Police kill 14 autonomy demonstrators in Bas-Congo Province

Police in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday shot dead 14 demonstrators demanding autonomy for Bas-Congo Province, in southwestern DRC, media sources and a civil society group reported.

"There were 10 deaths in Luozi, four in Moanda, and numerous wounded across the region," Albert Ntula Di Mbewa, editor of a Bas-Congo newspaper, La cite africaine, told IRIN.

Witnesses reported that the police opened fire on crowds in Bas-Congo. The protests were called by adherents of a nationalist politico-religious group called Bundu dia Kongo - Kingdom of Kongo.

"We, the Bakongo, protested to express our anger, because all the government and military leadership positions in the region are filled by people from outside the region," said Diomi Ndongala, leader of the Front pour la survie de la democratie (Front for the Survival of Democracy) political party. "Even financial receipts earned in the province are transferred to [the DRC capital] Kinshasa for use by the central government, and only an insignificant amount is returned to the region," he added.

Bundu dia Kongo adherents have protested in the past against the late DRC leader, Mobutu Sese Seko, and his successor, Laurent-Desire Kabila. The protests have occasionally ended in the deaths of the group's adherents, who have themselves sometimes been armed.

Bundu dia Kongo demands that its adherents renounce western and eastern religions, and has sometimes pushed them into committing acts of violence. It seeks the restoration of the ancient Kongo kingdom within its pre-colonial boundaries, which encompassed parts of today's Angola, the Republic of Congo and Gabon. The centre of the kingdom was located in Bas-Congo Province and in neighbouring Bandundu Province of modern-day DRC.

Meanwhile, provincial authorities suspect Bundu dia Kongo of having set fire to the public prosecutor's office during the night of 7-8 July, completely destroying the building. "We believe that it was a premeditated action, because the group was seen handing out pamphlets before the incident," a local administrator said, requesting anonymity. An inquiry is under way to find those responsible for the arson.

Also, a court case is in progress against the Bundu dia Kongo leader, Bernard Mizele Nsemi, who is accused of undermining security, having allegedly initiated an operation ending in the deaths of several of his followers and police officers.