UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations peacekeeping chief on Tuesday condemned the Democratic Republic of Congo’s security forces for violently cracking down on protesters and said authorities must prosecute those responsible.
At least five people were killed during clashes on December 31 when police burst into churches, firing tear gas and shooting bullets in the air to break up protests in the capital Kinshasa and in the central city of Kananga, according to UN figures.
The demonstrations took place on the first anniversary of a political deal brokered by the Catholic church that was to pave the way for elections in 2017 and the end of President Joseph Kabila’s rule.
The elections were pushed back to December 2018 after the government cited delays in preparing the nationwide polls.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN under secretary-general for peacekeeping, told the Security Council that he “condemned the violent repression by the national security forces of the demonstrations organized by civil society on December 31.”
He added that authorities must “diligently carry out the necessary investigations to establish who is responsible and bring to justice the perpetrators of these human rights violations.”
Kabila has been in power since 2001 when he succeeded his assassinated father Laurent Kabila.
He refused to step down at the end of his second and final term in December 2016.
DR Congo’s Ambassador Ignace Mata Mavita said his government “regretted” the violence. The authorities will investigate and take action against security forces who burst into churches, he told the council.
The ambassador, however, accused the opposition of seeking to undermine the elections by holding protests.
“The right attitude of all political actors and all the Congolese people should be to do everything possible to prepare for the smooth running of these elections in a peaceful atmosphere,” he told the council.
“It is not normal to see the kind of unrest and demonstrations that took place” on December 31, he added.
France called for those responsible for the repression to face justice.
The Security Council was meeting for the first time to discuss the situation in the DR Congo since the date of December 23, 2018 was set for the historic elections.
The council backs the new timetable for the vote and warned that there should be no more delays.
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UN pushes DR Congo to investigate crackdown on protesters
UN pushes DR Congo to investigate crackdown on protesters
Obama deplores lack of shame after Trump racist monkey clip
- The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5 sparked censure across the US political spectrum
- White House initially rejected “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down
WASHINGTON: Former US president Barack Obama criticized a lack of shame and decorum in the country’s political discourse, responding Saturday for the first time to a post on Donald Trump’s social media account that depicted him and first lady Michelle as monkeys.
The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5 sparked censure across the US political spectrum, with the White House initially rejecting “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down.
Near the end of a one-minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas — the first Black president and first lady in US history — were shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second.
Obama responded to the video for the first time in an interview with left-wing political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen released Saturday.
“The discourse has devolved into a level of cruelty that we haven’t seen before...Just days ago, Donald Trump put a picture of you, your face on an ape’s body,” Cohen said in the interview.
“And so again, we’ve seen the devolution of the discourse. How do we come back from a place that we have fallen into?“
Without naming Trump, Obama responded by saying the majority of Americans “find this behavior deeply troubling.”
“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s been lost.”
Obama predicted such messaging will hurt Trump’s Republicans in midterm elections, that “ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people.”
Trump has told reporters he stood by the thrust of the video’s claims about election fraud, but that he had not seen the offensive clip at the end.
The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5 sparked censure across the US political spectrum, with the White House initially rejecting “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down.
Near the end of a one-minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas — the first Black president and first lady in US history — were shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second.
Obama responded to the video for the first time in an interview with left-wing political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen released Saturday.
“The discourse has devolved into a level of cruelty that we haven’t seen before...Just days ago, Donald Trump put a picture of you, your face on an ape’s body,” Cohen said in the interview.
“And so again, we’ve seen the devolution of the discourse. How do we come back from a place that we have fallen into?“
Without naming Trump, Obama responded by saying the majority of Americans “find this behavior deeply troubling.”
“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s been lost.”
Obama predicted such messaging will hurt Trump’s Republicans in midterm elections, that “ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people.”
Trump has told reporters he stood by the thrust of the video’s claims about election fraud, but that he had not seen the offensive clip at the end.
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