DR Congo: Opposition leader claims blocked from rally

By Godfrey Olukya 

ARU, Democratic Republic of Congo

The opposition leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday he is being held hostage in a hotel to prevent him from rallying supporters to demand elections.

Felix Tshisekedi said that for the last two days he has not been allowed to leave the hotel in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi where he has been staying to address a rally of supporters.

On Sunday, the 53-year-old politician traveled to Lubumbashi to mobilize supporters into pressuring President Joseph Kabila to hold elections.

In a statement, Tshisekedi accused the police and city authorities of blocking him from attending the rally.

“I have been prevented from meeting my supporters. The road from the hotel to the rally venue has been blocked by police. They deployed a belt of armed policemen to prevent me from going there,” he said.

Twenty-eight of his supporters who were arrested on Sunday while waiting for him have been released after the UN mission in the country intervened.

There has been rising political tension in the country ever since Kabila refused to leave office when his term expired last year.

Separately, the European Union, the United States, Switzerland, and Canada said in a joint statement late Wednesday that they are deeply concerned by the restrictions on freedom of movement and meeting imposed by the DRC government.

They decried the Oct. 22 arrest of many members of the opposition in Lubumbashi and urged their release.

"The ban on public meetings, the disruption of peaceful political activities and arbitrary arrests are incompatible with democratic norms, especially the freedom of assembly and expression guaranteed by the Congolese constitution," said the joint statement.