Republic of Congo

14 Mar 2019; DW: Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has pardoned around 700 political prisoners jailed under his predecessor.

Among those to be freed on Wednesday were opposition figures Franck Diongo, Diomi Ndongala and Firmin Yangambi, who had been jailed under former President Joseph Kabila for various national security offenses.

The pardons fulfill a promise Tshisekedi made to free opposition political prisoners in his first 100 days in office.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — U.N. investigators say crimes against humanity may have been committed when at least 535 people were killed in intercommunal violence over three days in Congo in December.

The investigative team believes the death toll from the massacre in western Congo is likely higher, saying many victims’ bodies are believed to have been thrown in a nearby river.

Investigators say the violence between the Banunu and Batende communities began after a dispute over a burial for a Banunu customary chief.

KINSHASA, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) -- More than 50 mass graves were discovered by a joint UN and government fact-finding mission after ethnic violence in mid-December in a region of western Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN announced.

“There are more than 50 mass graves or mass graves and individual graves that we have identified” in Yumbi in the western province of Mai-Ndombe, Abdoul Aziz Thioye, director of the Joint UN Office for Human Rights in the DRC (UNJHRO), said on Friday.

DAKAR, Senegal; 21 Jan 2019; AA: The death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Ebola has risen to 370 since the start of an outbreak in late July last year, the country’s Health Ministry said on Monday. 636 cases confirmed since start of outbreak in late July, 2018.

Among 685 cases of reported hemorrhagic fever, 636 were confirmed to be Ebola cases, according to the ministry.

It has also been reported that 245 people have recovered from the virus in the Central African country.

21 Jan 2019; AFP: African nations on Sunday began recognising Felix Tshisekedi as DR Congo's incoming president after the Constitutional Court upheld the vote results, rejecting claims by his main rival of an election stitch-up.

The 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) along with Kenya have congratulated Tshisekedi and called for a peaceful handover of power.

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s election crisis deepened early Sunday when the Constitutional Court confirmed the win of Felix Tshisekedi, rejecting claims of fraud, and runner-up Martin Fayulu promptly declared himself the country’s “only legitimate president.”

Fayulu’s supporters have alleged an extraordinary backroom deal by outgoing President Joseph Kabila to rig the vote in favor of the opposition after the ruling party’s candidate did so poorly that a Plan B was needed. Neither side has acknowledged the accusations.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The United States ambassador to Congo says 20 days without internet in the country are “20 days too many” and that access cut off just after the disputed presidential election “needs to be restored now.”

Ambassador Mike Hammer isn’t the only diplomat in Congo expressing frustration. British Ambassador John Murton has been tweeting regular reminders of the shutdown, saying on Friday that “this poses problems for hospitals, universities, commerce.”

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — An election observation group in Congo is reporting multiple complications as the country turns out for a presidential election.

Spokesman Luc Lutala with the Symotel civil society group says that “we knew there would be issues but this is way beyond what we expected.”

He says some polling stations have been moved at the last minute, confusing voters.

The group also has heard reports from every province saying voting machines in some cases are not working. The group has some 19,000 observers deployed around Congo.

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak is the worst in the country’s recorded history with 319 confirmed and probable cases, the health ministry said.

The deadly virus has killed about 198 people since the outbreak was declared Aug. 1 in the volatile east, the ministry said. Those dead include 163 confirmed Ebola cases, with 35 probable deaths. Nearly 100 people have survived Ebola.

This is Congo’s 10th outbreak since 1976, when the hemorrhagic fever was first identified in Yambuku, in the Equateur province, the ministry said.