Demokratische Republik Kongo

Defence and security forces used lethal force on Wednesday to repress planned anti-United Nations protests in Goma. A government delegation arrived in the city on Monday to hold hearings and other proceedings “to establish responsibility”, [Interior Minister Peter] Kazadi said.

And in a show of continual anger against the UN Mission known as Monusco, gunfire could be heard for most of the morning following new demos against the Mission’s presence in North Kivu. 

Human Rights Watch says it has documented a surge in political violence as well as growing incidents of arbitrary arrests, abductions and threats against political rivals. The group says authorities in the DRC are targeting opposition leaders and groups, curtailing their freedom, and arresting officials ahead of the December general election.

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[…] The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said it was "sounding the alarm on a significant escalation of violence" in the area.

[…] Integrated provincial teams are key to a joint transition plan set up by the UN and DRC government in 2020. 

Congolese former minister Chérubin Okende, a member of the opposition in parliament, was found dead in his car on Thursday. His murder puts a question mark over the possibility of democratic elections in December.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has agreed to send troops to eastern DR Congo by the end of September 2023.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is preparing for elections due on December 20, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission. If all goes well, this could become the first election scheduled and conducted on time in a long time, allowing the country to maintain or change leadership by peaceful means only for the second time in history.

A quadripartite summit of four regional blocs has demanded an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an effort to end the decades-long war.