Two army officers are arrested in Congo for main a protest crackdown that killed 43 individuals

GOMA, Congo — Two high-ranking army officers in northeast Congo have been arrested Monday for collaborating in a crackdown on protests final week that left 43 individuals useless and one other 56 severely injured, authorities stated.

Interior Minister Peter Kazadi stated police arrested Commanders Mike Mikombe and Donat Bawili, who respectively headed the Republican Guard unit and the Congolese armed forces regiment in Goma, the jap metropolis the place the violence unfolded.

Defense and safety forces within the Central African nation used deadly drive final Wednesday to repress deliberate anti-U.N. protests within the metropolis. A authorities delegation arrived in Goma on Monday to carry hearings and different proceedings “to establish responsibility,” the inside minister stated.

“We have no interest in hiding anything. The whole truth will be known,”Kazadi stated. Authorities known as on households of the individuals killed in Goma to come back ahead with info for the inquiry.

On Aug. 23, Goma’s mayor banned a protest organized by a sect known as the Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith Towards the Nations, identified colloquially as Wazalendo. Its supporters deliberate to display towards the regional East African Community group and the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo.

The U.N. mission, which is thought by its French acronym of MONUSCO, has confronted elevated strain to withdraw from Congo after greater than 20 years within the conflict-burdened nation.

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch stated Thursday that earlier than the protests might happen, armed forces fired on Wazalendo demonstrators within the streets, kicking off an “apparent massacre” within the metropolis. National authorities stated 43 civilians died and 56 have been badly damage.

The U.N. human rights workplace stated greater than 220 individuals have been arrested in reference to the deliberate protests and the following crackdown.

“After expressing his anger and dismay at the tragic events in Goma, (President Felix Tshisekedi) called on the judiciary to shed light on the tragedy and establish who was responsible,” presidential spokesperson Tina Salama stated on the social media platform X, previously often called Twitter.