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Police clash violently with protesters at DRC rally

Congolese protester Samba Patou is carried to a hospital by other protesters after a demonstration in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP

Traffic came to a standstill in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Tuesday after riot police used tear gas to break up an opposition election rally, injuring at least 10 demonstrators, local media reported.

Some 500 supporters of an alliance of nineteen of the country's 33 presidential candidates were demanding that the July 30 polls be delayed.

They suspect the government plans to rig the elections with some five million extra ballot papers, which they want destroyed.

The nineteen candidates in question are considered to be the weakest contenders for the central African country's top job.

Observers are concerned they may have teamed up with opposition strongman Ettiene Tshisekdi, whose powerful Union for Development and Social Progress is boycotting the election, to create urban chaos in the run-up and during the July polls.

Meanwhile, 18 people in the eastern town of Kisangani were sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to five years for double registration on the voters roll.

Political tensions continue to escalate ahead of the landmark polls that President Joseph Kabila is widely expected to win.

The polls are meant to draw a line under a 1998-2003 war and subsequent violence that have killed around 4 million people.

But despite US$400 million from donors and the biggest UN peacekeeping force, organizing the poll in the devastated country is proving a logistical and diplomatic nightmare.

Protesters shouted insults at foreign reporters, saying they and foreign governments were biased towards President Joseph Kabila, who is standing against some 30 challengers.

"Congolese brothers, open your eyes and rise up. They want rigged elections to make sure their candidate wins," said pamphlets distributed by demonstrators.

A reporter saw several hundred riot police charge at protesters who had sat down blocking a main boulevard.

Some protesters said one person was killed by gunshots fired by police but this could not immediately be confirmed.
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