CENCO condemns police-force du progrès alliance in opposition crackdown
The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) has strongly condemned what it describes as a coordinated effort between national police forces and the Force du progrès, a political youth wing, in violently suppressing opposition protests against constitutional reforms.
In a statement released following an extraordinary session in Kinshasa, CENCO’s executive secretary, Monseigneur Donatien Nshole, highlighted what he termed “a dangerous escalation” of state-sponsored intimidation tactics targeting dissenting voices both within the ruling coalition and among opposition groups.
Systematic repression of democratic voices
The statement specifically pointed to the violent dispersal of opposition protests on June 12, when police and Force du progrès members allegedly used tear gas and physical force against demonstrators gathered near the Palais du Peuple to oppose a referendum bill proposed by legislator Paul-Gaspard Ngondakoy.
“Opposition demonstrations are being violently repressed by the national police in collusion with a political party’s militia called Force du progrès. Meanwhile, within the ruling majority itself, dissenting voices are being silenced through fear of retaliation,” the statement read.
CENCO warned that this coordinated repression, combined with the mobilization of state resources in support of constitutional changes, represents a fundamental threat to the country’s democratic stability and constitutional order.
Growing concern over constitutional reform efforts
The bishops’ conference expressed particular alarm at what it described as “a campaign to revise the 2006 Constitution that mobilizes state resources while creating a climate of terror against those who dare oppose it.”
This latest condemnation comes amid escalating tensions following the National Assembly’s approval of a referendum bill that would potentially allow President Félix Tshisekedi to seek a third term. The C64 Coalition, which opposes these changes, had organized the June 12 sit-in that was violently dispersed.
Human rights organizations had previously condemned the actions of both police and Force du progrès members during the crackdown, documenting multiple instances of aggression against opposition leaders and protesters.
