the death of a young woman and injuries to at least nine others, “including two by live ammunition”.
On Thursday 13 December, in Mbuji Mayi in Kasai Orientale province, Shamdasani added that a 16-year-old boy was reportedly killed by a soldier of the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC).
This was after the provincial governor had deployed soldiers and police officers on several roads to prevent people from greeting another presidential candidate, Felix Tshisekedi, she said.
While the High Commissioner’s warning is directed principally at the government of President Joseph Kabila, Bachelet also expressed concern that supporters of the opposition have also reportedly disrupted campaigning held by presidential majority candidates in the provinces of Kwilu, Kasai and Maniema.
“There have also been reports of armed groups’ interference with election campaigning,” Shamdasani said, quoting from the High Commissioner’s statement. “Threats against supporters of political parties, notably the Presidential majority, particularly in the North and South Kivu.”
Noting the “already tense electoral environment” highlighted by Bachelet, her spokesperson repeated the High Commissioner’s appeal to the Government “to ensure that these incidents are promptly investigated and that the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly – which are essential conditions for credible elections – are fully protected.”
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