Bukavu: suffrage mass for Kabila, police storms church

["serv. informazioni Congosol" <congosol@neomedia.it>]

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source: MISNA
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CONGO-DEM.REPUBLIC, 23 JAN 2001 (17:35)

BUKAVU: SUFFRAGE MASS FOR KABILA, POLICE STORMS CHURCH

This morning many residents of Kadutu, the largest working class
neighbourhood of Bukavu (South Kivu, East Democratic Republic of Congo)
were injured and manhandled in a brutal intervention by police in the
parish church, where a suffrage mass was due to be celebrated for President
Laurent Desire' Kabila.
According to our MISNA sources (who will remain anonymous), the operation
was headed by police chief Mukendi and the city's military commander.
Shortly before the mass, at 10:00 (local time), the agents stormed the church.
They first dispersed the people gathered outside the church and those entering.
They then forced their way in, lashing out at the people fleeing for their
lives.
The people, gripped by fear, did not hesitate to break the windows of the
church to escape the beatings.
After the flurry, the floors of the church were covered in umbrellas,
purses and other personal objects.
Alerted by the confusion in the church, the residents of the neighbourhood
circled the police forces positioned outside the building, who out of fear
began shooting in the air to break up the circle.
The brutal police intervention was preceded by other acts of intimidation
by the local authorities of the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD-Goma),
aimed at halting demonstrations of mourning or grief for Kabila, who died
following an armed attack last Tuesday in Kinshasa.
The Governor of Katintima, for example, falsely declared over the radio
that the Vicar General, Monsignor Joseph Gwamuhanya, agreed to cancel
another suffrage mass set for 10:00 this morning in the Cathedral of Bukavu.
The government radio then failed to broadcast a statement by Monsignor
Gwamuhanya, who confirmed the date, place and time of the mass.
Despite the abuse suffered n including police questionings n yesterday in
sign of mourning the people proclaimed iVille mortei (in English idead
cityi in referral to an abstention from all public activities).
The initiative, which continues also today, was adhered by the majority of
merchants and private businesses despite possible retaliation by the RCD.




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