Kinshasa Civil Group Denounces Tshisekedi’s Abuse of Power

A newly established civil society group in DRC has accused President Felix Tshisekedi’s regime of suppressing critical voices.

The Front for the Fight Against Abusive and Arbitrary Arrests (FLAAR), launched on Friday in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa is largely composed of members of civil society, legal professionals, artists, lawyers, political actors, and engaged citizens.

The founders of FLAAR said that they can no longer tolerate the abusive conduct of the regime’s security apparatus.

The increase in abusive and arbitrary arrests, which, according to them, are no longer isolated incidents but are becoming a common practice.

Many citizens are arrested without due process, detained in inhumane conditions, sometimes in clandestine cells. Some are also reportedly subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment the group claimed.

The group said that it’s mission, includes; publicly denouncing any arbitrary arrest; providing legal assistance to victims; documenting violations of fundamental rights; mobilizing national and international opinion; relentlessly defending human dignity; and, where appropriate, taking legal action in international judicial bodies to restore justice.

“Our nation has a democratic essence that cannot be confiscated by anyone. Our approach is neither insurrectionary nor partisan. It is republican, legal, and moral. We are not fighting individuals; we are fighting practices. We are fighting a system that has become entrenched. We are not seeking chaos. We demand the rule of law. We are not sowing division. We are protecting human dignity,” they said in the Declaration read by Honorary National Deputy Ados Ndombasi.

“The current regime has only one objective: to silence all voices denouncing abuses, mismanagement, and the slide towards dictatorship.’

” To silence the voice of youth in the face of the injustice they suffer. Today, the CNC is positioning itself as the executioner of political opponents and those who dare to say aloud: ‘Stop, enough is enough.’ On this launch day, we call upon the nation’s vital forces to join this peaceful, legal, and necessary struggle. Defending freedom is not an act of opposition; it is an act of responsibility,” they emphasized in their statement.