Crackdown in Congo Limits Chances of Credible Elections, UN Says
- Rights body reports repression of media, civil society
- Central African nation is scheduled to hold vote this year
Congolese President Joseph Kabila, center, before delivering a speech to the nation in front of the upper and the lower chambers at the Palace of the People (Palais du Peuple) in Kinshasa on April 5, 2017.
Photographer: Junior D. Kannah/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s chances of holding credible elections are waning due to the government’s repression of the media and civil society, a United Nations official said.
“The space required for a credible electoral process is rapidly shrinking,” Georgette Gagnon, field operations director with the UN Human Rights Office, told reporters Friday in the eastern city of Goma at the conclusion of a week-long visit to the central African country.