The United States ordered nonemergency diplomatic staff and their family members to leave the Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of a December 23 presidential election that observers fear could turn violent (Reuters)
DRC on High Alert as Ebola Outbreak Grows
An outbreak of the Ebola virus in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that began in August has grown to more than 450 confirmed cases and another forty-eight probable cases, according to health authorities. Close to three hundred people have died in the outbreak (WHO)
Separately, police fired tear gas and bullets into a crowd of supporters of opposition presidential candidate Martin Fayulu, killing at least one person, according to local religious and civil society leaders (Reuters)
Nine Killed in Eastern DRC
Suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces killed nine civilians yesterday in the town of Oicha in the Beni region (Agence France-Presse)
Aid Groups in DRC Protest UN Data
A letter from dozens of aid agencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo accused the United Nations of “cynical manipulation” of data about internally displaced people in the country to convey a more positive impression ahead of a December presidential election. A UN spokesperson said the complaint was due to a “difference in perception of the data” (Reuters)
WHO Says DRC Ebola Outbreak Now Second Largest in History
The World Health Organization said an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the country’s east has become the second largest in history. There have so far been 198 deaths and 379 confirmed cases (Al Jazeera)
Opposition Leader Returns to DRC
Tens of thousands of supporters gathered in Kinshasa for the return of opposition figure Felix Tshisekedi from Kenya as he launched a campaign to replace President Joseph Kabila in a December election. Tshisekedi and his running mate, Vital Kamerhe, recently pulled out of an agreement among opposition groups to unite behind one candidate (Associated Press)
United States Closes Embassy in DRC’s Kinshasa
The United States temporarily closed its embassy in Kinshasa and urged its citizens in the Democratic Republic of Congo to maintain a low profile following reports of a terrorism threat (Voice of America)
Government Soldiers, UN Peacekeepers Killed in DRC
Fourteen Congolese soldiers and UN peacekeepers were killed in a join operation against rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces in the country’s North Kivu Province this week (Al Jazeera)
DRC Opposition Leaders Pull Support for Single Candidate
Two Congolese opposition leaders backtracked on a commitment to support a single candidate in a December 23 election after the opposition’s decision to back businessman Martin Fayulu sparked protests in the capital of Kinshasa yesterday (Reuters)
DRC Opposition Push For Unity Ahead of Election
Congolese opposition parties, meeting in Johannesburg this week, said they will agree on a single candidate to challenge President Joseph Kabila in a December election by mid-November (Agence France-Presse)
UN Security Council Delegation Heads to DRC
A delegation for the UN Security Council will arrive in Kinshasa today to meet with top Congolese officials ahead of a planned December election. Countries including Britain, France, and the United States have called on President Joseph Kabila to publicly state that he will not seek another term (Agence France-Presse)
Attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s North Kivu Kills Twenty-One
Attackers used guns and machetes, killing twenty-one people in the city of Beni on September 22. This forced aid groups to halt Ebola prevention activities (Reuters)
Court Bans Opposition Leader From DRC Election
A top court in the Democratic Republic of Congo barred Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader and vice president, from running in a planned December election due to a witness-tampering conviction at the International Criminal Court (Deutsche Welle)
Acquitted Former Rebel Leader Returns to DRC
Jean-Pierre Bemba returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo and formally launched his presidential bid in elections expected in December. Bemba was acquitted of war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court in June (Al Jazeera)
DRC President Puts Off Diplomatic Meetings
President Joseph Kabila postponed a visit from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Fake Mahamat, and refused to meet with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley (Reuters)
Ebola Outbreak ‘Stabilizing’ But Not Over, Says WHO
The head of the World Health Organization, in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday, said the fast deployment of an experimental vaccine and effective management of confirmed Ebola cases were behind the stabilization of an outbreak in the country’s northwest. Twenty-seven people have died in the outbreak (Reuters)
Ebola Outbreak Spreads to DRC City
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s health minister said yesterday a case of the Ebola virus was detected in Mbandaka, an urban center of more than a million people; cases had so far been restricted to the rural area of Bikoro, about ninety miles from Mbandaka, in the country’s northwest. The current outbreak is already believed to have killed twenty-three people among more than forty known cases (CNN)
WHO to Use Experimental Ebola Vaccine in DRC
The Congolese government approved the use of an experimental vaccine for the Ebola virus disease that was developed in Canada and first tested in Guinea. It will first be offered to health workers treating Ebola patients (Associated Press)
Ebola Outbreak Confirmed in DRC
At least seventeen people have died in an outbreak of the Ebola virus in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, the health ministry said yesterday. Teams from the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders have been dispatched to the region (BBC)
UN Calls for End to DRC Ban on Demonstrations
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila’s government to lift a ban on public protests ahead of presidential and legislative elections slated for December (Associated Press)
Southern African Leaders Meet Over DRC Crisis
Southern Africa’s economic and development bloc will meet today in the Angolan capital to discuss repeatedly delayed elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. President Joseph Kabila, whose term was due to expire at the end of 2016, may not attend (Voice of America)
Thousands Flee DRC as Ethnic Violence Spikes
Over four thousand people fled to Uganda from the Democratic Republic of Congo last weekend, bringing the number of refugees displaced by violence in the eastern part of the country to at least 57,000 since January, according to the UN (UNHCR)
Dozens Killed in DRC Clashes
At least forty people have been killed over the past two days in clashes between farmers and cattle herders from two ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeastern Ituri Province (Al Jazeera)
Four Killed, Dozens Wounded in Anti-Government Protests in DRC
Four people were reportedly killed by security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday during nationwide protests against President Joseph Kabila and long-delayed elections. The UN Mission in Congo said that nearly fifty people were wounded and more than one hundred were arrested (Associated Press)
Thousands Flee Violence in Democratic Republic of Congo
A UN Refugee Agency spokesperson warned of a “humanitarian disaster of extraordinary proportions” developing in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s southeast Tanganyika Province. Thousands of people have fled violence in recent weeks, sparked by intercommunal conflicts between several ethnic groups and clashes between the military and various militias, with widespread reports of atrocities and human rights abuses (Al Jazeera)