By ADAM NOSSITER
Published: December 10, 2011
Reuters
Supporters of Étienne Tshisekedi, the challenger who says he is president, in Kinshasa.
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Police officers, with automatic weapons drawn, were also seen beating one of the young men during the roundup that took place in the impoverished 20-Mai neighborhood here. The police officers, some in uniform and some in civilian clothes, ran through the neighborhood’s alleyways chasing down youths; the back of their vehicle appeared crowded with young men afterward.
The purpose of the roundup was not immediately clear. But it was testimony to the tension that persists here after the official announcement on Friday that the president, Joseph Kabila, had won re-election in this mineral-rich nation. Human Rights Watch was also receiving reports of “other abductions” in the capital, Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior researcher for the group, said Saturday.
The declaration of Mr. Kabila’s victory has been rejected as fraudulent by the man who finished second, Étienne Tshisekedi, a veteran opposition leader. He has a strong hold on the streets of this teeming downtrodden capital of nearly 10 million people; he immediately declared himself the president after the electoral commission designated Mr. Kabila as the winner.
On Saturday, the Carter Center said the commission results “lack credibility,” citing, in a statement, “disorganization” and polling station results that were lost, among other problems.
A volatile postelection standoff may be getting under way here, of the type seen recently elsewhere on the continent. The official winner is not recognized by the man the government says finished second; two self-declared presidents jostle for attention, and mayhem ensues. In this case, so far, it is not clear how much disorder there will be. Mr. Tshisekedi has given veiled warnings that he would call his followers out to the streets.
Earlier, guns were fired in the air by the police and tear gas was sprayed on citizens who came out to protest Mr. Kabila’s apparent victory. By Saturday, burned-out, looted cars lined a principal avenue in 20-Mai, while the remains of burning tires were smoldering in the neighborhood’s streets.
But there were no large-scale demonstrations, and the capital’s six-lane boulevards were deserted Saturday. The government’s information minister, Lambert Mende, mocked Mr. Tshisekedi’s self-proclamation as president at a news conference, saying it was “an infraction of the law and an assault on the Constitution.” He warned that “disorder will no longer be tolerated.”
Mr. Tshisekedi’s claims of fraud appeared to be gaining ground with outside electoral observers, including the Carter Center, which have noted questionably high turnout in areas favorable to Mr. Kabila and thousands of missing results in areas that are not, like Kinshasa. Observers say, for example, that nearly 2,000 polling stations in the capital were not counted.
FreeFair DRC, a nongovernmental organization in London, noted Saturday that official results in one district of Katanga Province had Mr. Kabila receiving 227,855 votes out of 227,858 cast, with a 90 percent turnout — a result the group called “highly suspect.” Another district in Katanga reported all of its tens of thousands of votes as going to one candidate: Mr. Kabila.
The purpose of the roundup was not immediately clear. But it was testimony to the tension that persists here after the official announcement on Friday that the president, Joseph Kabila, had won re-election in this mineral-rich nation. Human Rights Watch was also receiving reports of “other abductions” in the capital, Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior researcher for the group, said Saturday.
The declaration of Mr. Kabila’s victory has been rejected as fraudulent by the man who finished second, Étienne Tshisekedi, a veteran opposition leader. He has a strong hold on the streets of this teeming downtrodden capital of nearly 10 million people; he immediately declared himself the president after the electoral commission designated Mr. Kabila as the winner.
On Saturday, the Carter Center said the commission results “lack credibility,” citing, in a statement, “disorganization” and polling station results that were lost, among other problems.
A volatile postelection standoff may be getting under way here, of the type seen recently elsewhere on the continent. The official winner is not recognized by the man the government says finished second; two self-declared presidents jostle for attention, and mayhem ensues. In this case, so far, it is not clear how much disorder there will be. Mr. Tshisekedi has given veiled warnings that he would call his followers out to the streets.
Earlier, guns were fired in the air by the police and tear gas was sprayed on citizens who came out to protest Mr. Kabila’s apparent victory. By Saturday, burned-out, looted cars lined a principal avenue in 20-Mai, while the remains of burning tires were smoldering in the neighborhood’s streets.
But there were no large-scale demonstrations, and the capital’s six-lane boulevards were deserted Saturday. The government’s information minister, Lambert Mende, mocked Mr. Tshisekedi’s self-proclamation as president at a news conference, saying it was “an infraction of the law and an assault on the Constitution.” He warned that “disorder will no longer be tolerated.”
Mr. Tshisekedi’s claims of fraud appeared to be gaining ground with outside electoral observers, including the Carter Center, which have noted questionably high turnout in areas favorable to Mr. Kabila and thousands of missing results in areas that are not, like Kinshasa. Observers say, for example, that nearly 2,000 polling stations in the capital were not counted.
FreeFair DRC, a nongovernmental organization in London, noted Saturday that official results in one district of Katanga Province had Mr. Kabila receiving 227,855 votes out of 227,858 cast, with a 90 percent turnout — a result the group called “highly suspect.” Another district in Katanga reported all of its tens of thousands of votes as going to one candidate: Mr. Kabila.
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