DRC: establishment of an investigation to establish the responsibilities of the deaths of Goma and Butembo
Demonstration against the UN peacekeeping mission, Monusco, in Goma, July 26, 2022. AFP - MICHEL LUNANGA
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In the DRC, 15 people, including 12 civilians and three peacekeepers, were killed during protests on Monday and Tuesday in the cities of Goma and Butembo.
Demonstrations against the presence of the UN mission in the country.
Tuesday, July 26 during a joint press conference in the capital, the Congolese authorities and Monusco announced the establishment of a mixed commission of inquiry to establish responsibility for the shootings that caused victims.
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From our correspondent in Kinshasa
,
Pascal Mulegwa
“
Who shot at these demonstrators?
It's not us… anyway
”.
With five civilians killed in Goma and seven in Butembo in front of Monusco bases or warehouses, Kassim Diagne, the deputy head of the mission, assures us that the blue helmets refrained from firing: "
If we had fired on this crowd, we wouldn't have ten dead, we would have hundreds of dead, so if shooting took place, I don't know where it came from, we are still the United Nations, we cannot shoot at civilians.
They were under tremendous pressure, people pushed them to extremes to get to these warehouses, the force held back.
»
#DRC🇨🇩: According to @MONUSCO, a "blue helmet and two members of the United Nations Police were killed on Tuesday in Butembo, North Kivu" during an attack on its base.
Another was seriously injured.
— Pascal Mulegwa (@pascal_mulegwa) July 26, 2022
The link between the mission and the population is "
strongly damaged
" by these incidents, recognized Monusco.
The first information received by the authorities mentions the presence of Mai-Mai militiamen among the protesters in Butembo where three blue helmets were killed.
The authorities are also raising their voices against violence: “
if the marriage must end, it must end in civilized conditions, the government is already on this path.
To take acts of violence in this way, even we will never tolerate it.
It will obviously be a question of looking at the impact of the bullet, we will be able to trace where the shot came from, anyway, we know where the shots could have come from
.
If the demonstrators demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Monusco, the government and the mission therefore remain committed to their transition roadmap concluded last September.
In the meantime, following a meeting on Tuesday between the government and Monusco, the authorities guaranteed Monusco to strengthen security around UN installations in entities where calls for protest persist.
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To read also: DRC: Monusco bases attacked in Goma, the mission denounces "a very serious incident"
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